Online Travel Blog

As someone who has never left the North American continent, I have a always been a sucker for travel stories. Not those stuffy ones that use only the highest priced accommodations, but quirky travel stories geared toward the average person.

In the past, this has meant newspaper travel sections or travel magazines. Of course, if I were looking for specific information, I could always find it online. Recently, however, I have become a fan of the travel blog.

The New York Time's Frugal Traveler, Matt Grose, recently began his "Grand Tour," a 12-week journey around Europe in which he is bound to spend less than 100 Euros a day. Last year, he took a similar journey across the United States.

All in all, it's like getting daily postcards from a friend discussing where they've gone and what they've done. The blog is updated with new entries and videos every Thursday and short updates and frugal tips throughout the week. Interestingly, Grose's photos are geotagged, which means his camera automatically stamps the latitude and longitude of where they were taken so they can be incorporated into a map. In his previous U.S. journey, the Frugal Traveler employed GPS tracking.

Think of it like the Travel Channel except with more interaction, almost like you're along for the trip. Readers see each stop along the way and are able to leave comments on it. In one of his first updates, Grose revealed what he packed -- including his reporting supplies (pictured). He admits to being unsure about what to bring along and this started a long reader discussion.

From the looks of it, the blog has a large number of loyal readers. In a multi-stage trip like this, people will keep coming back and perhaps visit the other Times' stories, too.