I see myself as a traveller. OK, I don't cover a lot of miles at the moment, because of the work thing. So, when I'm tired and discouraged, I get a bit jealous of those with more freedom to notch up the miles and the sights.

When I'm more myself, I remember how incredibly lucky I am. One day there will be time for the more fleeting travel experience, God willing. And in the meantime, my "ordinary" -- surrounded by Indonesian young people -- is really pretty damn interesting.



My ordinary is still travel, because it's temporary. It has that poignant urgency whose highs and lows more sedentary existences rarely get to experience. Enjoy, appreciate, give thanks, this urgency says, because this particular ordinary will absolutely not last for ever. Willingly courting this temporary status -- with all its joys and sorrows, with every arrival inevitably becoming a departure -- is the essence of travelling.

Some travel bloggers really get that...

Which brings me to my theme: Travel bloggers who do it a whole lot better than I do.

I'm always interested in people who travel long-term. Legal Nomads is one such, and she has gleaned lots of experience from six years on the road.

But I'm also enthralled by people who present travel differently too. I recently came across a list of 25 "best travel blogs and websites". I flicked through, and loaded the ones I found most interesting. (This took persistence, as many are clearly not designed for the bandwidth we have available.)

Here are my favourites:

I loved Context. It's very informative (as opposed to some which are very gorgeous but not much else); its front page is attractive and useful; and the walking tours sound fantastic. Not much in Asia, though...

There are loads of really good photos on Nomadic Habit. But the text is less than inspirational, and there's too much on one page -- with our connection, it never finishes loading. I also have to wonder (again) about the slightly narcissistic, star-of-my-own-show element that is somehow inherent in blogging. Let me say here and now that travel often sucks, and I often suck at it...

Roads and Kingdoms has FABULOUS photos. Again, the pages are too long... But the posts are great. See, for example, this one on a Chinese New Year meal in Singapore.

Notes from the Road is lovely, just lovely... Fantastic photos, and enough information to be satisfying, arranged in "suites" consisting of five, six, or seven parts, each with a big, beautiful picture and a brief but meaningful bit of text.

So, my web designer and I have a lot to learn from as we face the challenge of adequately documenting the enigma that is travel...