Matthew Kepnes

When I was twenty-five, I quit my job to travel the world because I met five travelers in Thailand who changed my views on how I wanted to live my life.

As my ear drums begin to sound like popcorn in a microwave I couldn’t fall back asleep. They were small, frequent pops and in my zombie-like state, I couldn’t really place why this was happening.

History is filled with amazing adventures who paved the way for future explorers and inspired generations of wanderlust. Here are some of the best.

Here’s an inspirational travel quote for each week of the year (plus one for good measure) to keep you dreaming of exotic lands.

Over the years, I’ve had some bad hostel roommates. They’ve been rude, messy, dirty, smelly, drunk, loud and everything in between. Two girls in New Zealand were so bad they inspired me to write a post on hostel etiquette.

When I started traveling, my dad asked what I’m running away from. My mother constantly wants to know when I will “settle down” and join the “real world”.

You do not need to be rich to travel.

DO do it in the laundry room: It will be empty — especially at night. There’s really no other reason. Put a few coins in the machine for some extra fun.

You spend two hours each day reading travel blogs and websites.

We’ve all heard the depressing statistic that only 36% of Americans own a passport. That’s really low (about 70% of Australians and 70% of Brits hold a passport) and though that number has been rising the last couple of years, it’s only because Americans are now required to have a passport when entering Mexico and Canada.

I never thought I would still be nomadic. My original round-the-world trip was only supposed to last one year before I went back home, found a “real” job, settled down, and by now, be married, have a house, 2.5 children, and complain about my retirement fund to my friends.