Travel-Stained Life

Here’s a list of sites that we have found particularly helpful, inspiring, and/or entertaining before and during our travels.

Travel Resouces

Lonely Planet-Thorn Tree Forums-Got travel questions? We’ve literally used this for every question we’ve ever had and it works.

Kayak-We use this site often to find cheap airfare in different parts of the world for general dates.

Trip Advisor-Who could go wrong with tripadvisor…world’s most trusted advice right?  Deenaree loves using this to rate the hostels we’ve been to.

Last Known Location-The page that started it all! This couple’s RTW stories inspired us to consider an RTW, too.

Seeking Shangri-La-Ben saw this fellow Couchsurfer and Texan speak at a travel store in Houston a couple years before our trip.  You’ll find great stories of his 2 and a 1/2 year stint around the world along with plenty of incredible pictures.

People We Have Met and Their Sites

Michael Wigge-We met Michael Wigge, a German documentary-maker, in Panama City through a mutual Couchsurfing host.  His site contains both serious and comedic material.

David Crouy-David, a fellow Simon Bolivar Spanish School student, writes about his adventures around South America and has some  lovely pictures to look at.

Bethany and Rob-These RTW trippers were also students with us at Simon Bolivar Spanish School.

Bohemios Cafe and Bar-This bar, owned by our Couchsurfing host (Luigi), is located in Trujillo, Peru and is one cool place to hang out.

Nadege and Eduardo-This French couple is traveling through South America and surfed with a mutual host in La Paz where we learned all about cooking quiche.

Shem and Alistair-We met this English couple on our tour of the Salt Flats of Uyuni.  They were on the last legs of their RTW trip which gave us the opportunity to get some great travel advice.

Javier Gait-Javier was our Couchsurfing host in Resistencia, Argentina and is also traveling around South America at the moment.

Giovanna and Stefano-We met this Italian couple traveling with their children in Kalk Bay, South Africa.  The link is of the villa that they run, but they are also working on a site with travel advice for Italian families.

Leonardo-This link is to Leonardo’s Italian restaurant in Amsterdam.  Although we haven’t been to Amsterdam, we had a taste of his cooking in Kalk Bay and can definitely attest to it’s quality.

Kate and Toby-We met these two at our hostel in Luxor, Egypt.  They have traveled extensively to many parts of the world and keep a blog about their travels.

Ali-Our host in Amman, Jordan has a blog that deals with all issues web security and anything else technology or just plain interesting.

Katie and Hisham-We met Katie and her husband, Hisham, while waiting for visas at the Syrian border.  Her blog tells the story of her new life in Jordan and it offers perspective for American women who may be moving there.

Max-Max and his wife, Isa, hosted us in Paris.  Max is an aspiring short-film maker and this link shows examples of his work.

Raffael-We met Raffael in the dorm room of our hostel during our first night in Frankfurt.  She has been traveling around Europe for 3 months and blogs in vivid language about her experiences.

Andra and Razvan-Our hosts in Romania set on an adventure exploring the Middle East for a month and may soon find themselves traveling around the world.  This is their blog. 

Organizations and Companies

Cambodian Children’s Fund-This organization located in Phnom Penh provides clean water, medical services, and educational opportunities to children and families who live in the city dump.

Mitakuera -From a Guarani word meaning “The Children”, this volunteer organization helps children living in poverty outside of Asuncion, Paraguay.

Simon Bolivar Spanish School-Located in Cuenca, Ecuador, this school is a great place to learn Spanish and Ecuadorian culture as well.

Carpe Diem-We used this company in Quito, Ecuador to book our Galapagos tour and they were very helpful.