When I was 20, I took my first steps out into the world of solo travel. I had just spent a month in Spain with a school group, and I was planning on ending my trip with a week in Holland visiting relatives. The week of travel that would take me from Spain to Holland felt like a trapeze stunt–I was released from Salamanca and I went soaring through the air, wildly hoping that I would be caught safe and sound by my relatives. It was terrifying, nerve-wracking, amazing, lonely, and life-changing.
Stephanie Lee parses through that terror in her new e-book The Art of Solo Travel: A Girl’s Guide.

Sorry for the silence lately–we’ve both been working long hours trying to save up money for more travels, then biking long hours to relax, instead of sitting long hours at the computer.
Tripbase.com launched a project last fall to get travel writers to share their best-kept travel secrets. We participated, and now they’ve collected everyone’s posts into a series of ebooks. From their website:

The Story Behind the Secrets
This eBook series is the result of a unique collaborative project, the first of its kind to take place on …

Some of the Cusco area’s most interesting sites lie east on the road to Puno, but Tipón, an experimental agricultural site, and Pikillacta, an extensive pre-Inca settlement of the Huari culture, are probably the least-visited sites on the Boleta Turistica circuit, due to their relative inaccessibility. They’re much more difficult to get to via public transportation, but so long as you don’t mind some waiting, some walking, and maybe a mad dash or two it’s entirely possible to visit these sites without booking a tour. Buses pass by frequently on their way to Urcos, and they’ll drop you off at either site for just a few soles. Be prepared to get a lot of looks from the locals.

A hike through the lovely Cusco countryside.

Kolibri Expeditions is putting together a birdwatching trip meant to be accessible for people who have trouble walking long distances. There’s no mention on the site as to whether it’s a wheelchair-accessible tour, but they describe it as:
Finally a tour for those that can not walk for long stretches without a break. We have reduced the walking to an absolute minimum. We have chosen a mixture of very good lodges and some more basic community lodges on the possibilities to see birds without doing to much walking. It has …

For your weekend reading pleasure:
Realistic Google Maps Walking Directions When In A Different Country.
Zach Jones lays out the joys and frustrations of trying to figure out where the hell you are when you don’t speak the language. An excerpt:
18. Figure out the right turn you wanted to make in step 3 was actually a hidden downward slope behind the one you made… -1 km
19. Continue on Correct Street, remain pessimistic… 2.6 km
20. Become aware that you are totally taking a gamble of whether or not you’re going …

Today, April 3rd, is International Pillow Fight Day. For real. How cool is that?
One country that’s celebrating it with gleeful abandon is Brazil. With ten cities participating all across the country, according to PillowFightDay.com (and about 30 listed on Brazil’s own pillow fighting website), Brazil is very likely at this moment covered in a thin layer of feathers.

Image from Inside Sao Paulo.
International Pillow Fight Day is organized by the Urban Playground Movement as a way for people to come together for spontaneous, fun community. …

If you’re interested in a hearty dose of Peruvian history, check out Pueblo Libre. Spend an afternoon wandering through the quiet colonial streets, sipping pisco in historic bars, paying homage at ancient crossroads, and, of course, allow plenty of time for the museums. Pueblo Libre is a quiet residential area just a short taxi ride from Miraflores or Downtown, just north of Magdalena del Mar. Today its citizens are beginning to promote their tourist appeal, with signs like “No tocando el claxon tendremos mas Turismo … Al Turista Pueblo Libre conquista!” (“By not honking our horns we’ll attract more Tourism … Pueblo Libre will conquer the Tourist!”). More power to them: their little neighborhood kicks ass, and has done so for centuries.