Globe Corner Blogs

Three women, all in their late twenties, struggle to balance careers and relationships. Work deadlines, happy hours, caffeinated beverages, and workouts at the gym fill their fast-paced, over-scheduled New York City lives. That is, until they up and decide to take a year-long, round-the-world trip. Starting in South America, they travel to Africa, then to Asia, ending with Australia and New Zealand. Then, they turned their experiences into a book – The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World, by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner.

The story is filled with romance and adventure. Together, Holly, Jen, and Amanda hike the Inca Trail, try medicine from an Amazonian shaman, party at a Brazilian favela, write a play in Kenya, visit a Laotian spa, go surfing in Australia, and bungee jump 440 feet into a river valley in New Zealand. Continue Reading »

Travel Loot -- photo by Nicole

You’ve spent weeks, months, or even years planning your trip.  You’ve fantasized about lazy vacation days on a Caribbean beach, slathered in suntan oil instead of wrapped up in scarves.  You’ve spent long afternoons at work mulling over hotel deals and airfare to that remote South Pacific island where you can throw out your wool socks and throw on a sarong, all the while appearing, of course, to the eyes of prying bosses to be diligently at work.  Maybe you’ve elaborately mapped out a European museum spree, complete with pastry breaks and espresso stops.  Or perhaps you’ve spent your weekends training for a thrilling, perilous trek up a snow-capped Himalayan peak, interviewing sherpas and depriving yourself of oxygen.

But now you’re back.  You’ve taken several hundred pictures, sent off your postcards, lost your passport, gotten ripped off by taxi drivers and rickshaw wallahs, seen some pretty disgusting toilets, found your passport (hopefully not in the disgusting toilet), and managed to make it back home with several extra bags full of hard-earned, hopefully hard-bargained for, travel goodies.

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Let's Go Ireland: On a Budget

I often travel by myself.  Sometimes it is great; I love the freedom and flexibility to do whatever I feel like doing at that particular moment. Sometimes it is not so great, and I become so painfully lonely that I shop just so I can talk to sales clerks. I used to think that I was not the “tour group type,” but lately I have started to take some traditional tours, and not only have I enjoyed them, but I have made lots of good friends. The problem seems to be finding the right tour group.

Recently a friend told me about a group of backpackers who organize trips to Europe that are based in the North End of Boston. There was also a great article about them in the Boston Globe today (Local Backpackers Flock Together). Since I just found out about them, I haven’t actually participated in a tour. However, I am glad that they are on my radar for future trips.

As a side note, the new 2009 Let’s Gos have arrived. They are a longtime budget traveler favorite. New titles include: Britain, Europe, France, Italy, Spain & Portugal with Morocco, Western Europe, Australia, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Germany, Hawaii, New York, Paris, and Thailand.