Live An Adventure Podcast

This map shows the happiness of countries around the world. In other words, it shows the extent to which countries deliver long, happy, and environmentally sustainable lives for their citizens. Most measures of national progress put a high emphasis on economic activity without too much concern for environmental limits or less tangible aspects, such as well-being. The HPI (Happy Planet Index) puts at the heart the idea that happiness is not necessarily about wealth but living long lives with a high experience of well-being within the environmental limits of the planet. The reason for some high-income nations score significantly below other nations is the ecological footprint left on the planet. It is important to note, however, that the data does not take into account internal inequality measures and human rights issues tied to some countries which are high up in the rankings. Similarly, this map illustrates the differences in the absolute HPI score and does not take into account t...

1. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller 2. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine 3. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson 4. “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson 5. “All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul Fussell 6. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac 7. “He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” – Moorish proverb 8. “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of p...

Ana and Mario are passionate teachers and travelers. They met in  Brasov, Romania, and got married in Antigua Guatemala. They’ve traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They’ve taught in Romania, the Philippines, and China. They want to inspire others to celebrate learning, adventures, and generosity. Out of gratitude, they strive to make the world a better place.  #TeachersTravelers

Ode to Thanks by Pablo Neruda Thanks to the word that says thanks! Thanks to thanks, word that melts iron and snow! The world is a threatening place until thanks makes the rounds from one pair of lips to another, soft as a bright feather and sweet as a petal of sugar, filling the mouth with its sound or else a mumbled whisper. Life becomes human again: it’s no longer an open window. A bit of brightness strikes into the forest, and we can sing again beneath the leaves. Thanks, you’re the medicine we take to save us from the bite of scorn. Your light brightens the altar of harshness. Or maybe a tapestry known to far distant peoples. Travelers fan out into the wilds, and in the jungle of strangers, merci rings out while the hustling train changes countries, sweeping away borders, then spasibo clinging to pointy volcanoes, to fire and freezing cold, or danke, yes! and gracias, and the world turns into a table: a single word has wiped it...

Travel: how was it for you? Did you ‘find yourself’ halfway up a mountain and come down a different person? Did you meet the love of your life in the lower bunk of a hostel dorm? Did you reach a destiny-defining decision in the back of a chicken bus? Perhaps your experiences seem less melodramatic than this. But if you’ve spent any length of time living out of a backpack or a suitcase, there’s a fair chance you’ve chalked up one, some or perhaps many of a traveller’s classic rites of passage. These events range from the trivial to the transcendental, the unpleasant to the wondrous. But whatever the details, they qualify you for lifetime membership of the tribe animatedly swapping notes at the crossroads – the airport lounges, the train stations, the hotel bars – where travellers often meet. Here are a few you might recognise. Most travellers have at least one place that they just can’t shake That special place What? Just one? But you've been to dozens of special places; in f...

Philippines: An Island for Every Taste In every family, there’s always an odd one out—and in the clan of Asia-Pacific nations, that member would be the Philippines. This nation of 7,107 islands (about 2,000 inhabited) began as a loose grouping of Indo-Malay tribes, which endured nearly 400 years of Spanish rule, then 48 years as a U.S. territory. Today the Philippines is a mix of tribal pride, Catholic fervor, American pop-culture savvy, and tropical affability. Most visitors don’t linger in the muggy, traffic-clogged capital, Manila, but you should explore at least one of the Spanish churches in the old, walled center of Intramuros and stroll around Manila Bay at sunset. Then head to some of the thousands of beaches, from the pink sands of Great Santa Cruz Island to the black sands of Albay. Divers off Palawan, Apo, and Siargao islands delight in hundreds of coral and fish species. On the southern isle of Mindanao, more than 1,300 land species—including the endang...

1. To experience the WOW factor 2. To escape routine 3. To learn about new cultures 4. To witness the peak of human adaptability 5. To create new friendships 6. To find inner peace 7. To gain a new perspective 8. To de-stress 9. To discover yourself 10. To broaden your horizons 11. To master a new language 12. To sample new cuisines 13. To dare to be different 14. To expand your professional network 15. To put your problems into perspective 16. To see the beauty of nature 17. To reach new heights in common sense 18. To explore your creative side 19. To gawk at the man-made wonders of the world 20. To taste freedom 21. To grow personally and intellectually 22. To feel alive 23. To realize that humans are the same everywhere 24. To hone your self-confidence 25. To view “home” with a new pair of eyes 26. To attend unique cultural, art, and music festivals 27. To participate in an authentic cooking class with locals 28. To m...

Everyone is always ready to go on a new adventure. Whether you want to eat your way through a foodie mecca, immerse yourself in a new culture or explore remote trails in untamed frontiers, the new year is the best time to set new goals and take action. So, it probably comes as no surprise that at the start of each year, Americans resolve to travel more. Yet according to The Travel Effect, a study released by the U.S. Travel Association, more than 4 out of 10 U.S. employees ended 2013 with unused time off -- an average of more than three paid days forfeited per worker. So, why are U.S. workers depriving themselves the chance to experience somewhere new? "A lot of Americans would love the concept of traveling, but they never made the time for it," explained Joe Diaz, co-founder of AFAR, a multiplatform media company that includes the travel magazine AFAR and AFAR.com. With a mission to inspire people to have meaningful travel experiences across the globe, AFAR also encou...