There are all kinds of reasons why travelers seek out temples, mosques, synagogues and churches on the road.

These holy buildings literally house tradition and history, offer insight into local cultures, and do so while putting irreplaceable works of art and architecture on display — often for free. And of course, they’re also popular destinations for spiritually-minded visitors, too.

Whether you’re seeking buildings with powerful religious or historical significance, or simply an overwhelming visual experience, here are 12 memorable houses of worship from around the globe:

1. St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. St. Peter’s is a triple threat — it’s the centuries-old seat of Catholicism, home to one of the finest art collections in the world, and a visual feast in its own right. Found it overhyped and overcrowded when you visited? Here’s a hint: show up early. At 8am, you’ll have the place to yourself./ Photo: edbrambley

2. Golden Temple, Amritsar, India. Amritsar’s Harmandir Sahib, or “Golden Temple,” is the holiest site in Sikhdom. It’s located in the Punjab, in north western India. / Photo: estetika

3. Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang, Malaysia. Kek Lok Si’s giant Kwan Yin statue dominates the road to Georgetown, the main city on Malaysia’s Pulau Penang, and the various segments of the temple proper seem to spill down the mountainside. I’m sure there are plenty of more famous Buddhist temples in the world, but this one has stayed with me for years. / Photo: shanemcg

4. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the historic and spiritual heart of Islam. Millions of devotees flock to the vast mosque complex each year for the hajj, the world’s largest pilgrimage. At present, Mecca is open only to hajjis — so for now, unless you’re a practicing Muslim, file this one under “daydreams.” / Photo: Wiki Commons

5. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain. Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece (under construction for 127 years and counting) is a mixed-up fantasy of shapes and colors, light and space. The scaffolding and other signs of construction only add to the awesome confusion of a holy sensory overload. / Photo: jurvetson

6. Aya Sofya, Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul’s Aya Sofya (also called the Hagia Sophia) began life nearly 1500 years ago, as a church. 1000 years later, after the Muslim conquest of Turkey, it was re-invented as a mosque: its mosaics were plastered over, and replaced by Islamic calligraphy. Today it’s a de-consecrated museum — the mosaics are being slowly uncovered, and displayed alongside their later replacements, showing the literal layers of religious history at the junction of Europe and Asia. / Photo: vshioshvili

7.Jain and Hindu Temples, Khajuraho, India. If you’ve walked the tourist trail in India, chances are you already know Khajuraho — the erotic sculptures that cover the walls of the village’s temple complex are a big hit with visitors. / Photo: sankaracs

8.Il Duomo, Florence, Italy. Officially known as the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence’s “Duomo” (Italian for cathedral) has two ways to awe you: First, there’s the massive dome, the largest ever to be constructed in brick, and one of the first major domes to be constructed since Roman times. And second, there’s the facade, an intricate marble pattern in pink, green and white. Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever get tired of looking at this building. / Photo: chrisbuckridge

9.Great Synagogue, Budapest, Hungary. Also known as the Dohany Street Synagogue, Budapest’s Jewish temple is the second largest in the world. Theodore Herzl grew up next door. / Photo: harshilshah

10.Great Mosque, Xi’an, China. Xi’an’s Great Mosque was built more than 1300 years ago, and still serves local Chinese Muslims today. If you’re expecting domes and minarets, though, don’t hold your breath — the complex is built entirely in the traditional Chinese style, and — visually — has more in common with the Forbidden City than with Mecca. / Photo: andreweland

11.Rock-Cut Churches, Lalibela, Ethiopia. Lalibela is a hub for the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian community, and the area is home to a cluster of rock-cut churches — that is, holy buildings carved downward into the ground, instead of built upward from ground level. Ethiopia’s Christians have a history all their own, and (as you see below) an architecture to match. / Photo: herr_hartmann

12. Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.This modern-day cathedral may not be entirely to my taste, but there’s no denying the power of a church built 250 feet high, with floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows climbing 210 feet. / Photo: soldan

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

These are a few of the buildings that have fascinated me in recent years, whether in person or in photos — but I know there are many more remarkable houses of worship out there. What are some of your favorites? Even better, got a photo link to share?

And before you go see these places for yourself, why not brush up on how to respectfully visit holy places around the world?

Photos by MickcPeck and casey yancey

A long time ago I read an article called “5 Guys To Do Before You Say I Do.”

It was sort of like those 1000 Places to See Before You Die books, only instead of “ride a hot air balloon over the Napa Valley” it was “have sex with the bass player from an indie rock band,” and instead of death, you had, well, marriage.

Until I read that article, at the tender age of 14, it had never occurred to me to make a pre-marital bucket list – marriage wasn’t something I thought of as an end point, exactly.

But thankfully Cosmo opened my eyes, and I realized that there were probably lots of crucial life experiences – besides The Younger Man, The Older Man, The Arm Candy, The Artist, and The Bad Boy – to tick off the master list before getting hitched.

Here, without further ado, are 5 trips to do before you say ‘I do’.

The Party Island

Full-moon parties on Thailand’s infamous Ko Pha Ngan. Cocaine and cutting-edge dance music in the clubs of Ibiza. Getting “screeched in” on George Street in St. Johns, Newfoundland.

Whatever your partying preference, somewhere there is an island seemingly custom-made for you to let loose.

Why are all the best parties found on islands? Only the universe knows. The universe also knows that you’ll have more fun on that custom-made party island if you’re single.

The Spring Break

In days of yore, our ancestors designed rites and trials to mark the passage of young men into adulthood. Today, we have our own rite of passage: Spring Break. And in this post-feminist world, girls get to play, too.

So go ahead. Enter that beer-funneling contest. Flag down that Girls Gone Wild cameraman. Show the staff at Senor Frog’s just exactly what you’re made of.

When you look back in your old age, won’t you regret not drinking that last daiquiri?

The Backpacker Bus

It’s like Spring Break, but on a bus. Do you really want to be that guy who brought his wife Contiki-ing? ‘Nuff said.

The Girlfriend Getaway / Man-cation

We all know that once you put that ball and chain around your finger, longstanding friendships go out the window. It’s the way of the world, right?

Be sure you make time for one last single-sex travel bash before resigning yourself to a lifetime of hotel check-ins as “Mr” and “Mrs”.

There’s a whole industry designed for the ladies, here – spa packages, shopping getaways, and the like – but the demand for mancations is growing fast, too. Go ice-fishing for a weekend, or find some strippers in Vegas. Revel in gender stereotypes while you still can.

(Note: It’s bad form to roll the final friends fling in with the bachelor/bachelorette party. Don’t try to kill two birds with one stone.)

The Solo Quest

The solo quest is the most important trip of all. After all, you can’t find your other half until you’ve found yourself.

A spiritual element is key here, as is setting a specific goal. Seek out a monastery and apprentice yourself to one of the enlightened souls within, preferably somewhere in Asia.

Walk a famous pilgrimage route – bonus points if you shuffle the whole way on your knees.

Plan a long-distance overland trek taking in many physical and political obstacles – Cairo to Cape Town is a good one, if you have the means. Use an odd form of transport: a kayak, or a unicycle.

Pour your heart and soul into the trip, and keep detailed notes. Even if you don’t find yourself – or your mate – en route, you’re likely to find yourself a book deal.

What are your ideas for trips before typing the knot? Share you thoughts in the comments!

Photo by junku-newcleus

Recently I was talking to a female friend of mine – a friend who is incredibly gutsy when it comes to solo travel.

We were talking about my bar-hopping habit when I travel solo, and she mentioned how impressed she was by my ability to wander into a local drinking hole on the road and make myself at home.

Really? But hadn’t she survived crowds of elderly Chinese women on a Yangtze river cruise, staring at her while she peed, fascinated by her pale white butt? Hadn’t she been stranded in rural Siberia, when that famous train pulled out of the station without her?

Yes, she said. But she still found going into bars, alone and in foreign climes, pretty intimidating. I told her that for me, it was the opposite: drinking alone was the easiest part.

For anyone else who might be intimidated by hitting the bar scene solo, here are a few practical tips:

1. Find a Distraction.

It can feel awkward sitting alone at a table, staring into your pint. Writing a postcard or reading a book can work, but those options won’t help you meet people.

Pick a pub with live music playing, or a sports bar with an exciting game on the TV. This not only gives you something to stare at, AND something to talk about with all those new friends you’re about to make – it’s also a great way to learn more about the local culture.

I’ve soaked up live blues in the Mississippi Delta, watched cricket at a beachside shack in Barbados, and cheered the hometown rugby club on in northern New Zealand – all experiences that easily surpass any paid tour I’ve ever taken.

2. Sit at the Bar.

It’s a cliche image: the solo drinker, belly up to the bar, pouring out his (or her) soul to a sympathetic bartender. But most of the time, that image comes true.

Assuming the place isn’t swamped, the staffer behind the bar is likely to ask you about yourself and listen patiently to the answer. That’s her job.

If you’re alone at a table you’re completely isolated from all your fellow solo drinkers. At the bar, you’re all in it together, and you may find yourself passing the evening swapping stories, telling jokes, or – see #1 – cheering on the local team together.

3. The Early Bird Doesn’t Get Harassed.

Photo by malias

This one is especially applicable for solo females: drink in the afternoon.

Times are changing, but in many parts of the world (and even at home in North America) there can still be a stigma or a set of assumptions attached to a woman alone in a bar at night.

Some people might assume that your only reason for being there is to get picked up, and while a little flirting can be fun, I’m guessing a whole evening of propositions from random men isn’t what you had in mind.

An afternoon setting is much more casual, and less fraught with expectations. Not that I’m saying you should stay in at night! But starting early means you leave yourself plenty of time to make some new friends before the sun goes down.

The reverse is true for the guys as well: Drinking alone at night, it might be harder for you to meet people, as they may assume you are on the prowl. Fair? Not really. But hey, getting started in the afternoon is a pleasant price to pay for old stereotypes that won’t die.

4. Ask about Local Specialties.

Not every bartender is going to get chummy right away, but most often there’s one surefire way to get them to open up.

Recently I wandered into an intimidatingly local pub in Brooklyn, full of thickly-accented regulars and a classic close-mouthed New York bartender who didn’t give a f*ck.

I’d been hovering awkwardly by the bar for a few minutes when the bartender finally deigned to acknowledge me. I asked him about local microbrews, and – just like that! – he was all smiles and chitchat.

I wound up sampling a few different options before settling on a special Christmas ale, and – naturally – turning my attention to the Giants game on the screen above the bar.

5. It’s All in the Attitude.

The key to drinking alone is the vibe you give off: you want to seem friendly and approachable, but not predatory or needy. Staring at your table or your book will ensure that you stay solo – which is fine, if that’s what you’re after.

But if you’d like to meet your fellow patrons, make eye contact with people and smile. Comment out loud on the game, or clap loudly (and look around you while doing so) after a musician has finished his set.

Don’t be afraid to start a conversation with your neighbor – and don’t be surprised if he starts one with you first.

What are your tips for meeting people when drinking alone? Share in the comments!

LP writer Thomas Kohnstamm…in hell.

EDITOR’S UPDATE:

New information on this issue has clarified Thomas’ confessions and it’s now clear that the mainstream media sources on which Eva based her post were straight-up wrong.

We’ve decided to leave Eva’s article up, but please be sure to read her follow-up comment and BNT contributing editor Tim Patterson’s take on the whole hullabaloo.

Here’s the original article:

I’ve always been a big fan of Lonely Planet’s guidebooks.

I love their sassy, youthful tone, their emphasis on low-impact and alternative travel options, their rejection of freebies from bigwig hotel chains, and the way their authors manage to find vegetarian-friendly budget options worldwide.

So imagine my surprise when I made the rounds of my usual travel blogs this morning, and came across this item on Gadling: “Lonely Planet writer admits he never visited country he wrote about.”

It seems long-time LP writer Thomas Kohnstamm has outed himself as a fraud, telling News Ltd. that not only has he plagiarized or fabricated large portions of his 12+ Lonely Planet guidebooks, but he even failed entirely to visit one of the countries he wrote about.

“They didn’t pay me enough to go (to) Columbia,” he is quoted as saying. “I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating – an intern in the Colombian Consulate.”

My first thought (after a few four-letter words with alternating question and exclamation marks after them) was: Why? Why, if you’d gotten away with something so outrageous, would you own up to it voluntarily?

A quick Google search on Kohnstamm answered my question. His first travel narrative, “Do Travel Writers Go To Hell? A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics and Professional Hedonism”, is due out next week.

Kohnstamm, it seems, is a believer in that old chestnut about there being no such thing as “bad” publicity. He is taking a calculated risk that the scandal surrounding his admissions, instead of leaving him blacklisted for life, will carry his book right onto the bestseller lists.

Sadly, he’s probably right.

The Plagiarism Double-Standard

Think back. It hasn’t been that long since another major plagiarism scandal rocked American journalism. Remember Jayson Blair?

Blair was a young reporter who resigned from the New York Times in May 2003, after it was found that an astonishing 36 of his national news articles for the paper – including high-profile items on the Beltway sniper, Jessica Lynch, and wounded American soldiers in Iraq – had been fabricated or plagiarized from other authors.

After he was drummed out, the Times executive editor and managing editors followed, paying the price for their failure to catch Blair sooner.

Though he published a tell-all memoir in 2004 (even accusing the Times of racism) to my knowledge Jayson Blair has never worked in newspaper again.

So, will the same fate befall Thomas Kohnstamm?

I’d be surprised if Lonely Planet offers him a contract again anytime soon. But what about everyone else? Kohnstamm has also written travel articles for the likes of the Denver Post, the Miami Herald, Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, Travel + Leisure, Time Out New York, and the Los Angeles Times.

Did he fabricate any of those pieces? Will anyone check? Most importantly, will anyone care?

The reality is that travel writing isn’t considered “real journalism” by the powers that be, and Kohnstamm knows it. So what ended Jayson Blair’s career could instead see Thomas Kohnstamm laughing all the way to the bank.

A Million Little Lies

Laughing all the way to the bank…and then his chair.

What about the book? Early reviews describe it as a funny and hard-hitting read that chronicles Kohnstamm’s boozing and womanizing in Brazil, while also exposing the ugly underbelly of the guidebook writing world.

But am I going to be the only one reading it with a whole shaker worth of salt? The man is a self-admitted plagiarizer and fraud. Isn’t it a safe assumption that some of his “wacky misadventures” and encounters with beautiful Brazilenas are figments of his imagination?

Again, that all-important question: Will anyone care?

Travel writing in newspaper form may not be considered hard journalism, but on the other side of things, travel writing in book form has always been closely related to memoir. And it’s clear that readers care about the honesty of their memoirists, as James Frey learned in 2006.

After the folks at The Smoking Gun cut his memoir of drug addiction, A Million Little Pieces, into, well, a million little pieces, Frey was dumped by his publisher and, most famously, confronted by Oprah Winfrey on national TV. Still, he’s an author on the rebound, with a new book – carefully labeled a “novel” rather than a “memoir” – due out this summer.

Will Kohnstamm’s admissions mean his book gets a careful going-over from The Smoking Gun, or even from a lone critic with time on his hands? Probably not.

It was the scale of Frey’s “embellishments”, and the emotional connection millions of readers had made with the subject matter of his book that led to the backlash. No one is going to feel hurt or betrayed if it turns out that Kohnstamm has tossed back a few fictional shots of rum, or “embellished” the size of some hot Brazilian chick’s tatas.

Things Get Personal

So if newspaper editors don’t care, and readers don’t care, you might be asking yourself: Why am I so worked up about this?

Let’s go back to those first thoughts of mine, when I came across that original Gadling post. After the four-letter words, the exclamation marks, and the “Why? WHY?” came this:

“Hey asshole! If you didn’t think the Colombia gig paid well enough to make it worthy of your time, why not pass on the assignment and let some poor struggling writer sitting in her tiny apartment waiting for a break take it on?”

Kohnstamm has done several things at once here:

1. seriously undermined the credibility of an enormous publishing house that – in my opinion, anyway – does some pretty good work in the world
2. re-proven in the minds of many editors that travel writers as a group are not to be taken seriously – and hey, guess what, it doesn’t benefit any of us in the long run to be considered a bunch of plagiarizing hacks
3. taken opportunities away from other young writers who might have actually been willing to do the job they were paid for
4. and done it all deliberately, in the name of his own self-enrichment. Nice guy, right?

What We Can Do

You might be thinking: Eva, aren’t you just playing his game by writing him up like this?

Well, yes and no. I won’t be buying his book, and I hope you won’t either. Read it in one of those comfy chairs at Borders if you must, but please, for the love of journalistic ethics, don’t spend a cent on it.

Furthermore, if you’d like to politely suggest to Kohnstamm’s book publisher that you don’t think much of them employing a lying, plagiarizing, self-congratulatory hack, you can email his publicist at jsones@randomhouse.com.

You can also contact Kohnstamm directly via his website.

I’ll also be keeping an eye on the response to the book as it comes out, and if I see many reviews running without a mention of Kohnstamm’s status as a guidebook con-man, I’d be happy to post the relevant editors’ email addresses in the comments section below this post for follow-up.

C’mon, Brave New Travelers. Let’s prove there IS such a thing as “bad” publicity!

If you’re not seething yet, try Aaron Hotfelder’s 5 Reasons To Be Outraged By The Lonely Planet Fraud.

For a more intellectual and far-ranging take on travel writing, memoir, and “truth”, check out Tom Bissell’s excellent World Hum essay, Truth in Oxiana.

Is Kohnstamm’s carefully timed confession a harmless publicity stunt or a shameful outrage? Please leave a comment below!

Read the editor’s follow-up to this post:

The Real Story Behind the Thomas Kohnstamm Affair

You can control how often you move from city to city and where you stay en route, and of course you can restrict the cost and number of your daytime activities as needed.

But you have to eat, and that’s not going to change no matter how much cash is left in your account.

The first time I went traveling, in Australia, I stuck to my budget religiously – which was great. But in doing so, I subsisted almost entirely on Styrofoam cups of noodles and the occasional can of soup. Not so great.

Since then, I’ve vowed to find ways to eat well while still saving money. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way:

1. Book The Right Hostel

Plenty of hostels these days claim to have a “kitchen for guest use” – but sometimes that means a fully-functioning kitchen, and other times it means a hot plate on a folding table.

Poke around on the hostel’s website to see if you can find a specific list of facilities within the kitchen, or if possible, ask an employee over the phone. Fridge, stove and sink are a minimum, and microwaves and kettles are gravy. (Not to mention pots and pans to cook things in…)

The better the kitchen, the more likely you are to actually cook a decent meal.

2. Know Where To Shop

Don’t just wander into the nearest corner store and stock up on instant packaged meals. Ask around to find out where the nearest large supermarket is, or (even better) the local fresh produce market.

As well as providing variety and better prices, these places can be attractions in themselves – one of the highlights of my stay in Budapest was trying to navigate a huge grocery store where no one spoke English, and all the products were unfamiliar, labeled in Hungarian.

(Hint: If you’re looking for mayo in Budapest, it’s in the toothpaste tube with the cartoon egg on the package!)

For variety, you can also seek out the local ‘Chinese grocery’ – these are found everywhere, and range from full-on Asian specialty food shops to corner stores that happen to be run by Asian immigrants, who almost inevitably also sell products from their home country.

In Europe my standard fare was pasta and tomato sauce, beefed up with peppers, zucchini or eggplant, and cheese. So after a while it was great to stumble on an Asian food store in a back alley in Florence and treat myself to a Thai-style yellow curry!

3. Buy Items That Multi-Task

Even if you’re traveling with a friend, it can be tough to use up entire bags of rice or pasta, or whole blocks of cheese, before you move on to your next stop. Planning out your meals, using overlapping ingredients, can really help.

My typical grocery list includes bread (toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, maybe a slice with dinner), lettuce (sandwiches for lunch, a bit of salad with dinner), cheese (again, lunch and dinner), and then pasta, sauce and veggies.

The key here is to rotate through different sets of ingredients, so even if you’re eating one food for every meal in Madrid, you’re at least eating something different for every meal in Barcelona.

4. Share with others

Self-catering is one of many aspects of travel that can become easier if you’re with a buddy: costs are split, food gets used up sooner, and it’s not always your turn to do the dishes.

But even for a solo traveler, it’s easy enough to find someone to share a meal with – it’s usually as simple as walking into the hostel kitchen or common area a little before dinner time and asking.

Pooling money and ideas usually results in a more interesting meal, and makes cooking more fun, too.

5. Always Have a Back-up Plan

The times I’ve spent the most money on the least-enjoyable meals have inevitably been when something goes wrong in transit. The train breaks down, the flight gets cancelled, and, trapped somewhere with an empty stomach and few options, I find myself spending a small fortune on a damp sandwich and a cup of flat pop.

To save yourself from wasting money on entirely undesirable meals, always have a small, lightweight emergency food supply. Mine generally involves granola bars and dried fruit, and sometimes I carry small packets of powdered miso soup, too, so protein is only a kettle away.

6. Reap the Benefits

Make sure you don’t get so caught up in grocery budgeting that you forget about trying the local specialties entirely.

On your last night in a city, or after a particularly long day, put some of the money you’ve saved from all your self-catering towards a really nice meal. Ask fellow travelers where they’ve enjoyed eating, stop people on the street, hit up your hostel staff for advice – obviously, the place you pick doesn’t have to be expensive to provide a mind-blowingly memorable meal.

But thanks to all your careful self-catering, if there is a higher-end place that’s calling out to you, you can go ahead and treat yourself! You’ve earned it.

What tips do you have for self-catering in hostels? Share in the comments!

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Edmonton Journal, and Matador Travel.

I was working on my fourth glass of complimentary champagne and talking to Matthew Polly, a faculty member and author of the travel/kung fu memoir, American Shaolin.

“Playboy!” I was saying, waving my glass for emphasis. “I don’t think I could even go into a store and buy a Playboy, let alone aspire to write for them someday.”

The problem I was trying to explain was this: ever since I had started seriously thinking about trying to make it as a travel writer, I had noticed that a lot of the best travel narratives out there were being published by men’s magazines like GQ, Esquire, Men’s Journal, and yes, even Playboy.

The magazine my idols were writing for, the one I should logically hope to write for someday, was kept under plastic on the top shelf at my local newsstand, right below the security camera.

“I counted up all the entries in all seven editions of the Best American Travel Writing,” I continued, “and then I counted up all the other magazines that all those authors had written for. I made charts! Graphs!”

Matthew Polly, who has himself written for both Playboy and Esquire, looked impressed. Or possibly weirded out. “I mean, does Playboy even publish articles written by women?”

“Sure,” he said calmly. “If your story’s good enough.”

Hearing him say that made me feel a little better about my future in the industry. But it didn’t answer the question that had first occurred to me when I noticed that one of the Best American anthologies had more selections from Men’s Journal than from all the big-name travel glossies combined.

The Plot Thickens

Why is so much of the best travel writing today running in men’s magazines? And conversely, why do women’s magazines abstain almost entirely from running quality travel narratives, sticking instead to “charticles” about beaches and fake tanner?

I emailed several well-known travel writers to find out.

At first I thought the connection between the big-name men’s mags and travel writing must be the popularity of adventure travel – the traditional domain of your stereotypical rugged outdoorsman, though of course that’s starting to change.

Jim Benning, co-editor of World Hum and a freelancer for publications like Outside, National Geographic Traveler and National Geographic Adventure, agrees that extreme outdoor travel is part of the equation:

“Men like to think of themselves as the adventurer-explorer types, even if they spend most of their time in cubicles,” Benning told me. “It gets at that Hemingway archetype that’s still strong in North America today. Men no longer go through rites of passage rituals as they did centuries ago, but I think men still have a need to test themselves in the world, and travel and adventure is one of the ways men do that today.”

That made a lot of sense. But I was still wondering about all those travel narratives I’d encountered in GQ or Esquire that had nothing to do heli-skiing or canyon-running or dog-sledding or mountain-climbing.

What was driving the editors of men’s magazines to run these long, first-person narratives? Why didn’t the staffers at Elle or Glamour do the same?

And for that matter, what was stopping women’s magazines from running something comparable to the adventure stuff, using stereotypically “feminine” subjects?

The Edge of the Abyss

There was a tiny voice in my head the whole time I was thinking about this question.

The voice was saying, “Stop! Stop while you’re ahead! If you’re not careful you’re going to find out that none of your female peers want anything to do with thoughtful, intellectually-stimulating narratives about far-away places.”

Deep down, I was a bit afraid that the average Esquire reader was simply more engaged with the world than the average Glamour reader.

Thankfully, though, my interviewees all dismissed the idea. Tom Bissell, whose stories have appeared in Esquire, Men’s Health and Men’s Journal, and whose resume was one of the first to get me thinking about the question, suggested publishing tradition was more to blame than readership preferences.

“I would imagine that if a magazine such as O or Elle published a gritty travel piece about Burma, many of their readers would respond favorably. I think that men’s magazines publish such pieces more reflexively has a lot to do with the traditions behind magazines aimed at men, which are about an entirely different sort of wish-fulfillment than magazines traditionally aimed at women. In other words, we’re working within an eighty-year-old paradigm and don’t appear fully to realize it.”

Matthew Polly agreed that there was a different dynamic at work.

“I think women’s magazines tend to trade in envy rather than desire,” he told me when I contacted him for a (sober) follow-up to our conversation at Book Passage. And he suggested that the serious content in men’s mags was partly required to balance out the smut:

“To justify buying a soft-core porn magazine, a Playboy reader needed a couple of serious articles by serious authors in every issue. GQ & Esquire really are the same, just with more clothing. Women’s magazines are not really as racy.”

The Cold Hard Facts

Just to be sure that my fears were unfounded, I did a bit of poking around on the web and came up with some demographic numbers: Outside’s female readership is 33%, while 55% of The New Yorker’s readers are women. Travel and Leisure’s female readers clock in at 52%, and Budget Travel’s readership is the highest of all, at 66%.

So clearly, there are plenty of women out there who are interested in travel, and in longer, intellectual magazine articles. I was relieved, but I still didn’t have an answer to my question.

It was David Farley, a travel writer who has contributed to both Playboy and GQ, who got me thinking about male and female spending habits.

He noted that women buy more books (and presumably, magazines) than men. But, he suggested, different magazines serve different purposes for their female readers: “Magazines like The New Yorker, which is a general magazine and read (I suspect) by as many women as men help fill the void for interesting travel narratives that women’s magazines don’t supply.”

Polly agreed, suggesting that there is a difference in the way men and women consume magazines:

“Men read magazines in far fewer numbers and less frequently, but when they do they want to feel like it was really worth their time. So men’s magazines have a smaller, more selective market, kinda like HBO. Whereas women’s magazines are more like network TV, because the audience is bigger and less critical. I watch women on airplanes and they will have half-a-dozen magazines that they flip through quickly. A man will have one.”

I pondered Farley’s suggestion about subject-specific female reading habits, combined with Polly’s (extremely accurate) observation about the number of magazines women go through on your average flight. Was that the answer?

Personal Reflection

I decided to conduct an unscientific survey of one woman’s magazine readership: my own. I knocked the dust off the stack of magazines that have accumulated next to my bed in the year since I moved in, and counted them up.

My dearly departed Jane led the pack with seven issues, while In Style, The New Yorker, Glamour, Vanity Fair, and The Walrus had two each. Rounding out the pile were single issues of Outside, National Geographic Traveler, Cosmopolitan, Harpers, The Atlantic, People, Travel and Leisure, Vogue, Outpost, and Elle.

Quite the mixed bag. The GQs and Esquires of the world cover everything from gadgets and girls to books, politics, and travel. But their female equivalents, the Glamours and In Styles, really don’t get much beyond hair, make-up and clothes – hence my varied magazine collection.

Maybe, just maybe, when women want to read about travel, we buy travel magazines.

When we want to read about the arts and current affairs, we buy intellectually-oriented generalist publications. And when we really just want to read about shoes, handbags, and Nine Ways To Blow His Mind, we buy women’s magazines.

Can it really be that simple? I don’t have all the answers, but whatever the reason it looks like I’ll have to come to terms with men’s magazines if I want to make it in this business.

If anyone gives me trouble when I’m perusing that plastic-wrapped top shelf, I’ll just have to tell them: it’s for the articles.

Why do you think there’s never quality travel writing in women’s magazines?

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Edmonton Journal, and Matador Travel.

This year is no exception: he begins with a report about a shark attack in New Jersey, an exceedingly rare event that led to the almost-instantaneous publication of helpful sidebars and advice boxes on How To Survive A Shark Attack in the local papers.

This leads Wilson to a discussion of the “If You Go” boxes that accompany most travel content: “Presumably, this information is there in case you want to duplicate the writer’s trip on your own.”

But the stories in his anthology – and, I think, the stories I’ve selected here today – come without any practical sidebars, because they can’t be replicated. And in Wilson’s words,

“That’s because, like all great travel writing, each of the stories collected here is born of a singular experience, point of view, and voice. Each of them is a rare achievement. Perhaps even rarer than a shark attack in New Jersey.”

Enjoy!

1) War Zones for Idiots, by Tom Bissell

Tom Bissell first caught my attention for some thoughtful stories about his travels in Vietnam with his father, a veteran of the war. In this World Hum dispatch he winds up in the middle of a present-day conflict, after walking across the Friendship Bridge from Uzbekistan and into Afghanistan in 2002, in the early days of the US-led invasion.

Bissell’s brutal honesty about his unpreparedness for war-zone reporting, in contrast to the hard-drinking, hard-bitten correspondents he is surrounded by, is as fascinating as his observations about the time and place that he finds himself in.

2) Cowboys and Indians, Thai-style, by Rolf Potts

I won’t go too far into the debate over eating fast food in foreign countries here, but I’ve always thought that an unexpected encounter with the familiar while traveling can be as eye-opening as any museum-going or “authentic” cultural excursion I might undertake.

I try to create those encounters with the familiar by stopping into a Burger King or a McDonalds, even if just to look, in almost every country I visit. In this story, Rolf Potts takes the idea much further – visiting a “cowboy resort” in Thailand to see their take on the American West. Hilarious and insightful as always.

3) Walking the Line, by Ryan Murdock

In this feature from Canada’s own Outpost Magazine, Ryan Murdock takes on one of the toughest walking trails in the North West Territories – and as in all the best adventure stories, the trip doesn’t turn out as he expected. Beautifully written, and mixing history in with the main narrative, the story also includes a spectacular shot of the Northern Lights as a bonus. Here’s a quick excerpt:

“The beauty of the North is cold and unforgiving. It isn’t malevolent, simply indifferent. The land is tolerating you and that’s all. You realize how easy it would be to die out there. You feel dwarfed by the land and by time, and you come to understand the folly of the day-to-day with its shallow self-importance. In the bigger picture, your existence doesn’t matter very much, nor do your hopes, dreams or schemes.”

4) Things Come Together: A Journey Through Literary Lagos, by Frank Bures

A night out at an author’s book reading might not strike most people as fodder for a good travel story, but this story by Frank Bures proves those people wrong. It is about a night in Lagos with some of Nigeria’s new literary elite, and it mixes history, literature, and some great dialogue with the young authors. Not to mention one of the more enticing descriptions of a city that I have ever read:

“In Lagos, there is a story on every corner, a novella standing in every doorway. The wind blows poems across the city like the bits of trash cover it. Lagos is a huge Dickensian space full of heartbreak and humor and millions of souls putting themselves up against the hard edge of the world. The city is pulsing with stories that flow through its streets.”

Hide your piggy banks, folks. If you’re anything like me, writing like that will make you want to book a flight.

5) Thailand, by Jim Benning

In yet another unexpected encounter with the familiar, Jim Benning spends an evening at a Sizzler restaurant in southern Thailand.

I had the pleasure of hearing Benning read this essay this past summer at the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference, and it’s the best defence I’ve come across yet for my occasional forays into chain restaurants and fast food outlets around the world.

A thoughtful meditation on the familiar, the exotic, and the blurred lines between the two.

Have you come across any great travel stories recently? Share in the comments!

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Edmonton Journal, and Matador Travel.

We come out of curiosity about another country’s religious traditions, or to see the incredible artistic and architectural creations, or simply to soak in that solemn, reverential vibe so strikingly absent from almost all other aspects of modern life.

And therein lies the dilemma: if enough of us stampede into holy places, won’t it be destroyed by our chit-chatting, camera-clicking presence? Well, not necessarily. Or at least, not entirely.

Here are a few reminders to help you minimize your impact – to reduce your tourist footprint – while you travel to the holy places of the world.

Before You Go

If you’re heading to a predominantly Hindu country, why not brush up on the basic tenets of the religion? I’m not suggesting that you memorize all the various deities involved, or learn to recite the Ramayana, but some basic background shouldn’t be hard to acquire.

Knowing what’s going on around you will not only enhance your experience; it will make you much less likely to spoil someone else’s visit, or worse, offend a local worshiper. And it will save you the embarrassment of showing up in Prague’s historic Jewish district on a Saturday, because you’ll already know that the synagogues are closed to the public then.

This applies not only to those “exotic” eastern religions like Daoism or Buddhism, but also to those that may be more familiar to you. Isn’t it about time you found out why the Eastern Orthodox churches broke with Rome almost a millennium ago? Or brushed up on the major points of disagreement between the Church of England and Scottish Presbyterianism?

Religious history, all too often, is not much different from political history, and it’s worth knowing a bit about it before you start your trip.

What To Wear, What Not To Wear

One thing every major religion has in common is an aversion to scantily-clad mortals in its houses of worship. For guys, shorts are almost always a no-no, and for girls, short skirts and cleavage are equally taboo.

Visible shoulders and under-arms are often frowned upon also, so regardless of your gender, always travel with at least one pair of long pants (or a long, loose-fitting skirt) and a shirt that covers at least your upper arms.

Beyond those general rules, each religion has its own strictures, whether it be a ban on leather in a Jain temple, or a woman’s hair being covered in a mosque. These specifics are normally clearly signed, and most places that require extra covering (such as a headscarf) will provide them.

Even if there is no one physically enforcing the dress code, always observe it. You are visiting by choice; if you have a personal or philosophical objection to clothing restrictions you are more than welcome to boycott the institution in question.

The Big Issue: Photography

Of course, as tourists we always want to take photos. (What’s the point of visiting a famous landmark if you can’t take a million photos to post on Facebook later, right?) Often, though, the caretakers of the church or temple you are visiting will have decided that clicking, flashing cameras – and the contortions involved in getting that perfect shot – are not suitable for a holy building.

Most often, the places that allow photography are the same places that charge admission, while those that do not allow photography allow anyone to visit for free.

Photography, along with ticket booths, can detract from the spiritual nature of a place, so in these latter cases, the caretakers are attempting to preserve the original purpose of the building even at the expense of some lost revenue. Respect their decision by treating the building as what it is – a spiritual haven for many people – and not as a made-for-tourists hotspot.

If there is no sign, don’t assume photography is allowed – ask someone. Even if it is allowed, they will appreciate your concern.

Additional charges for photography, in places that already charge for admission, may seem like a money grab. But I’ve seen these additional charges in the poorer areas of Asia or Eastern Europe – which means they add up to a few extra pennies for the average visitor. Pay up. After all, how much support do you think the government of India can really afford to give its thousands (or millions) of temples?

Leave Your Politics At Home, But Pack Your Common Sense

Got a beef with the Catholic Church because of their stance on condom use in an HIV-positive era? Fine. Write a letter, attend a rally, post a video on YouTube, but don’t take your anger out on your fellow visitors to St. Peters or the Vatican Museums.

There is a time and a place for political gestures – and frankly, just by paying admission you’re undermining any point you may be trying to make once you’re inside. Dress codes vary, photography rules come and go, but the bottom line when you are visiting these holy places is to remember that they are very, very important to some of your fellow human beings.

You may not share their faith, you may even disagree with it strongly, but if you are going to visit a house of worship the least you can do is show respect. That means not hopping the barrier to strike a faux-pious pose next to the altar. It means turning your cell phone off, and keeping your voice down while you’re admiring the artwork. It means staying in your seat if you’ve decided to save a few dollars by attending a service instead of visiting as a tourist.

Most of all, it means opening your eyes, reading the signs, asking questions, and doing your best to make your visit as unobtrusive as possible.

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Edmonton Journal, and Matador Travel.

Were these tips helpful? Leave a comment below!

Book Passage was a blast.

After four full days of workshops and discussion panels, and four late nights of informal schmoozing, I came away with some great advice, some new friends, and a serious cumulative hangover.

Here are 9 tips I picked up about writing and selling travel stories.

1. Is Your Destination Mature Or Immature?

According to San Francisco Chronicle travel editor John Flinn, “mature” destinations – places that readers will already know a lot about, like Paris, or Cancun – require a narrower focus or a more unusual angle.

“Immature” destinations, on the other hand – Papua New Guinea, say, or Nunavut – can be covered more broadly. Decide which category your destination falls into, and plan your research or structure your story accordingly.

2. Don’t Be A Gusher

From South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel editor Thomas Swick’s Ten Sins of Travel Writing: #5 is Travel Stories That Gush.

“Bad writers pick up on all the predictable things and, in hopes of elevating them to a grander status, write noisily about them. Good writers notice the unexpected things and present them calmly, without fuss.”

3. It’s About The Place, Not Your Trip

Founding San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle travel editor Georgia Hesse suggested minimizing your presence in a story by writing a draft in the first person without using the word “I”.

John Flinn offered a similar exercise, telling us to try writing a first draft in the third person, then identify the key points and insert first person anecdotes to illustrate them.

4. The Name Is Bond…

A gripping travel story is like a James Bond movie.

One approach is to think of your lead and your nutgraf – the subsequent paragraph that tells the reader the basics of the situation – as following the same structure as a Bond flick,

Plunge the reader into a dramatic opening sequence (think 007 skiing down a mountain firing over his shoulder at baddies in a helicopter) and then cut to M’s office to explain what the baddies wanted and how Bond is going to foil them.

John Flinn shared this one with us, but I believe he credited it to adventure writer extraordinaire Tim Cahill.

5. Start With Newspapers (And Online)

The faculty all agreed that newspapers (and online) are the place to start for beginning writers.

Several editors noted that spelling their names correctly is a good first step towards getting published; others suggested endearing yourself by matching your accompanying “If You Go” information to the paper’s existing format.

John Flinn added that good photos can be the difference between a sale and a rejection – but no “neutron-bomb” photos, he said, referring to carefully composed cityscapes that are seemingly devoid of life.

6. With Magazines, Start Out Small

Front-of-book stories, the short bits and pieces generally found at the beginning of a magazine, are the place to start.

Larry Bleiberg of Coastal Living pointed out that “charticles” are a popular trend these days: stories where the information is arranged in a table or other visual display rather than in full sentences and paragraphs. Think “Hot Sauces Around the World” or “Top 5 Sake-tinis in San Francisco”.

This stuff is not for the literary travel essayists and purists among us, but – so they tell me – it works.

7. “Riga is the new Prague!”

John Flinn suggested that there are a few angles or stories that most papers are always in the market for: “______ on the cheap”, “______ is the new _____” or, “Sure, _____ used to suck, but now…”

He added that editors love to have a number thrown into the title: 7 Cheap Sleeps in NYC, 1000 Things to See Before You Die, or even 9 Things I Learned at Book Passage.

8. Enchant Your Audience

Another tip from Thomas Swick’s Ten Sins of Travel Writing: #10 Stories That Fail To Enchant.

“So few travel stories convey any sense of the wonder of travel. They are dry compilations of information relieved, so their authors think, by “cute” leads of unbearable triteness.

Yet a travel story, in the right hands, can have the narrative flow of a short story, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay, and the elegance of poetry.”

9. Be Prepared!

Finally, just like a boy scout, always be prepared.

Two unbreakable travel rules from Georgia Hesse: Go to the bathroom whenever you see one, and never leave home without a good corkscrew.

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Edmonton Journal, and Matador Travel.

Were these tips helpful? Leave a comment below!

Unfortunately for the budget traveler, Britain is also one of the world’s most expensive destinations.

The cost of living is considered unreasonably high by many of the British themselves, and when you factor in the exchange rate as well – sterling easily outweighs most other currencies – things can get pricey.

But don’t give up and head for South East Asia just yet. I spent last year studying in a tiny corner of England’s north east, and on weekends and holidays I made it to more than 40 cities, villages, and national parks – all on a student’s budget.

Here are a few pence-pinching tips I picked up along the way.

Location, Location, Location

Of course there are ways to save money in London.

But an even easier way to save money is to minimize your time there: prices drop substantially in other major cities like Newcastle, Glasgow, and Liverpool, and they plunge again if you leave the cities behind entirely.

Too many travelers zip from London to Manchester to Edinburgh before flying home. Try passing some time in a smaller town or village – you’ll not only save money, but you’ll experience Britain’s amazing diversity of accents, architecture, scenery, and local brews.

Narrowing your focus can also reduce costs. Pick a region or county that interests you, and stay for a week or more: base yourself in the main city and make day trips into the country, or just move slowly from town to town.

Either way, you’re saving on long-range transit costs, and if you make a home base for yourself you’ll also have more flexibility in your grocery shopping.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (er, Buses)

Think carefully before you buy the most expansive (and expensive) Britrail pass you can find.

Are you really going to be taking long-distance train rides every day of your trip? Divide the cost of your pass by the number of days it covers, then check out the National Rail fares for single tickets between the places you’re interested in.

How many of them are worth less than a day of your rail pass?

Rule of thumb: a ride of more than an hour is likely to be worth a day on your rail pass. Less than that, and you’re losing money.

Try one of the more flexible passes, with fewer travel days over a longer period of time, and use it strictly for long-haul trips. For day trips, always ask about a “Cheap Day Return” fare – these are discount tickets that must be bought and used on the day of travel.

If you’re under twenty-six and you’re in the country for awhile, a Young Person’s Railcard may also be a good investment: twenty pounds buys a year’s worth of discounts on most fares.

The train is the classic way to travel Britain, but these days budget airlines like RyanAir, Easy Jet, or BMI Baby are often cheaper for long distances.

Remember to check airplane schedules carefully, to see if secondary airports or early-morning departures are going to add pricey taxi rides to your costs. For shorter distances – if you’re sticking to one or two counties – local bus companies cover a surprising amount of ground, including stops in flyspeck villages, and are almost always cheaper than the main bus carrier, National Express.

Room and Board

Britain has an incredible hostel network, including plenty in small towns and even some entirely away from civilization, at various points along the country’s many long-distance walking trails.

Independent hostels will tend to be cheaper than the YHA/HI options, as well as being friendlier, cozier, and far more likely to have self-catering kitchen facilities.

There are also more than 16,000 registered Couchsurfers in Britain, and tracking one down who’s willing to host you is a great way to save some money and meet a local.

The cheapest grocery chain for self-catering is Tesco, and if you’re not big on cooking Iceland has a huge selection of dirt-cheap frozen meals – think a large cheese pizza for £1.50.

For breakfast or lunch on the go, try one of the ubiquitous “bakeries” – shops selling muffins, donuts, and traditional fare like sausage rolls or cheese pasties.

The most common chains are Gregg’s, Peter’s Bakery, or Baker’s Oven. These places all sell sandwiches to go as well, as do all major grocery chains, and unlike bland packaged sandwiches in North America the British variety tend to be fresh and tasty.

Pharmacy chain Boots has one of the best deals going: a sandwich, drink, and snack for just over three pounds.

You’re in town, fed, and housed – now what?

Many museums and galleries are free, especially in London, and most smaller churches (and a few remaining large cathedrals) are entirely open to the public, although donations are encouraged.

Even the larger, big-name cathedrals, like Canterbury or Westminster Abbey, are still free during services – but if you choose this option, do be respectful and don’t leave your seat to wander around taking pictures.

If castles and ruins are your thing, then look into an English Heritage pass: they have passes for short-term visits and longer memberships that will get you free admission for designated English Heritage properties, as well as half-price on Welsh and Scottish sites.

I paid off my twenty-pound, one-year student membership just by visiting Dover Castle, Stonehenge, and Edinburgh Castle – and made it to several more sites as well.

English Heritage properties and the Scottish and Welsh equivalents are worth checking out even if you don’t want a pass.

Many of their smaller sites are free, and often found in rural, low-tourism areas; in other words, exactly places you should be checking out if you want to get the most bang for your British buck.

Eva Holland is a historical researcher and freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. She is a blogger for World Hum and for Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging, and her travel writing has appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Edmonton Journal, and Matador Travel.

Any budget travel tips for Britain that we missed? Share in the comments!