Travel advice from
Edward Hasbrouck,
The Practical Nomad

Welcome, fellow travellers!

This is the Web site of author, journalist, blogger, consumer advocate, civil libertarian, human rights advocate, speaker, and travel expert Edward Hasbrouck.

I write and speak about travel as an aspect of life: something we do, not something we buy. There is an industry of companies and people who sell services to travellers, but travel is an activity, not an industry; an experience, not a product. We may pay for transportation and for places to sleep, just as we may pay for schooling, but we can't buy experience any more than we can buy enlightenment -- even if, in the best of worlds, travel sometimes brings us both. I abhor the commodification of travel, and I write and speak about how my readers and listeners can avoid it.

• News from Edward Hasbrouck's Blog

• Travel Planning Resources, Advice, and FAQs:

  • FAQ for international travellers about the 2G and 3G cellphone "sunset"
  • Air travel, global warming, and the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Visiting friends and relatives: post-pandemic travel predictions
  • The international standard for "vaccination passports"
  • Would a "vaccine passport" app make flying safer? No.
  • COVID-19 and travel company bailouts
  • Travel during the coronavirus pandemic
  • More reasons not to travel during the coronavirus pandemic
  • CDC orders air travelers to unmask for government surveillance
  • Who leaked the changes to Sen. Ted Cruz's airline reservations?
  • The Practical Nomad's top tips for travellers:
    • Key advice from The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World
    • Key advice from The Practical Nomad Guide to the Online Travel Marketplace
  • More Travel FAQs, "How-Tos", and Explainers

• Edward Hasbrouck's weekly columns on "The Amazing Race", the around-the-world travel reality-TV show

  • Current season: The Amazing Race 34 (fall 2022 on CBS-TV in the USA)
  • Previous season: The Amazing Race 33 (Winter 2022)
  • Earlier seasons of The Amazing Race since 2001

• Edward Hasbrouck's travel book series, The Practical Nomad:

  • The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World (5th edition)
  • The Practical Nomad Guide to the Online Travel Marketplace
  • Reviews of The Practical Nomad
  • What readers are saying about The Practical Nomad books
  • More info

"Don't believe anything just because you read it on the Internet.... The Internet is the most effective medium in history for the rapid global propagation of rumor, myth, and false information." [From The Practical Nomad Guide to the Online Travel Marketplace, 2001]

• Travel and Privacy, Surveillance, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights:

  • T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom lie to customers about their privacy policies and practices
  • Who's watching you while you travel? Airline reservations are not secure. (More)
  • C-SPAN video (with annotated slides): Government Surveillance and Control of Travellers
  • The REAL-ID Act and the right to travel
  • "Freedom to Travel Act of 2021" introduced in Congress
  • FAQ: No-fly lists and no-fly decisions
  • Dispatches from the "No-Fly trial
  • What's in a Passenger Name Record (PNR)?
  • How to request your travel records
  • Why I sued the Department of Homeland Security
  • Freedom To Travel As A Human Right
  • How the US violates the right to travel
  • Travel safety and civil liberties: Fear vs. Danger
  • "Carrier sanctions" kill. Airlines collaborate.
  • FAQs and explainers about travel and privacy, surveillance, civil liberties, and human rights
  • Articles about "Privacy and Travel" from my blog
  • My articles for the Identity Project (PapersPlease.org)

"Liberty of movement is an indispensable condition for the free development of a person." [United Nations Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 27: Freedom of movement; used as the epigraph to the 4th and 5th editions of The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World]

• Bicycle travel:

  • Bicycle Travel FAQ's, Resources, and Trip Reports
  • Articles about "Bicycle Travel" from my blog

• Public radio interviews with Edward Hasbrouck:

  • How to Travel Around the World (5 minutes, from The Savvy Traveler on NPR)
  • Privacy and travel records (4 minutes, from NPR News)
  • The REAL-ID Act and the right to travel (15 minutes, from Texas Public Radio)
  • DHS plans to gather social media information (7 minutes, from "The World" on Public Radio International)

• Television appearances and presentations by Edward Hasbrouck:

  • NBC Today Show: "Shills" and fake reviews on travel sites
  • C-SPAN: Government Surveillance and Control of Travelers
  • Cato Institute: The status of the REAL-ID Act
  • C-SPAN: Testimony to the National Commission on Military Service (More)





• Print interviews and profiles:

  • Bloomberg Businessweek: "Covering the Traveler's Electronic Trail"
  • CNN Sunday Morning News: "Travel expert Edward Hasbrouck on making the best of air travel"
  • CNN.com: "Travel expert Edward Hasbrouck on bargain airfares and destinations"
  • Antiwar.com: "Ed Hasbrouck versus the TSA: The Practical Nomad-turned-air security watchdog"
  • Travel Writing 2.0: "An Interview with The Practical Nomad"
  • National Writers Union: "On Blogging: Making a Living Wage as an Online Writer"
  • Chicago Maroon: "Generation X': A Brief History of Dropouts at the University of Chicago" (More)

• Writing and Publishing:

  • How writers monetize words: The marketplaces for writing in digital formats
  • What is the Internet Archive doing with our books?
  • National Writers Union (Co-Chair, Book Division, 2009-2021)
  • International Federation of Journalists (member, Authors Rights' Expert Group)
  • International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (former member, Board of Directors)
  • Bay Area Travel Writers (former member, Board of Diectors)

• Peace and War:

  • The Military Draft, Draft Registration, and Draft Resistance (Resisters.info)
  • Self-Determination and Human Rights in Kashmir
  • Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild (member, Steering Committee)
  • Peace and Justice Studies Association

• About Edward Hasbrouck:

  • Bio
  • Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award for Investigative Reporting (Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, 2003)
  • Social Courage Award "for exemplifying courage and honor in speaking truth to power" (Peace & Justice Studies Association, 2021)
  • Public appearances and events
  • Mentions in the news
  • Press coverage of work with the Identity Project
  • Publicity photos and book cover images
  • How to pitch me
  • Contact info
  • The Hasbrouck Family Association
  • Where does the name "Hasbrouck" come from?

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Copyright © 1991-2022 Edward Hasbrouck, except as noted. ORCID 0000-0001-9698-7556. Mirroring, syndication, and/or archiving of this Web site for purposes of redistribution, or use of information from this site to send unsolicited bulk e-mail or any SMS messages, is prohibited.