Take Your Big Trip | Travel Advice, Inspiration, and Stories

In early 2011, Robin and Pierre Devaux traded in their corporate jobs for a couple of backpacks and hit the road. They spent the next eleven months visiting and sampling the local beers of 24 countries on five continents. This essay is an excerpt on how their big trip and career sabbatical changed their lives. [...]

In July 2011, Molly Last began a trip of a lifetime after being awarded a paid sabbatical from her school district. The mantra of her wonderful trip was “Living Life With Arms Wide Open.” Molly is one of the speakers at this year’s Meet Plan Go event in San Francisco. Here is her essay on [...]

In preparation for the big Meet Plan Go event I’m hosting in San Francisco on October 16th, I get to meet all these big trippers: people who have decided to take time off from their life and careers and take a big trip. Completely, wonderfully inspirational. In prep for the event, I asked them: “How [...]

In 2008, I traveled to India for three months. The only goal for that trip was to open my heart. Fresh from leaving one an entire life behind, my broken ticker was closed and cracked and needed a bit of love and compassion to float on in. There were several things I wanted to do [...]

Our destinations spanned the globe: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Africa, Central America, South America, Europe, India, and the Middle East. Our experiences are vast: museums, safaris, walkabouts, music, volunteering, foodie tours, and adventure. And we did it all on our own. In June 2012, Hostelling International Golden Gate Council hosted a panel on Solo Women [...]

Lately, it’s been a bit of a struggle. Do I stay or do I go? Wanderlusty thoughts hit my brain on a daily basis with posts by Sherry Ott in culinary Spanish wonderland, Kelly traversing Morocco, So Many Places taking their big leap, and Never Ending Voyage planning a summer in Tuscany. The other shores, [...]

Alex Leviton and her three traveling companions were whisked away by handsome men in tuxedos in a small town in Umbria. The ladies had asked for directions to a local restaurant, that night’s destination, and ended up in a Fiat. Alex was unsure, really, if these men were going to drop them off at the [...]

Shivering with ANTICI…..PATION*, I start the planning of a Big Trip. For me, planning the trip is almost as fun as going on it. First, I start with an inkling, a desire for a place. This knowing gets me a country or a destination. Then, I research, research, research on what to do, visit, and [...]

It’s kind of embarrassing. Actually, it’s really embarrassing for this former high school German club president and world traveler. I don’t speak another language nor do I have the aptitude to learn. Sure I can pick up phrases on the road, but for long-term learning, no go. It’s like my brain says “NO!” and shuts [...]

“WHACK!” The sound of skin hitting floor reverberated through the eight-person dorm room. Shuffling noises followed, fabric scraping tile and the purveyor of the sounds tumbled out of the hostel room. The noises woke the remaining seven of us in the hostel dorm room awake at about four in the morning. We’d hoped that this [...]