How to Travel the World for Less than $60 a day
How much does a year of traveling around the world cost? Certainly a fortune . . . right? A few years ago …
2014
Aruba, a Caribbean Coda
We spent our last week before re-entry to normal life in a beautiful half-way house. Aruba, a little island colonized by the …
The Best of South America in 2-3 Weeks
We spent four months roaming Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, and we want to share what we consider the highlights of that region …
Travel Costs: Colombia Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent for two …
Kicking back on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast
First, a quick update from us: Sadly, we are now home from our Big Trip, getting our feet underneath us, and figuring …
Cartagena, a hot Caribbean beauty
This beauty looks better at night. Because of Cartagena’s miserable and oppressive heat, most people hibernate during the day, but the city …
In Medellin: Thinking Botero, not Escobar
We had a guy named Pablo show us around Medellin. This Pablo is a young guy who founded Real City Tours Medellin and spent …
Playing with Caffeine and Explosives in Colombian Coffee Country
We had a lot of expectations about visiting Colombia’s La Zona Cafetera (coffee country). My coffee nerd husband, who spends his mornings …
Salsa Frenzy in Cali, Colombia
Right from the start, Colombia’s been a party. After we got stamped out of Ecuador, we walked across the no-man’s-land bridge between …
Ecuador, Etc.
It’s not fair, Ecuador. But after the idyllic lifetime highlight that was the Galapagos and what is turning into an insanely great …
2013
Todo Tranquilo in the Galapagos
Last year, our friend Amy bought a beautiful flat in Atlanta. The woman she bought it from was on her way to …
Travel Costs: Peru and the Inca Trail Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent …
Machu Picchu: a whopper for our 100th post!
We got 99 posts but Machu Picchu ain’t one. Until now! Thanks to everyone who is still following along. We really enjoy …
A low water mark at Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca — it sounds so exotic and remote, and the name made you giggle in 7th grade geography (maybe it still …
The Best of Arequipa, Peru
I love when this happens: You show up at a place not expecting much and end up really, really liking it. Hello …
Hit It and Quit It: Quick Stops on Peru’s Gringo Trail
The coastal desert south of Lima is not undiscovered, off-the-beaten-path territory. Still, we needed to kill some time as we slowly worked …
In Lima, Viva La Comida!
After a relaxing and recharging 10 days in Florida, and an all-too-brief layover in our most recent hometown of Atlanta, we arrived …
In Plant City, Back in the Middle of Somewhere
Wow, friends, we have a great new place to share with you! In between the white sand beaches of the Gulf of …
Oktoberfest: It’s All About the Bier
Here’s the scene: herren in lederhosen and frauleins in racy dirndls standing on their seats, beers in hand, swaying and bellowing out …
Travel Costs: Budapest, Hungary Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent …
Budapest: Europe at a bargain price
Wide, leafy avenues, a thriving cafe culture, fine wine, great craft beers, soaking in thermal baths. Not quite what you think of when you …
Turkish Delights: The Best (and Worst) of Turkey
We recently had a friend ask us, “If I wanted to go somewhere exotic, but, you know, without cows roaming the streets …
Travel Costs: Turkey Budget Update
By the way, doesn’t Ataturk look a lot like Grandpa Munster? Anyhow….We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for …
Eating Turkey
Doner kebab — that mysterious tower of layered meat and fat on a rotating vertical spit — is all we knew about …
Down the Rabbit Hole and into Turkey’s Heartland
Sad Update: What an unfortunate blow — our camera was stolen en route to or in Istanbul, so we do not have …
Along the Turkish Riviera
Turkey’s Mediterranean coast was not our first beach stop of the trip. We previously spent some lazy days on the sandy beaches …
Beyond Ephesus: Side Trips from Selcuk
Our first night at our guesthouse right outside of Selcuk, we met Mark, an American defense contractor who had been staying there …
Our E-pistle from Ephesus
To our saintly readers: Where was my head during Sunday School again? Probably on one memorable question posed by my teacher: “What …
Ayvalik, Aegean Idyll
When you think of “Mediterranean fishing village,” the Turkish town of Ayvalik and the nearby island of Cunda (pronounced “Joondah”) are what …
Beyond the Big Three: Istanbul’s Smaller (and Cheaper) Delights
Our group of friends has a saying that, “in life, second round is always better.” While we may have started out talking …
Tomatoes and Granny Panties: Shopping in Istanbul’s Markets
Our very first post on the road, which now seems like very long ago, was about how much we enjoy going to local …
Istanbul, or Constantinople?
Good thing we’re not working on assignment, because Istanbul has made us truant in our blog updates. We’ve been having too much …
Travel Costs: South Africa Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent for two people …
Best of South African Eats
Our regular readers may have noticed we abstained from our regular “Best Of” foodie posts during our time in India. As we …
Flying Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease in Tsitsikamma
It isn’t everywhere that you can swing off of 600-year-old trees by day and have a drink in an old safari hunting …
Making Ourselves at Home at Hillview Apartments in Knysna, SA
We’ve been on the road now for seven months. In that time, we’ve learned some lessons about how we like to travel. …
Doing Nothing at Far Niente on South Africa’s Garden Route
We arrived in a little village called Wilderness under gray, foreboding skies. It was our first stop on the “Garden Route” — …
In Stellenbosch, Pinotage Wishes and Bobotie Dreams at Knorhoek Wine Estate
We knew South Africa produced wine. We knew we wanted some — we hadn’t had a proper glass since leaving Atlanta. That’s …
Sitting Pretty in Cape Town
After three weeks of camping, Cape Town was a wonderful reintroduction to civilization. It does, after all, have what Jordan calls the …
Travel Costs: Africa Overland Safari Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is what it cost to take a …
Truck Life: A day in the life of our African Overland Safari
We spent 24 days traveling from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe through Botswana and Namibia to Cape Town, South Africa with Dragoman, a UK-based …
The Beautiful Landscapes of Namibia
“Unbelievable.” “Spectacular.” “Otherwordly.” “Gorgeous.” “Stunning.” We found ourselves repeating these sorts of words over and over in our two weeks in the …
In Zimbabwe, Tracking Rhinos with The Most Interesting Man In the World
We pride ourselves on not being “tour” people. We don’t like someone else deciding our schedule, our itinerary, and how we should …
The Okavango Delta: Bush Poos and Hippo Grunts
Our itinerary for Botswana read: “Mokoros to bushcamping in Delta.” I did not know what most of those words meant. I knew …
Elephants, Rhinos, and Lions, Oh My!
Pretty much everyone goes to Africa for one reason: to view big, wild, hairy animals from a safe-yet-still-thrilling distance. You would think …
Welcome to Africa: A breath of fresh air
We left congested, hot, polluted Mumbai, held up for hours at the airport in a net of Indian bureaucracy. We stepped off …
Travel Costs: India Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent for two people …
Holy Cow: 10 Sanity-Saving India Travel Tips
We spent 6 weeks in India. Even though we went there as fairly experienced travelers and Jordan had been there before, India …
Home Cooking, Mumbai Style
Four years ago, I landed in Mumbai on a trip for work. It was my first time traveling outside of the U.S. …
The Golden Temple: How did we almost miss this?
“It’s better than the Taj Mahal.” We heard this from not one, not two, but at least five different people while we …
Bedlam at the Border
If you find yourself watching burly moustachioed men goose stepping with rifles a stone’s throw from the Pakistani border, you might think …
Into Africa: Why we chose to do an overland safari tour
Our African safari starts today! This wasn’t part of the original itinerary. The more we discussed our trip, though, the more egregious …
That week we were hippies in India
Dharamsala / McLeod Ganj is an interesting little town in the Himalayas. It’s really more Tibet than India. Makes sense, as this has …
Udaipur: “We’re the only idiots here — and it’s great!”
India is a place where vacation itineraries come to die, or perhaps be reincarnated. Plans have a way of morphing and changing. …
The Taj: Breathtaking beauty and romantic love (the building, not us)
One of the best things about this trip is the chance to experience a whole year’s worth of milestones and mundane things …
Varanasi, Holy City on the Ganges
[O]lder than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together. — Mark …
When in India, head for the hills!
After our wild ride in Calcutta, we were so ready to beat the heat, the crowds, and the pollution of the big …
Crazy for Cricket
I don’t think I can set the scene for our first cricket match better than Bobilli Vijay Kumar did in his Sunday …
India…OMG
India. It defies description. Like music, or love, or the color red, explaining doesn’t quite do it; you have to experience it …
How to See the Best of Southeast Asia in 2 to 3 weeks
We’re marking the end of our four months in Southeast Asia, and we realize our incredible good fortune to have so much …
Have We Found Heaven on Earth?
We spent an incredible week at the Thai beaches of Kamala Beach, on the island of Phuket, and Khao Lak. We had …
Asia Lite: A Whirlwind Weekend in Singapore
Here’s a riddle for you: what place is both Asia and not Asia, tiny in geography and mighty in wealth, a steamy …
Travel Costs: Malaysia Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent for two people …
The Best Food We Ate in Malaysia
What is that? I don’t know, but it looks good. Sure does. . . . Wanna get some? We already ate lunch. …
Penang Art and Architecture in Photos
As a city hosting such a hodgepodge of people with different ethnicities, religions, and histories, it is no surprise that Georgetown, Penang …
“I Love Penang, and Penang Loves Me”
Martin Buber, a Jewish philosopher, once wrote that, “all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” Georgetown, a city …
Breakfast in Malaysia: Way More Than Eggs and Toast
First, the bad news: our lodging dollar gets us a lot less in Malaysia than it did in Vietnam, and our hotel …
100 Days In: Lessons Learned
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by. – Robert Frost Today marks Day 100 …
Malaysia: Back to the Future
This is a first for us: we have arrived in a place knowing basically nothing about it. We had a general idea …
Travel Costs: Vietnam Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent for two …
Vietnam: It’s an acquired taste
When we were first mapping out our RTW itinerary, there was no question that Vietnam would be on it. We made regular …
Hanoi Dos and Don’ts
We spent a week in Hanoi, resting up before we tackled Malaysia. We enjoyed Vietnam’s hectic capital a great deal, and wanted …
The Best Food We Ate in Vietnam, Part 2
One blog post simply wasn’t enough to cover our favorite eats over a month in Vietnam. Continuing from part one, here are …
The Best Food We Ate in Vietnam, Part 1
Skyler and I love exploring new places through their food. It’s a great way to get off the beaten path, learn about …
Getting Buzzed in Vietnam: A Coffee Lover’s Guide
Coffee culture is huge here in Vietnam. In the mornings, old men gather to chat over coffee and cigarettes. In the afternoons, …
Photos from Halong Bay
We spent two days and one night cruising around Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site about 4 hours from Hanoi on …
Cooking With Our Vietnamese Girl Crush
We’ve been eating every meal out for the last two months. So when we were deciding on a cooking class to take …
Hoi An: You Buy Something!
Charming hosts and obnoxious salespeople. Bustling shops and deserted country lanes. Hoi An, like Vietnam, is full of contradictions. But it sure …
Is this Vietnam? Strawberry Fields and Communist (Beach) Parties
Jordan was beside himself, in a lather over the broccoli. We were walking through the market in Dalat, spying fruits and veggies …
Jordan and Skyler’s Top 5 Saigon Experiences
Saigon is not a city with world class museums, historical ruins, or other “must-dos.” Rather, it’s a city you visit to experience …
Southern Hospitality: Mr Hung’s Homestay in the Heart of the Mekong Delta
Jordan, myself, and 30 other sweaty, sorry souls were crammed into an old ice cream truck, hurtling down the highway. At …
Travel Costs: Cambodia Budget Update
We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is a breakdown of what we spent for two people …
Cambodia: Past, Present, and Future
“When I first moved to Siem Reap, there were only four cars here. One for the Sofitel, one for the Grand Hotel, …
The Best Food We Ate in Cambodia
We didn’t quite know what to expect about Cambodian (Khmer) cuisine. Unlike Thai cuisine, you don’t see Khmer restaurants elsewhere in the …
Cambodia, Well-Seasoned: Kampot and Kep
Carefully picking through the whole fish we’d managed to catch for dinner on Koh Rong, I explained to my smart husband …
Rustic Island Paradise: Five Days in Koh Rong
“This is the sort of place James Bond goes to rest and recuperate before the finale,” Jordan noted as we ate breakfast by …
Our Most Unusual Valentine’s Day Ever
Wars of attrition, piles of old rocks, and Cambodian orphanages aren’t typical Valentine’s Day venues. But that’s exactly how we spent our …
Angkor: Simply Amazing
Angkor is a show-off when it comes to superlatives. The largest pre-industrial city in the world — approaching the size of modern-day …
Dragons and princesses! A look at Chinese New Year in Bangkok
February 10, 2013 marked the Chinese Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Snake. We were in Bangkok at the …
Travel Costs: Laos Budget Update
Many websites that inspired our own trip included budget information and we found it immensely helpful. So for those planning their own trip to …
Travel Costs: Thailand Budget Update
It’s hard to believe that the first month of our trip has come and gone! Although we plan to head back …
Alluring Laos: Luang Prabang and Vientiane
Laos is a compelling place — a country with gorgeous scenery, gentle people, exotic allure, rampant poverty, and a mysterious history. We …
The Two Faces of Vang Vieng, Laos
There are two sides to this stunning beauty of a town. Is Vang Vieng the hedonistic, boozing party girl or the crunchy-granola …
The Rhythm of the River – Two Days on the Mekong
Traveling from Northern Thailand to Laos, we were faced with a handful of options. A flight — too expensive and we’re not …
The Best Food We Ate in Thailand
Traveling around Thailand is easy. Roads are well-marked and well-maintained, transport is reliable and easy to navigate, comfortable accommodation is cheap and …
Taking It Slow In Laos
We’re enjoying many things about Laos so far — but one thing that’s driving us nuts is the inability to find …
Chiang Dao: Caves, Homey Hotels, and Outhouses
We knew we’d found something special the minute we set foot at Chiang Dao Nest, our hotel in a rural hamlet about …
Thai Farm Cooking School, Chiang Mai
If you know us, you know that Jordan loves to cook. You may also know that Skyler’s specialties run more to …
Chiang Mai: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Chiang Mai may be a learned town, full of universities and temples. But it seems to be equally a tourists’ town. …
Riverside Guesthouse, Lampang
Lampang isn’t a hurried or chaotic place, with its lazy river and horse-drawn carriages still clip-clopping around town. Even so, Riverside Guesthouse …
Thai Elephant Conservation Center
We spent a great morning in Lampang at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center. It’s operated by the Thai government (and is …
Ruins and Rice Paddies: How to see Sukhothai in a day
A 7-hour bus ride from Bangkok, and we’re still in a Thai capital — the ancient capital of Sukhothai, the first major …
Bangkok in Photos
After our first day of exploring the Chatachuk Market, we’ve been braving thousands of Chinese tourists to gawk at gaudy palaces, seen …
Bangkok – Chatuchak Market
Markets are the pulse of a city — they quickly give you a feel for a place, how it ticks. Pike Place Market …
This Is It!
Today’s the day we’ve been dreaming of, planning, and discussing for nearly two years: Departure Day! On one hand, we feel thoughtful …
The Lede: How (were we able to do it?)
We’ve gotten so many questions about this trip. We’ve therefore decided to tackle all these “how” questions in a FAQ format. 1. …
Our RTW Packing List
When you contemplate carrying all your worldly possessions on your back, every piece counts. So what exactly DID we pack for our …
The Lede: When and Where — the Itinerary
We leave on January 10, 2013 and plan to loosely follow the following itinerary. It is subject to change with bad weather, …
2012
The Lede: What (are you doing!?)
It all started over a bowl of popcorn so heavily doused in vinegar it made my eyes water. Jordan and I were …
The Lede: Who (are we?)
For the quick and dirty version, visit the About Us page. If you want to waste some time, keep reading. Skyler: ; …
The Nut Graph
I don’t remember much from journalism school. Most of what I do remember came from Professor Mike Foley, a former managing editor …
Welcome!
Welcome to 180 Degrees West! We’re Jordan and Skyler McDonald, we’re currently living in Atlanta, Georgia, and we have created this …