Maybe I’m the only one, but I don’t get to travel nearly as much as I’d like to. I attribute this to an involuntarily ingrained attitude toward travel as something that happens “when everything else is taken care of,” which hardly ever comes around. Rolf Potts presents a different take in a book called Vagabonding.

“Many travel books can help prepare you for an overseas trip, but this book — in sharing a simple and time-honored ethic — can teach you how to travel for the rest of your life.” And indeed, it does that. It also inspires, educates, and peppers its own advice with excerpts from notable travelers and naturalists like John Muir, Walt Whitman, Thoreau among others. Vagabonding is not exactly a “Rough Guide” or a “Frommers.” It’s more like a manifesto. At its heart is a philosophy of simple living, one that can enable one to travel more extensively than the usual 2-week mad-dash that many of us must submit to stateside. It argues, persuasively, that long-term travel is more desirable, infinitely more rewarding and well worth the effort in making it happen. It then goes on to outline ways to make that possible. It may come as little surprise that the solutions presented — quit your job, give away your stuff, etc. — are pretty radical. In keeping with the principle “there are no free lunches,” Potts makes clear this lifestyle isn’t for everybody. But for those of us who love the world like it was our extended family, it is a most seductive option.