A couple of weeks ago I visited the Kangaroo Haven in Kununurra, Western Australia. It was a wonderful experience where I got to squeal with delight as I cuddled joeys and watched them happily chugging away at their bottles. There was little Norris, the 6-month-old wallaby who thought he was a big red with how… Read More Kangaroo Korma: Ethical Meat Consumption
The heyday of the traditional travel blog is over. The public doesn’t want to commit 10 minutes of their time to read a couple thousand words about the reality of travel anymore; no, they’d rather spend approximately half a second to like an edited photo of an attractive woman’s butt in a pretty place. The… Read More Social Media and Travel Blogging: A Hostile Takeover
A funny thing happened about a week into our trip along the Gibb River Road in the northwest of Australia. After hours of bouncing along dusty, corrugated dirt roads with no air conditioning I would emerge from the car covered in a thick layer of dirt, sweating dripping from my fragrant armpits, set up camp,… Read More To Love Your Body, Embrace Dirt
In 1956 the Gibb River Road was completed to assist in the trucking of live cattle from Wyndham to Derby. Now, in 2017, Wyndham has been forgotten by the passing of time and the road mainly shuttles tourists from Kununurra to Derby, allowing anyone with a four-wheel drive and the desire to traverse 660 kilometers… Read More An Adventure on the Gibb River Road
In middle school I was good friends with a girl who knew what she wanted, let’s call her K. K was smart, gregarious, and confident for a pre-teen trying to figure out the complex social structure of the cesspool that is an American middle school. She was always dreaming of far away places and adventures,… Read More The Privilege of Travel
The internet has changed the world. We can now be in constant contact with almost anyone in the world from anywhere at anytime. It does not matter anymore how far away you are, if you have a phone plan with data you will likely be able to get online and reach the world. This has… Read More Unplugged in the Outback: A Case Study of Travel Blogging Offline
Hawaii is a chain of volcanic islands far off the west coast of the United States. It is the first choice destination for many American vacationers when they are in need of sun, sand, and more than a few pineapples. It makes sense why this island state is on the short list for many family… Read More A Hawaii Family Vacation, Local Style
It is rather ironic that the day after I get my first publication (in a month In The Know Traveler will be publishing a piece I wrote about hiking Tajumulco) I started to read Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?. Its scandalous title caught my eye two days ago and I am almost finished with… Read More The Lonely Planet Effect: Are Travel Writers Ruining the World?
Bring an Australian stereotype to mind. What comes up? Maybe a leather skinned man covered in red dust knocking back beers like his life depends on it? Maybe your stereotypical Aussie is less Alice Springs informed and more like a tan, blonde surfer dude fresh from a knock out dual with a Great White shark?… Read More Going Native: What I’ve learned in Australia
It is not normal to spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with someone. Most of us have so much to do in our daily lives that the thought of having a lazy day to spend with your partner sounds amazing, but give it a couple of weeks and that constant togetherness might… Read More How to Survive Traveling as a Couple