British ex-pat Steve Jackson writes a somewhat colourful, often cranky and usually entertaining blog called Our Man in Cameroon, documenting his life as a VSO worker in Africa. In a recent post, he wonders why the development charity is having trouble recruiting the 10 people needed for his location in Bamenda, and grouses that many […]

I’ve always wished I could play a musical instrument. But I’d never thought much about how music can bridge the gaps between cultures until a friend passed along a link to this video at Global Post, an online digital news service. Reporter and accordion player Gregory Warner gets an auditorium full of Afghans clapping along…with […]

Interested in renting a house or apartment for your next vacation, but nervous about dealing with total strangers in a rent-by-owner arrangement or a big agency? Don’t despair. According to a new PhoCusWright study of the vacation rental market, there are 1.26 million homes available for short-term rental in the U.S. alone and–here’s the interesting […]

A recent article in The Independent by Simon Calder successfully puts a cheerful spin on the dire state of the British pound. Calder points out that cash-strapped Britons can economize while travelling by taking public transit, shopping in local markets and pursuing all sorts of other “like a local” strategies. He argues they’ll not only […]

Roomorama.com, a peer-to-peer site for arranging short-term room and apartment rentals, is expanding. The site, founded last fall, matches travellers with renters in several North American cities. Its new incarnation–dubbed, not surprisingly, Roomorama 2.0–adds a new calendar, new pricing options and a jazzier design, among other tweaks. The latest upgrade also expands the service to […]

Is couchsurfing is too cushy for you, with all that central heating and indoor plumbing? Then check out SingleSpotCamping.com, a Swedish-based site that matches DIY travellers with the owners of backyards and garage entrances where wanderers can pitch their own tents. You still meet locals–you just don’t have to sleep under their roof. For more, […]

None of us can go everywhere we’d like to visit. But in some cases, our dollars (or euros, or pounds, or whatever) can go there instead. I rarely plug causes on this site, but I’m a big fan of Kiva.org, a microlender that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries with small loans advanced by people all […]

Ottawa is one of those tourist towns with a pretty standard circuit of sites. Visitors tend to come and check the iconic places–the ones that show up on stamps, money and calendars–off their list. Parliament Hill–seen it. Rideau Canal–done it. Big spider at the National Gallery of Canada–check. But as anyone who lives here knows, […]

The current online issue of The Atlantic Monthly includes an article by Lisa Abend on the charms of learning Euskera, the ancient Basque language that has no apparent links to any other tongue. Whenever I read about people studying a language–any language–abroad, I’m immediately gripped by a desire to run away to another culture. I […]

Stacy Johnson of MoneyTalksNews.com is the latest in a series of reporters who have realized that house swapping makes financial sense in a tough economy. His video focuses on a Florida couple who have swapped 20 times.