Ten years after its initial debut in paper form, Vagabonding is set to go into an audiobook edition this fall. I've recorded the main text, but now I need to add some new "Vagabonding Voices". If you're interested in possibly appearing as a Vagabonding Voice in the audiobook, start by sending me, as text in...

It's once again winter holiday season, which means it's time to tout my books as stocking stuffers for the travel lovers on your Christmas list. Vagabonding makes a great holiday gift for: College or high school students nearing graduation. Twenty- and thirtysomethings who don't like their jobs, are currently between jobs, or are considering a...

Just a quick note here to let you know that the "virtual book tour" for my book Marco Polo Didn't Go There is underway. It started with a Q&A at Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Work Week and Lifestyle Design Blog , and will continue with a series of Q&As and short essays on a number of...

Last week, when I announced that my new book is available for sale at Amazon.com , a number of readers wrote in to tell me that they'd also found copies of it in the travel sections of their local bookstores. The book was initially scheduled to launch on September 15th, but -- hey -- since...

Having been on the road in Africa, Europe and North America since late May, it's been hard to keep up with various non-travel events in my life (including many of my inbox messages -- sorry if I've been slow in replying to email lately). Hence, I almost missed it when my new book, Marco Polo...

As I mentioned a couple weeks back, I have a new travel book coming out this fall. Entitled Marco Polo Didn't Go There , this book will likely debut in September, and I will go on the road to promote it in October and November. Right now I plan on hitting various bookstores, writing conferences,...

Four years ago, while on tour to promote Vagabonding , I printed up a bunch of "VGB" stickers (pictured above) to give away at book signings. Originally, these stickers were to read "VAG," though this idea was shot down when my publicist told me that, ahem, I shouldn't encroach on the territory of another Random...

[ Above : Contestant Justin Pitts gives props to Vagabonding .] Last month, while I was traveling in Cuba, several readers sent me emails saying that a contestant on the syndicated game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" had told host Meredith Viera that -- if he won money on the show -- he...

The Japanese cover of Vagabonding I have a few new writing items to share this week: First, I'm happy to announce that Sony Books has finally released the Japanese translation of Vagabonding . Entitled ????! (which Babelfish tells me means Appear in the Traveling! ), it was translated by Robert Harris , a Japan-based writer...

Last week, the Campaign for the American Reader featured Vagabonding in its "page 69 test." This blog project, which is an independent initiative encouraging people to read more books, tests Marshall McLuhan's old assertion that you should choose your reading by turning to page 69 of a given book and -- if you like it...

[ Above : Allen Ginsberg performing during his 1966 "Wichita Vortex Sutra" journey.] For the second month in a row I have literary criticism appearing in The Believer -- and my new essay, " The Last Antiwar Poem ," moves beyond travel themes to discuss the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. As the American literary community...

[The cover for the Korean translation of Vagabonding .] A recent slew of emails from Korean readers has tipped me off to the fact that a translated edition of Vagabonding has debuted in Korea. Published by Nexus Books, the Korean title of the book is Ddeo-nago Ship-ul Ddae, Ddeo-nala (which, if my rusty Korean serves...

The Italian translation of Vagabonding appears to doing very well in the six weeks since it was released. On the strength of the earlier La Repubblica review , as well as enthusiastic new reviews in Turismo , Donna Moderna , and La Stampa , Vagabonding appeared at #17 on the Arianna nonfiction bestseller list ,...

Following on to my surprised announcement on Monday that Vagabonding had been translated into Italian, here's an English version of the review from La Repubblica . My thanks to Valentina Piffer for her translation help! -------------------------- What is freedom? Learning the art of long-term world travel A practical and philosophical guide on how to change...

When I traveled to New York for the first time back in 1994, the very first person I met while riding the subway was Tony Mansfield, a porn actor who had a minor role in the 1978 adult classic Debbie Does Dallas . How's that for an opening sentence? It also happens to be a...

While driving through Texas a couple weeks back, I heard a country radio song called "You're Always Seventeen in Your Hometown." The meaning of the song, I'm sure, pertains to how people in your hometown see you when you come back to visit. But whenever I go back to my hometown of Wichita, I begin...

Before my book tour ever started, I tried to think of all the worst-case scenarios that might occur as I traveled from city to city: belligerent hecklers; readings consisting entirely of bored family members; frenzied, fascistic book burnings, wherein enraged audiences hurled copies Vagabonding into roaring bonfires. So far, none of this has happened. Nevertheless,...

Shortly before I left for the Kansas City leg of my book tour, a second-hand email message landed in my inbox. It read: "Tell Rolf to be careful when he goes on the Walt Bodine Show . Walt is a crazy old blind man, and you never know what he's going to do!" Since Walt...

Ever since I had a book tour schedule to worry about, I'd been worrying about Tulsa. Tulsa, to all appearances, was not a big book market. Nor was Tulsa much of a travel market. I'd never spent much time in Tulsa, and I didn't know a soul who lived there. Thus, I was a bit...

Today, en route to a book reading in Dallas, I finally felt like I was traveling America in the pure, deliberate sense of the word. Granted, I insist in my book that any moment can be considered travel if your attitude is right -- and I had plenty such unorthodox "travel moments" last week on...