Why did you start your travel blog?

I’m sure you have a long list of reasons. Maybe you started it so your friends and family could follow your adventures, or maybe you just wanted to share your love of travel with the whole world. No matter what your primary reason might be, I bet you also wanted to make a little money.

When you make money with your travel blog you get to take pictures like this

Making money with a travel blog is a difficult nut to crack. I know from experience. My name is Alex Ritter, and I manage the business side of Travelated. I have an extensive background in internet marketing and website monetization, and I have spent the last year applying everything I know to Travelated. In 2011 I tried just about every type of advertising, sponsorship, and affiliate deal I could think of on this site. Most of the things we tried went nowhere, but some of them were big winners for us. In fact, this humble little travel blog ended up bringing in over $15,000 in 2011.

Now, nobody is going to retire on $15,000 per year, and not every site will be able to do what we did. That said, there are definitely things that every travel blogger can do (including us at Travelated) to earn a little more money. If you are actively traveling, just think what you could do with an extra $50 to $100 per month. How many nights sleeping in the airport or a questionable hostel could you turn into nights in a comfortable hotel?

If you want to make more money with your travel blog, keep reading. Below is a list of different ways you can monetize your blog along with tips on how to implement them successfully. If you want help, I will give you my personal email address at the end of this post. Please contact me, I would love to help you make more money with your travel blog.

CPC/CPM Ad Networks

The easiest form of monetization to implement are CPC (Cost Per Click) or CPM (Cost Per 1000 Impressions) ads. Google Adsense is the most popular CPC ad network, and if you have tried only one ad network I bet it is Adsense. CPC ads attempt to figure out what a page or post is about by picking out keywords, then they show a block of hopefully relevant ads. If someone clicks the ad, you are credited with a little cash. CPC ads can be either a banner or text. The important things for maximizing revenue with CPC ads are placement and the post topic.

CPM ads pay out per impression rather than per click. In other words, you will get paid a fraction of a penny for each page view that includes a CPM banner. There are more variables than just page views with CPM ads, but the gist is more page views leads to more money.

These are a few ad networks you should consider using on your blog.

• Google Adsense – Adsense will offer the best CPCs (i.e. the most money per click) because it is the largest network (it has the most publishers and the most advertisers). As long as your blog meets Google’s quality guidelines you will be approved, and you will be able to start placing ads on your site very quickly. The main downside of Adsense is that internet users are savvy enough to recognize Adsense ads when they see them, and many people won’t click them anymore. Also, Google is very strict with payouts. If you receive a flood of traffic from StumbleUpon or some other social media site and it generates more clicks than normal, Google could decide the clicks were fraudulent and withhold your payments or even disable your account. Adsense probably won’t earn a lot of money for a typical travel blog.



• Chitika – Chitika is a lot like Google Adsense, but with more flexibility and more options for displaying your ads. Chitika mostly targets traffic that comes from search engines, so it can be a great compliment to Google Adsense. Chitika also allows you to create blocks of ads in the sizes you want, and even offers map ads that can be great to use on travel blogs. If you already use Adsense, you might want to try using Chitika in combination to increase your revenue. As long as your site meets Chitika’s quality guidelines, you should be approved as a publisher with no problems.
  Click here for more info on joining the Chitika Network
• CPM Networks – There are many CPM networks you can consider joining that all do the same thing: show banners. You will need to prove a minimum level of page views per month to be accepted into a CPM network, usually 50,000 to 100,000 or more. These ads are best if you have a lot of page views and content that is very general in nature (webcomics, personal stories, etc.), or if a lot of your traffic comes from social media sites.

With any of these types of ads, the more traffic you get the more money you will make. How to get traffic is another topic entirely. The things you can control with these ads are placement, and what keyword the ads will focus on. In general, the more you put the ads in your readers’ faces, the more likely the ads are to get clicked (see the graphic above – it shows where to place ads if you want to encourage clicks). Aggressive ad placement tends to irritate your regular readers though, so there is a definite tradeoff of money and return visitors. It is up to you to find a balance you are comfortable with.

Affiliate/CPA Networks

CPA stands for Cost Per Action. It means that someone must click your ad then make a specific action on the landing page, such as purchasing an item or supplying their email address, in order for you to get paid. The amount you get paid can be a flat fee or a percentage based commission. Earning money through a CPA ad is more difficult than CPC and much more difficult than CPM, but it can be by far the most profitable if it is implemented correctly, especially for a travel blog with loyal readers. With affiliate networks, you first have to get approved by the network, then you have to join specific programs. So, for example, if you wanted to advertise for Hotels.com you would need to join the appropriate affiliate network, then join the Hotels.com affiliate program in that network. You will need a plan for how you will generate traffic to get approved by the network, and your site will need to be aesthetically pleasing and on topic to be accepted by specific programs. It can be tough to get approved, but once you are approved you are only limited by your own creativity in how to promote the programs you join. Did you recently stay at a great hotel? You can recommend it to your readers and get a commission if they stay there! Do you absolutely love your luggage? Write a post about how great it is, and get a commission if someone buys it! Below are a few of the Affiliate networks I recommend for travel bloggers:

• Commission Junction – This is probably the largest affiliate network, and it includes programs for many big-name travel sites (Travelocity, Hotels.com, Expedia, and many more).
  Click here for more info on joining Commission Junction
• Linkshare – This is another large network that includes some popular travel booking sites (Orbitz, CheapOair, Hotwire, and many others). Linkshare also includes a lot of handy tools that make integrating relevant ads very easy even if you have no coding or HTML experience.
  Click here for more info on joining the Linkshare Network
• Amazon – Amazon.com lists just about every product imaginable for sale, and you can get a commission on all of it. Like I mentioned earlier, if you love your luggage you can write a post about it and then show your readers where they can buy it on Amazon.com. If the person clicks your link and goes on to buy anything at Amazon.com you get a commission. Yes, you can link to a piece of luggage then get commissions if that person buys a Kindle. Again, your site must pass the Amazon approval process, but as long as it is a good looking site with original content you should get approved.
  Click here for more info on joining the Amazon Affiliate Program
• ShareASale – Another affiliate network similar to CJ or LinkShare, but with smaller advertisers in the Travel Niche.

The most important thing with CPA/Affiliate ads is you must have a plan in mind. It isn’t as easy as placing a banner or block of text ads, but it can be much more profitable.

Sponsored Articles and Sponsored Links

Sponsored articles and sponsored links are fairly controversial among travel bloggers. This is an arrangement where the blogger accepts a cash payment in exchange for posting on their blog a link to a third party site or an entire article that includes links to a third party site. There are plenty of SEO specialists and marketing companies who are more than willing to pay you for a link back to their site (or their client’s site). This is technically against the guidelines of Google, and it could result in your site getting penalized for selling links. You can minimize the risk of being penalized by Google by disclosing any links or articles that you were paid to post, and by using rel=”nofollow” in the outbound links. You can earn anywhere from a few dollars per month for each sponsored link up to $100 or more for a sponsored post. This is entirely up to you and how comfortable you are with posting paid links or posts on your site. There are many ways to attract sponsored links or posts, but the easiest is to simply provide a way for advertisers to contact you on your blog.

Applications

Apps are all the rage these days, and I don’t mean just iPhone and Android apps. You can make apps for facebook, or apps for browsers, or even make your own toolbar. There is a platform called Conduit which you can use to make your own branded toolbar and offer it to your readers. You can put together a toolbar in under 10 minutes and get paid for every install you generate. You can even get paid for placing some apps on your toolbar. I would suggest adding the TravelScout app if you build your own toolbar. Of course TravelScout is the app Travelated built, but it would be a great app for the audience of any travel blog.

Be Creative

The best advice I can give is to try to be creative. Don’t be afraid to try anything you can think of. Contact anyone who might benefit from being mentioned on your blog. Do you rave about a specific hotel, product, or even a location on your blog? Contact anyone who stands to gain from your kind words and you might be amazed at what can happen. The travel industry is brutally competitive. Every country, state, city, hotel, and airline wants to attract every traveler they can. Your blog helps people decide where to go, where to stay, which airline to take, and even where to eat. Reach out to tourism boards, hotels, and even restaurants. They are all willing to listen to your ideas on how you can drive more business their way.

Our Breakdown

UPDATE: A few people have requested to see the breakdown of how much revenue we earned from each of these sources in 2011. So, below is a pie chart that shows where our income came from.

As you can see, the bulk of our revenue came from Commission Junction and Linkshare, and most of that revenue is from our TravelScout coupons. We made just a tiny bit of money from CPC and CPM ads because we made the conscious decision not to place ads in our content area, but instead focus on building a loyal reader base who would be inclined to use our coupons and even install our TravelScout app. What you don’t see on the chart are the things we tried that brought in no money (such as our attempt to sell our own travel guides). We also chose to stop accepting sponsored posts early in 2011, or our revenue from those activities could have been much higher.

Conclusion

Are you still with me? I know this is a very wordy post, but this is just scratching the surface of ways to make money with your travel blog. I would be glad to help you if you need advice on what to try on your site or how to implement it. I would love to help you with anything from ad placement to discussing ways we can partner up. Send me an email, alex -at- travelated.com. I know making money with your travel blog can be difficult, but I would love the chance to help you out.

Do you know of any other ways to make money with a travel blog?

Finding cheap hotels in Santa Barbara isn’t easy. Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful places in the United States, and accordingly it is one of the most expensive places to live or to visit. A single night in a hotel in this beach-side community can cost nearly $600 for swanky five-star accommodations such as the Four Seasons. But what if you don’t want to take out a second mortgage on your home just to pay for a week at the beach? For reasonable people, there are some affordable options for places to stay in SB. Below are the top picks for cheap hotels in Santa Barbara. Each option listed below is under $90 per night**. Pick one of these places from the list below and then bask in the splendor of savings, surf, and sunsets.

Check out the map at the bottom of the post to see where all of these hotels are located!

Super 8 Santa Barbara/Goleta – Price Per Night: $69.00

Location: 6021 Hollister Ave. Goleta, CA 93117 Features: Super 8 Santa Barbara/Goleta has an outdoor pool, high speed Internet access, and guests are served a complimentary breakfast each morning. In other words, it’s a Super 8, you should know what to expect. Amenities: Each room includes air conditioning, coffee/tea makers, and free local calls. Guestrooms have cable television with premium TV channels and HBO. Distance from the Beach: 1.8 Miles

Click to book your stay at Super 8 Santa Barbara at hotels.com

The Sandman Inn – Price Per Night: $79.00

Location: 3714 State St. Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Features: The Sandman Inn has two outdoor pools and a spa tub. A continental breakfast is complimentary to guests. Amenities: All 112 air conditioned guestrooms offer 32 inch LCD televisions with HBO and DVD players. Business friendly amenities include complimentary wireless Internet access, free local calls, and voice mail. All guestrooms provide microwaves, coffeemakers, and refrigerators. Distance from the Beach: 3.6 Miles

Click to book your stay at The Sandman Inn at hotels.com

Fiesta Inn and Suites – Price Per Night: $79.30

Location: 1816 State St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Features: Business amenities at this 2.0 star property include wireless Internet access and business services. The front desk is open during limited hours. Amenities: Fiesta Inn and Suites has 24 guestrooms that provide everything you would expect. This includes televisions with premium cable, phones with complimentary local calls, coffee/tea makers, and complimentary toiletries. Guestrooms are accessible via exterior corridors. Distance from the Beach: 1.8 Miles

Click to book your stay at Fiesta Inn and Suites at hotels.com

Quality Inn Santa Barbara – Price Per Night: $81.99

Location: 3055 De La Vina St. Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Features: Quality Inn Santa Barbara has an outdoor pool. Business amenities include wireless Internet access and business services. Guests are served a complimentary breakfast each morning. Amenities: Amenities featured in guestrooms include air conditioning, coffee/tea makers, and free local calls. Business friendly amenities include desks and direct dial phones. All guestrooms provide refrigerators. Bathrooms feature shower/tub combinations, hair dryers, and complimentary toiletries. Guestrooms are accessible via exterior corridors. Distance from the Beach: 3.3 Miles

Click to book your stay at Quality Inn Santa Barbara at hotels.com

Sandpiper Lodge – Price Per Night: $88.22

Location: 3525 State St. Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Features: In addition to an outdoor pool and a spa tub, Sandpiper Lodge features a concierge desk and coffee in the lobby. Guests are served a complimentary breakfast each morning. Amenities: Guestrooms include air conditioning, coffee/tea makers, and satellite televisions. Business friendly amenities include desks, fax machines, and voice mail. All guestrooms provide refrigerators. Bathrooms provide hair dryers and complimentary toiletries. Distance from the Beach: 3.9 Miles

Click to book your stay at Sandpiper Lodge at hotels.com

**These prices are nightly averages which may change depending on the time of year you are traveling, and could be higher or lower depending on the day of the week (weekends are usually more expensive).

With lodging, most of the time you get what you pay for, and that is exactly the case in this town. Hopefully one of the choices listed above will work for you. No, you won’t get a personal butler or a sprawling room that looks like it should be featured on MTV Cribs, but you will get a decent bed and a roof over your head, and that is all you need from a cheap hotel in Santa Barbara.

Are you familiar with the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Oh, you’re not? Well, let me describe it for you so you can get caught up.

It is a tower. It is in Pisa, Italy. It is leaning over.

The only other thing you need to know is that tourists freaking love to take pictures with it. In fact, they all like to take the exact same picture with it; a picture where they use the power of perspective to make it look like they are holding the tower up. Below are some fine examples of tourists holding up the tower.

Not everyone chooses to hold up the tower with their hands however. Some tourists take advantage of leverage and their greater lower body strength and hold up the tower with their feet!

Not as cool from the wrong perspective

Perhaps the best part about dozens of tourists all taking the same picture at the same time every day is the crazy scene of everyone posing for their own cameras. At any moment you can see several people striking the hold up pose, and when you take a picture of them you get pure visual gold.

Are there any other sites where everyone takes the same picture?

All pictures in this post were found on Flickr. Click the pictures to see the original source photo and find out about the photographers.

Some people love alcohol, and some are just plain alcoholics. Whatever you are, take a moment to enjoy our infographic of how the world looks through the eyes of alcohol lovers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_alcohol_prohibition

http://www.foodbev.com/report/global-beer-consumption-to-top-2bn-hectolitres-by-2013

http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/WorldWine%20ConsumptionbyVolume.pdf

Alex is the founder of Travelated. He is an Internet marketing expert as well as an amateur chef and poker player. He would rather be thrown out of a window from the top of the Empire State Building than work in an office ever again. Alex currently resides in Las Vegas, and his favorite place in the world is anywhere he can watch a soccer match.

This is Scout, and he freaking loves traveling… and poker. Scout was dead-set on going to Vegas, but the poor kitty never got to hit the Strip because we couldn’t afford to take him anywhere. Scout spent hours and hours poring over maps, dreaming of a fabulous getaway and meowing sadly at night. We couldn’t stand to see Scout so upset, but we didn’t know what to do. Travel is expensive. What could be done?

Then, one day, we were watching that show Extreme Couponing on TV (we’re ashamed to admit it, but it’s true), and we had an epiphany: affordable travel is all about coupons and discounts. Paying full price is ridiculous. We looked at Extreme Couponing, and we looked at Scout. Back to Extreme Couponing… back to Scout. And thus the TravelScout FireFox extension was born.

Click here to download Travel Scout from Mozilla’s extensions for Firefox page.

How is all this possible?

Not only is our cat Scout the cutest feline on the planet, he inspired us to find a better way to buy travel. Do we spend hours and hours trying to extreme coupon the life out of Expedia? No way. Searching endlessly for travel deals is an enormous waste of time, and more often than not you’ll pay more than you should simply because you’re tired of trolling through hundreds of pages, looking for the best deals.

TravelScout solves all that. This Firefox extension doesn’t pop up or get in your face about all the coupon codes it finds—it discreetly drops down in your browser to notify you that  discounts and coupon codes are available. When you view the coupons is up to you.

When you are ready to see the codes, you simply click on the notification icon and the codes will appear in a new tab. There’s no need to navigate away from the perfect travel package you worked so hard to find! Check the new tab for a code you can use, enter it on your checkout page, and voila! YOU SAVED MONEY!

TravelScout will notify you if coupon codes or discounts are available for over 50 travel sites, including Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, and CheapOAir. For a full list, click here.

Click here to download Travel Scout from Mozilla’s extensions for Firefox page.

How it Works

Below are a few screenshots of the TravelScout in action.

Coupons are Available for this site! Click the button to view.

Awesome Coupons! Saving money rocks.

Click here to download Travel Scout from Mozilla’s extensions for Firefox page.

Still have questions? Visit the Travelscout FAQ!

Airplane jokes have been a rich source of material for stand up comedians for decades. Air travel is just one of those things that everyone can relate to and also has tons of little quirks to poke fun at. You’ve probably memorized some of the cliche jokes to the point where you could recite entire standup routines including these classics:

• What’s the deal with airline food?
• Why don’t they make the entire airplane out of the black box?

If there is a comedy hall of fame, those airplane jokes are retired in it. Fortunately, there is plenty more airline humor to make you chuckle. Below are three unique takes on the miracle of modern commercial air travel. Watch and enjoy.

Louis C.K. explains why absolutely nobody has the right to complain about flying (the whole thing is funny, but skip to about 1:40 for the stuff about flying):

Who could argue against Louis C.K.? Flying is pretty unbelievable when you think about it. You are moving through the air 30,000 feet above the Earth going 600 miles per hour. Yet we still find tons of stuff to complain about. Louis C.K. makes this point brilliantly in the clip

Jerry Seinfeld takes you through an entire flight experience in classic Seinfeld style:

Jerry Seinfeld is the master of observational comedy, pointing out the funny bits of all the little things we never think twice about. While we are miserable being shuffled from line to line in the airport, Jerry is writing airplane jokes in his mind.

If you’ve ever come back to the US trying to bend the rules of customs, you’ll get a kick out of this one. Also if you just like to laugh, this clip is for you.

Are there any other classic airplane jokes that we are forgetting?

When you think of Las Vegas, you probably think of the over-the-top hotels and casinos that line the iconic Strip. If that’s not what you think of, just play along like it is. That said, there are several different types of casinos on the strip that might pop into your mind. There are old classics like Circus Circus, The Flamingo, and Tropicana. There are fancy new properties like Aria, and The Cosmopolitan. And then there are the casinos that are based on an actual place. They are generally named for a place, and try to replicate the look and feel of that place. These are casinos like Paris, The Venetian, New York New York, and the Luxor. All of these properties attempt to duplicate famous monuments, buildings, and even entire cities in a single hotel/casino. How close do they get to the real thing? Below are some side-by-side comparisons.

Paris, France vs. Paris Hotel and Casino

The real Eiffel Tower stands at 300 meters (986 feet) high. The Vegas version is about half scale, with its observation deck at 165 Meters (541 feet) above ground level. They did a great job with the tower, and I think it was smart to focus on one landmark rather than trying to re-create an entire city (I’m talking about you, New York New York).

New York, NY vs New York New York Hotel and Casino

It’s a tough task to try to recreate an entire iconic skyline as a single building, and this is great proof of that statement. In order to get the Statue of Liberty and all of the actual New York landmarks into the same structure they really had to stretch reality, and the result is a building that misses the mark. I imagine life long New Yorkers cringe at the sight of this hotel. But I also imagine they enjoy the roller coaster and wish that the real New York City had one.

Venice, Italy vs. The Venetian Hotel and Casino

Looking at the real Venice next to the canal shops at the Venetian hotel and casino makes you realize that they kind of nailed this one, but at the same time it kind of feels wrong. Something about the cartoonish blue water and the scaled down perfectly clean facades of centuries-old buildings is just off putting in a way that is difficult to describe, but easy to feel. Odd feeling aside, the canal shops are pretty cool, and you shouldn’t miss it if you’re visiting Vegas.

Egypt vs. Luxor Hotel and Casino

Comparing the Great Pyramids of Giza to the Luxor Hotel and Casino makes one thing obvious… Ancient Egypt really could have used a monorail. The designers of the Luxor definitely took a few liberties with their modern re-imagining of the Pyramid and Sphinx, but the people of Las Vegas are grateful for that because they successfully avoided a whole bunch of plagues in getting it built.

Are there any native New Yorkers, Parisians, Egyptians, or Italians who have been to the Vegas versions of your home? What did you think?

Photo Attribution

• luxor hotel/casino – photo by Michael LoCascio
• paris hotel/casino – photo by Mike Russell
• eiffel tower – Photo by J.M. Schomburg http://www.jm-schomburg.com
• venetian hotel/casino – photo by Svein-Magne Tunli http://www.tunliweb.no/SM/English/sm_eng.htm
• venice – photo by Håkon Bogen
• Manhattan Skyline – photo by Tjeerd Wiersma http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjeerd/2892922/
• New York New York hotel/casino – photo by High Contrast

It seems as though everyone in the world is in love with train travel… except Americans. In the United States, train travel is rarely (if ever) considered as an option by most people, whereas in Europe and Asia traveling by train is as routine as tying your shoes.

If you skim the Wikipedia article for High Speed Rail you will quickly notice China, Japan, France, and Germany boasting trains that can go 250 to 300 miles per hour or faster. You might also notice that the United States isn’t a player in high speed rail at all. Actually, one of the the only mentions of the US in the entire article is this sad statement:

Amtrak’s Acela Express runs on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C. Unlike Asian or European systems, the Acela shares its tracks with conventional rail, and thus is limited to an average speed of 68 mph (109 km/h) for the entire distance with brief segments up to 150 mph.

68 miles per hour is hardly “high speed” considering most interstate highways have speed limits of 70 mph, and we all know that means people dive 75 or 80 at least. With that in mind, consider a theoretical trip from New York to Chicago. The distance between these cities is about 790 miles, and you could potentially drive your car, fly on a plane, or take a train. Here are the cost and duration of those options side by side:

New York City to Chicago – 790 Miles

In this case, flying from New York to Chicago is the cheapest, and the fastest by far. Taking a train is just about the most expensive (especially if you compare it to a more efficient car), and it is unbelievably slow. It takes nearly a full day to get from New York to Chicago by train. 20 hours! Twenty. It is the most expensive and slowest option in a world where people want fast and cheap. In 2011, this is unacceptable.

Compare that to a similar trip in Europe. Paris, France and Vienna, Austria are about the same distance apart as New York City and Chicago, 780 Miles. Let’s look at the same options for traveling between them; car, plane, and train.

Paris to Vienna – 780 Miles

Again, flying is the cheapest and fastest, but the more interesting thing is the difference between driving and taking a train in Europe. Google maps Assumed 1.60 Euros per liter as the cost of fuel in Europe resulting in an expense of 175.29 Euros each way if you drive, which at current exchange rates is about $250. This is more than double the cost of driving the same distance in the US, and about double the price of a train ticket between the two European cities. Even more shocking is the time it takes to travel this distance on a train in Europe compared to the United States. In Europe it takes about 4 hours to go 780 miles compared to the US where it takes twenty hours, five times as long.

Of course driving becomes the most affordable option when you put more than one person in the car, but the most important thing here is that it is painfully obvious why Americans rarely take the train, especially over long distances. Trains in the US simply aren’t going to get you where you are going fast or cheap, and those are far and away the most important factors to most travelers when choosing a mode of travel.

Have you ever taken a train in the US, or in Europe? How else are they different aside from cost and speed? Would you like to see high speed rail get built in the States? Let us know

Quite literally, $100 doesn’t go as far as it used to. Especially when it comes to how far you can go in your car.

Imagine yourself back in 1995. You have $100 in your wallet. You fill up your Ford Escort in New York City, heading west as far as your trusty ride will take you. “Only Want To Be With You” by Hootie and the Blowfish blasts repeatedly on your speakers as you zip across the United States. In almost no time, your car comes to rest in Las Vegas. Your $100 has been spent, and your tank is empty. You just drove 2,500 miles from New York to Vegas for $100.

Fifteen years later, that same $100 would only get you from The Big Apple to St. Louis, about 1,000 miles.

Why is it that in 1995 you could almost get across the entire United States for $100, but in 2010 you can’t even get half way? There are two major contributors, and no, Hootie is not to blame.

1. The Cost of Gas has more than doubled.
   In 1995 the average cost of gas nationwide was $1.10 per gallon. In 2010 the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded was $2.74, which looks like a bargain compared to 2008, when the price was $3.21 per gallon.
2. Gas Mileage Standards did not increase from 1990 to 2010.
   For 20 years, CAFE Standards have been set at 27.5 MPG. That means that the average fuel economy of all of the cars produced between 1990 and 2010 only had to be 27.5 MPG or better (Read more about CAFE Standards). In 2011 the standards were finally raised, but only to a modest 30.2 MPG. That would get you an extra 100 miles at 2010 gas prices.

This sweet ass graph demonstrates how the amount of freedom $100 can buy has eroded in the last 15 years. The distances represented by the bars are in approximate scale to the US Map.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that there is a problem here. If nothing changes, eventually $100 isn’t going to be able to get you to work in the morning, let alone take you on a rad cross-country road trip while rocking Hootie and the Blowfish like it did in 1995.

by Alex Ritter
Featured Image: Walden Pond by Troy B. Thompson

It seems like anyone who ever wrote anything or traveled anywhere had something to say on the topic. I’ve gathered some famous quotes about travel that have been recorded throughout history, and I’ll give you my thoughts on the quotes.

This post is a lot like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The only thing missing is the Ziggy Pig.

Mark Twain Says:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.
-Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad Ch. LXII

This statement depends on where you travel I guess. If you are from Mississippi and you travel to Alabama I doubt this quote will hold true.

Saint Augustine Says:

The world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page.
-Saint Augustine (354-430)

Saint Augie is basically saying you’re missing out on a lot if you don’t travel. He lived in the 5th century, how far could he have traveled? He didn’t even know of the existence of half of the Earth. If the world is a book, his book was no bigger than a pamphlet, in which case reading only one page is almost the whole thing. One page is definitely enough understand what a pamphlet is all about.

In modern times our book is probably more like “War and Peace” in terms of length, but you can get the cliff notes in the form of TV and surfing the internet. My point is, technology can be a substitute for travel in terms of basic understanding of things. Also, “War and Peace” is really long. Don’t even attempt to read it voluntarily.

Al Gore Says:

Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo.
-Al Gore

Airplane travel is not an act of nature. Also, the technology we call “photography” is what makes you look like your passport photo, or rather your passport photo like you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson says:

No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby-so helpless and so ridiculous.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is one of the absolute dumbest things ever said. I’m truly baffled why this statement was recorded, or how it ever became a famous quote.

Thoreau says:

Only the traveling is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.
-Henry David Thoreau

This is an understandable quote coming from Thoreau. He lived on Walden Pond, which must have been pretty tranquil in the 1800s. Imagine living isolated in the woods near a bad ass pond, then traveling to a crowded 19th century city. See where he’s coming from?

Jefferson says:

Traveling makes a man wiser, but less happy.
-Thomas Jefferson

And since according to Jefferson we are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, I guess this means he would recommend never traveling.

Lao-Tzu says:

Without stirring abroad, one can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window one can see the way of heaven. The further one goes the less one knows.
-Lao-Tzu

This is a classic full of shit statement that you’re just supposed to assume is really deep. Like, “Oh, it rhymes, so it must be true.”

Conclusion

Many of these quotes are in direct contradiction with each other. I think the only logical way to figure out the truth about traveling is to develop the technology to resurrect all of these guys and throw them into a steel cage death match. Whoever survives is the one that was correct.

You can quote me on that.

Alex is the founder of Travelated. He is an internet marketing expert, as well as an amateur chef and poker player. He loves traveling anywhere he can watch a soccer match. Alex currently resides in Las Vegas.