Keeping up with Rolf Potts’ online book tour

Chances are, if you’ve ever looked for a book on the joys of deliberate, independent travel, you’ve come across Rolf Potts’ fantastic book Vagabonding. It is the virtual Bible of solo travel, and it has inspired countless people to create time in their lives for long-term world travel.

Now, to promote his newest book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, Rolf is making a number of stops around the blogosphere to answer questions, including here at Gadling. Already Rolf has been featured at Budget Travel, BootsnAll, and the Four-Hour Workweek, with stops at Jaunted, Brave New Traveler, and Matador still to come. [Here‘s the full schedule.]

A couple excerpts from Rolf’s interviews so far:

“I usually travel with some vague objectives when I go to a new place, but I’ve found that the key to really experiencing the place is the willingness to dump those pre-planned objectives at a moment’s notice if you discover something more compelling along the way.”

“Sometimes I get irritated when I hear some backpacker brag about the time he’s spent on some rice farm near Vang Vieng, and then in the next breath bag on the sensibilities of people who live in “Red States” he’s certainly never visited. How can you consider hanging out with a Laotian farmer a virtue when the idea of a Kansas farmer brings a sneer to your face?”

“One general piece of advice I might offer is to not get defensive when someone is talking about their travels. So your next-door neighbor went to Guyana and he wants to tell you all about it– is he showing off or just channeling the excitement of his journey? Odds are it’s the latter– and if you reflexively judge him as a travel snob just because he went someplace exotic and enjoyed it, then you’re the one who’s being a jerk.”

Stay tuned to Gadling for an interview with Rolf– and more!– starting September 26.