At the end of the year, there is a tendency to look backwards -- the crushing beat of the "Best of 2012" articles, posts, television shows and more is upon us. And it frankly annoys the heck out of me every year.
With that in mind, I decided to look forward and highlight some of the best new(er) travel blogs out there that I discovered this year. I highly recommend that you click through and check them out, because they are all unique and fantastic in their own way.
So with no further ado, here is my list of top travel blogs to watch, read and follow in 2013:
Young Adventuress is a blog geared toward adventure and slow travel. Liz Carlson began the blog while trekking through the Andes before moving to Spain for two years, where she has been teaching English and living the expat life. With over 25 countries under her belt, Liz is now planning to move to New Zealand and explore a whole other side of the world.
Bridges and Balloons follows the adventures of Victoria and Steve, a writer and filmaker from London. After deciding to start living the life they wanted to, rather than the life they thought they should, they packed up their home and took their careers on the road indefinitely. They are currently in South America and as an added bonus (for some), they also are serious vegetarians and do a wonderful job highlighting how to manage that lifestyle around the world.
The Polar Route is a travel photography blog geared towards anyone with an interest in seeing more of our world through pictures. Popular features of the site include the daily photos -- a photo a day from somewhere in the world -- as well as photography guides, tips and reviews. The Polar Route is the brain child of Ed Graham, and in my opinion his photography is a heck of a lot better than a lot of the more-popular sites out there.
Four Jandals is the blog from Cole and Adela, an adventurous traveling couple from New Zealand. They have been traveling together and wearing out their jandals (Kiwi slang for flip-flops) around the world since 2009. They always have an interesting take on locations, focusing on getting you up and doing everything available for fun in the area.
Anywhere But Home is Naomi's creation. She's a a 20-something nomad pursuing her travel dreams on a backpacker's budget. In 2010, she left home in search of unique experiences and hasn't looked back since -- ergo her blog's name. She's been shot at with live fireworks in Taiwan, tracked wild orangutans and pygmy elephants in Borneo, worked with mummies in Peru and dropped plans to impulsively move to Georgia (the country, not the state). Keep up, if you can.
Emma's Travel Tales is primarily aimed at the under-30 traveler, but not necessarily a backpacker. Somehow, I managed to still find it fascinating at my much-more-advanced age. Emma is a 22-year-old Scottish girl who somehow has already been on over 10 cruises. Rumor has it that she's about to start focusing more on the cruise market, especially for those that are under 50 and want to have some fun, and I think that's going to be a great development to watch.
Jdomb's Travels is the creation of Jennifer Dombrowski and Tim Davis, and its only been around since early 2012. They currently live in Italy and plan on staying there for a few more years, so they have plenty of time to explore all the ins and outs of Europe -- and beyond.
Our Tasty Travels was created by Brett Domue, a lifelong wanderluster who has been traveling since 2004. What started for him as frequent business travel has turned into an opportunity to live overseas in both the Netherlands and Taiwan for the past five years. Along with Erin De Santiago, also an avid foodie and wine-lover, they are searching the world for the next tasty dish to try.
Flora the Explorer is looking for the weirdnesses in the world. Over the years, Flora has studied Italian in Florence and literature in San Francisco, volunteered with villagers in Kenya and orphans in Lithuania, and worked with musicians in Iceland and celebrities in India. She has eaten crickets in Thailand, slept in the deserts of Jordan, chanted nursery rhymes to numerous classes of Nepali children and navigated her way around America's East Coast via the notorious Chinatown bus system. Needless to say, its a varied site with lots of fun content.
So there you have it. My suggestions for the best travel blogs you should start reading. So... get to it and start reading!