It’s time to wrap up the week now with our favourite links from around the web. Enjoy!

How can one travel to a foreign place without watering down local culture? This question is posed in The Tibet Dilemma.

A provocative article over at Alternet is causing a stir Ecotourism: Responsible Travel or Marketing Sham?

Similarly, Timen and Daniel ruminate on the difference between a tourist and a traveler, if in fact, the distinction even exists.

The Cosumerist dishes up a video clip outlining 9 Times Travel Insurance Isn’t a Ripoff.

Gadling offers 5 Tips To Avoid Getting Ripped Off While Traveling.

Thinking of packing your mobile abroad? Better read NuNomad’s Cell/Mobile Phone Basics for Travelers.

And finally, have you ever wondered what make’s a great photo? Conscientious asks around and gathers a collection of answers.

Have a great weekend!

Previously, I wrote about working abroad and I offered many helpful and practical tips (if I do say so myself).

Now I am going to bestow some more financial advice regarding how to save money while traveling, but with one important difference – these are tips you’re not likely to read in any Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. Intrigued? Let’s begin.

First of all, if you’re a man I am warning you now that some of these strategies will require trust and flirting.

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In 2002, after a dozen years of office work, I took off around the world. I had a good job, with a good firm and I wasn’t happy. Changing jobs wasn’t enough.

So I traveled. First through South East Asia and then Central America. I visited a dozen countries in all and had the time of my life.

Coincidentally, my trip turned into something of a “Victims of US Foreign Policy World Tour.” Vietnam, Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama – I asked the same questions about their history and got roughly the same damning answers.

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Austalia in the spring of 2002.

Somewhere on the Great Ocean Road, sitting on a bus with other like-minded backpackers as part of the Oz Experience tour.

Our amicable guide was nicknamed “Two Dogs,” for some obscure reason I can’t remember now. He sported a soul-patch on his chin and could pull off some pretty neat stunts with a pair of whips (which he demonstrated at the hostel the night before).

He also loved obscure Australian folk music. Which normally wouldn’t have been a big deal. To each their own right? Except here’s the thing: he also figured the rest of us should love it as well and blared it over the bus speakers.

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Boring travel slideshows.

You know what I’m talking about. You gather at your friend’s place, who’s just returned from their travels. They fire up the computer, open up their photo gallery, and splash their journey onto the screen.

Usually, the first few photos are compelling. A crammed street. A stunning vista. (Or more likely, an airport lounge as they’re waiting for the plane).

Twenty minutes later, the glossly excitement has worn off. You wonder just how many photographs of buildings/trees/desert your friend could have taken. And they’re only on the first week of their two month trip.

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Journalism is a creative job. Despite all the professors who told me articles were a fixed formula plugged up with simple facts and despite the avalanche of clichéd crap that passes for most mainstream journalism, I stand by that statement.

Like any creative profession, you use your perception to re-interpret the world around you. You try to engage an audience with ideas and issues-you create something meaningful from all the incoherent information and noise out there.

But here’s the catch: good journalism is dependent on a total stranger’s cooperation and participation.

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It’s time to wrap up the week now with our favourite links from around the web. Enjoy!

A reason to still love print: Wend Magazine. In their own words, they blend “the convergence of sport, style and creativity” along with stunning photography and great travel writing.

Dare to Chat the Planet? This unique website streams daily video “confessionals” from people around the world, offering a much needed glimpse into their lives – and shared humanity.

Gaze at the majesty and beauty of the 10 Most Magnificent Trees In The World.

Rolf Potts dishes up a gem of advice for the aspiring travel journalist: pick an area of expertise.

Why are the governing elites threatened by public expressions of collective joy? Barbara Ehrenreich writes a stunning article urging us to reclaim what makes us human.

Lastly, figure out how to snap great low-res pics with 13 Tips For Improving Camera Phone Pictures.

Keep it real, folks.

On the road, we’re frequently asked “Where are you from?” and “How long are you staying.” But back home, people are dying to know “How the heck can you afford to quit your job and spend a whole year bouncing around the globe?”

Between flights, lodging, food, drink, entertainment, internet, shopping trips and extras, we’ve estimated about $15,000 to hit more than a dozen countries around the world.

That figure might seem exorbitant -until you consider it’s the same amount as our yearly rent in overpriced Manhattan.

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