A night out on the town in Granada, Nicaragua, with a Canadian, a Rastafarian painter, and an ex-revolutionary. Does it get any better than this?

By Luke Armstrong

España was beautiful, young, Argentinean, and when she came up to talk to me on a bus heading towards the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border to ask if I knew of any cheap lodging places in Granada, her destination as well as mine, I tore out my Lonely Planet “Central America on a Shoestring,” and together we looked at the budget hostel listings. According to guide, Hostel Oasis had a pool, free Internet and a lush courtyard. At $6 a night, the cockroaches that would later accost me in my sleep were tolerable. España and her travel companion María checked in with me the next day into one of the hostel’s spacious dorm rooms.

So I arrived in Granada, Nicaragua, like I’d been arriving everyplace since my starting point of Valparaiso, Chile: hitchhiking and haphazardly hopping northbound buses. Each day involved a new unknown with new people.

I envisioned that this intrepid trekking from city to city, country to country, and culture to culture coincided with some bohemian ideal of ruthless adventure. But mostly, I am just lazy when it comes to advance planning, and whimsically making my way north across South and Central America was just easier.

Tired? Hungover? Sick? Diarrhea? No problem, just camp out in this hostel bed for three days reading. So you’ve made a drunken fool out of yourself last night? No problem, just move on to the next city where you are a tabula rosa. Someone looked at you funny? Fine, leave the country and never come back. (more…)

O.K. It’s that time of year. Time to use up the remaining vacation days you’ve saved up for no reason, and the important decision of how you will blow that end of the year bonus check. I guess, that’s just my way of thinking (might not want to follow my lead on that one).

I will soon be heading to Wisconsin, to make a round of family visits, and eat my body weight in German sausages, before the snow in the mountains is too good to pass up. I’ll just live vicariously through all of you for the next month, so here’s and interesting article from BnA about eight destinations that would be worth the trip… and the stories you bring home afterward.

How about the Crucian Festival in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands? There you’ll get to party island style, with, what looks like, a little Carnival mixed with Mardi Gas atmosphere. Then, there’s the Night of the Radishes (Noches de los Rabanos), on Dec. 23^rd in Oaxaca, Mexico. Radishes as art, that’s an experience you won’t forget.

My choice, besides creating a radish Mona Lisa, would be to kick back, relax, and enjoy a castle of my own. Renting castles can be done all over the world and is surprisingly easy. I would probably choose, hmm, Ireland, strictly because of Matt’s Dublin video, and the three drops of Irish blood Grandma Wick always mentioned I had around St. Patrick’s day.

I can see the water cooler talk now, “Jon, what did you do over break?”

“Live like a king.”

As I pack my bags here in gray New York City for my trip home for Thanksgiving, it’s hard to imagine that to the day, two years ago, I was in sunny Argentina, sopping up the rays, and wafting in the scents of the freshly blooming Jacarandas. Sigh.

Naturally, I’m gravitating towards anything Buenos Aires this week, and what better to capture the spirit of the city than a look at the nascent secret restaurant scene (where have I hard of this concept before ?).

From Almacen Secreto, with its regional courses and homemade wine, to vegetarian-friendly Casa Felix where the menu changes daily depending on the whim of the 35-year-old chef (one day’s fare included delicate nut and Peruvian black mint soup to sea bass marinated in deep red Bolivian achiote seasoning), new ones are popping up every day and discovered through word-of-mouth.

If you’re looking for some ideas, check out Time Out or this list (21 at last count) over at Saltshaker.com. And if you go, just be nice and wait to submit your story to me for a few months until it starts to warm up around here. Deal?

This BBC article actually made me tilt my head a little and sigh, “wow,” under my breath (that hasn’t happened in a while). A company has just announced the invention of a pair of glasses that, when paired with a microphone and translation software, will project real-time translations into your eyes. There is also a model combined with a headset, because just what the world needs is more confused telemarketers wandering about to hear the translated conversations you’re having.

The Tele Scouter, was originally designed to aid as an international business tool for sales calls. The spectacles will first go on sale November of 2010 in Japan.

Pretty “Star Trek,” eh? This contraption gives a new meaning to the phrase, “I see what you’re saying.” However, I can’t help but think that these will give even more travelers an excuse not to learn the language, or anything else for that matter, when they travel.

Some come for the peaceful beaches, others for the pristine landscapes, but what most people remember most from visiting Assateague are the wild horses — sitting right next to you on the beach.

By Elaine Casarella

It was ironic that I was visiting Assateague Island National Seashore and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge when Ken Burns’ six-part series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” happened to be airing on PBS. As I was watched, I couldn’t help to marvel at how he was once again opening our minds and hearts to a part of American that many of us take for granted. Just as he did with the Civil War and baseball, Burns was making an often overlooked feature of American heritage come alive by focusing not just on incredible visual images, but by breathing real life into the people who made it all happen.

Assateague, where I began my trip, is a barrier island that stretches 37 miles along the Maryland/Virginia shore, and was very close to not being a national park at all. In 1962, after being pounded by days by the infamous “Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962,” the island was a complete loss for the scores of developers hoping to turn the pristine coastline into valuable vacations estates. The federal government soon took the land over from the bankrupt speculators and designated the entire area a national park. Today, sitting on an undeveloped beach where wild horses and deer roam freely, a visitor can look north into the distance beyond the park’s borders and make out the towering hulks of hotels and resorts in nearby towns, grateful that someone had the foresight to protect the space.

Following Labor Day, the ocean waters are still warm but the summer crowds have long departed. Camping is allowed on the Maryland part of the island, and it is probably one of the few places in the world where travelers have the chance to be woken up by one of the wild horses that roam freely, scratching themselves — and often relieving themselves — against your shelter. The island is famously home to a feral population of horses. Descendants of 17th-century domesticated stocks, the National Park Service manages the Maryland herd while, curiously enough, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and manages the Virginia herd. (more…)

Lately, even stripping travel down to the bare minimum, i.e. backpacking, has gotten lost in the piles of gear and tech out there (see this article on flashpacking). Over at Vagabondish, they bring true “backpacking” ideals back to the forefront with four tips that will make you rethink that extra pair of underwear you stuffed in your carryon.

1. Find out what “essential” really is. You’d be surprised at how little you need to get by. Laptop, camera, and two changes of clothes… done.
2. If you can find it there, buy it there. Things like extra batteries, or extra anything can be left at home. Odds are, if you need them, you can buy them where ever you are.
3. A good carry on bag is priceless. If you’re really good, it’s all you need.
4. Consolidate your entertainment by going digital. Cd’s, novels, and DVD’s don’t stand a chance against their digital counterparts in terms of space and weight.

In my case, I would say three out of four isn’t too bad and I would often catagorize myself as a backpacker. The thing is… I rather enjoy the feel of fresh undies on day eleven of a trip.

Great, now I find out I wasn’t supposed to go to the Concha y Toro winery — just outside of Santiago, Chile — because it’s considered “wine for dummies” (I don’t know, I thought the wine was quite good myself), and, instead, I should have trekked to the Casablanca or Colchagua valleys to sample the country’s best wines.

For a few more tips, this week Matador’s continuing their “What NOT to Do in . . .” with Chile, a country where, according to #9, you’re not supposed to try to speak the language (well, you can try, you’re just probably going to be unsuccessful), or eat the salmon (#8 — it contains antibiotics and dyes banned in many other countries).

My own “Don’t Do,” you ask? Don’t schedule your visit there on the tail end of another trip (ahem). With over 2,600 miles from one end to the other, ranging from temperate, desert-like conditions in the North; the Mediterranean vibe in the central region; to the cool, Patagonian region in the South, the country’s way to diverse to pack in during a few days. (Why didn’t I take this advice? Oh yeah, ran out of vacation days.)

Not one for lounging poolside with a drink in your hand during your vacation (yeah, me either)? How about trying a multi-thousand kilometer bike ride across the world’s second largest continent? You can make it happen with groups like Tour d’Afrique. For a little inspiration, check out the sunset over the Valley of the Kings at 3:32.

Southwest, United and Midwest Cheap Flights for Thanksgiving: Anyone else find themselves scrambling to find flights for tomorrow to get home for Thanksgiving, before figuring out the holiday’s a week a away? (Give me a break, I’ve traveled away for the last two.) As I learned, turns out there’s more time than you think. Many carriers are actually offering cheap flights for some last-minute planners.

NYC to Barcelona for $519: This includes all taxes and fees. Pretty good when you see what the dollar’s been doing the last few months.

Stay at the Vegas Palms for $59: I really don’t advocate going to Vegas for any reason, but at $59 a night, you can almost justify a short trip there. (Also, it’s the only place in the world you’re going to catch the Cirque du Soleil Beatles show, “Love,” so it’s got that going for it.)

There are times, in between the constant search for deals and destination ideas, when a good old fashioned travel narrative catches my eye and I’m drawn in for one reason or another. This article over at Travelmag, did just that.

The author, since being laid off, decided to view it as an opportunity to travel (sounds like someone I might get along with); he and his wife got in their Land Cruiser and took off. Their goal is to drive from London to Singapore, (they are currently in Myanmar) a stretch of 40,000 miles or more “depending on how much [they] get lost.” Follow them at their website, fittingly titled “No Job Will Travel.”

This article tells of their time in Northern Pakistan. Their journey started on the mind blowing feat that is the Karakoram Highway, then to the warmth of the people in the Hunza Valley, eating the local delicacies, fishing in the Ishkoman River, and finally celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day.

What struck a chord with me, having little experience there, and aware of the constant barrage of U.S. media outlets, was the observation that, “few tourists dare to read beyond the heavy handed articles of the Pakistan-wary media; those that do invariably fall head over heels for this friendly and beautiful land.”

On second thought, I’m sure we’d get along.

In a show of why he’s one of the bets in the biz right, Rolf Potts is chronicling his recent “Star Trek”-themed Caribbean cruise in a five-part series over at World Hum this week.

And why, might you ask, would a travel writer extraordinaire waste his time partaking on one of the most hated forms of “travel” that exists, and do so amongst a tribe of die-hard sci-fi fans? Perhaps to “explor[e] imaginative landscapes in the context of physical landscapes . . . [and] how the travel sensibilities of Trekkies can hold a mirror up to American ideals, just as the travel sensibilities of Herodotus held a mirror up to Greek ideals.”

Or, in one of the great justifications any traveler has for lighting out to somewhere new and unknown to experience what surely few others have, in his own words: “I was dying to know what it’s like to experience a sea voyage to Bermuda when your travel companions would rather be making a space voyage to Romulus.” (more…)

The Patriot Hills base camp is officially open for business for the 2009 season. The only privately-owned base on the continent opens for three months a year, roughly through January, for those looking for some fun.

From Patriot Hills you can climb Mt. Vinson to capture the seven summits (climbing the tallest mountains on each continent), snow mobile, ski, film your own “March Of The Penguins,” or fulfill your inner Amundsen and head to the South Pole. Heck, you can even run a marathon down there (good luck with that one).

The Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE) website offers 12 different options for you. Trips generally last between eight and fourteen days, prices from $16,500. The granddaddy expedition (a five hundred-mile cross country skiing to the pole) lasts sixty days and sets you back a measly $61,000.

Good news: any dude with enough cash can go to the bottom of the world. Bad news: that dude still isn’t going to be me anytime soon.

It looks like this was an active day over at the offices of Budget Travel. Rumors started flying late Friday evening when New York Magazine’s Daily Intel column reported that Budget Travel was being shuttered by its owners, The Washington Post Company, due to a 33% year over year quarterly drop in revenue (which, given the state of the publishing world over the past year, doesn’t seem too bad).

With an announcement rumored to come on Monday, the rumor mill was swirling all weekend about the news (check out what happens when you search Twitter for “Budget Travel Closing”). Curiously enough, on Friday, when editor-in-chief Nina Willdorf was asked to put the rumors to rest (as well as the nerves of the entire staff), she curiously decided to respond to NY Mag with a terse: “Heading out of town. Can’t talk. You can call me Monday.”

Nice job on rumor control. Anyway, come Monday morning, as word began to spread that the budget-conscious mag was about to go the way of Gourmet, Domino, Portfolio, etc . . . a Newsweek rep finally realized that they should probably address the gossip. Contrary to an ad department staffer’s revelation that his department was told to put things on hold for the February issue, Newsweek stated that “It’s business as usual at Budget Travel and we are currently working to produce the February issue and beyond.”

Which is where we stand now. My father used to say, “When there’s smoke there’s fire.” (He may still say this. I’ll have to check with him on that and update you.) We’re working our inside sources all night over here at TheExpeditioner.com’s offices, and we’ll also update you on the latest as it comes in.

P.S.

Hi disgruntled Budget Travel staffer. You can e-mail me here.