Tapping Into That Vagabond Magic

When you look back on your life as a traveler, which trip do you remember the most? For a lot of us, our happiest travels were the ones we did on a shoestring, slumming around with a backpack. Why? Because these were real adventures: riding serendipity like the wind, taking risks, and enjoying how having no money forced us into the arms of strangers.

I’ve been thinking today about 1973, when my friend Gene and I first experienced “Europe Through the Gutter.” In so many ways, this trip — star...