"Not only does time stretch out when we travel, like a curvy road into the unknown, but travel takes up so much space in our lives, as if, like childhood, travel is the one overriding factor that colors our lives more richly than anything else."

- Laurie Gough, Kite Strings of the Southern Cross

Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.

My travel memoir - Two Laps Around the World: Tales and Insights from a Life Sabbatical - is about two round-the-world journeys with my wife.

Part of my article series on themed road trips:

• A road trip through literary New England
• Journey into the roots of American music
• The ultimate baseball road trip
• Volcanic tour of the Pacific Northwest
• Atomic tourism: Trip through Cold War history
• Stargazing the Southwest
• A presidential tour of Virginia