More and more people realize that bicycles can be much more useful than cars. Bikes are cheap, environmentally friendly, keep their owners in good health and as much more fun means of transport for travellers exploring a new destination. HostelBookers, the budget accommodation specialist names the top 5 bicycle-friendly cities and hostels in the world:

Amsterdam, the bike capital of the world, is home to the famous Amsterdam Bike Ramp which holds thousand of bikes. With a safe and extensive bike route network, bountiful governmental support and promotion, it’s no wonder 40% of the city’s traffic moves on two wheels. In the heart of Amsterdam city centre, Hostel Van Gogh provides cool modern facilities at a great price – including cycle hire for guests. It is just a few steps from the Van Gogh Museum, Rijks Museum and Amsterdam City Art Museum. At Hostel Van Gogh guests can pedal to the many bars, shops, clubs and restaurants on offer. The hostel is also just a 5-minute walk from the famous clubs and open markets of Amsterdam. Dorms start at €25per person per night and private rooms at €28pppn.

Named one of the Top Ten Places to Live in Europe, according to Forbes, Copenhagen is also home to the world’s most successful bicycle community program. In Denmark, most of the population has a bike, and for many years Copenhagen has been known as The City of Bikes. Every year Copenhagen invests on bike infrastructure additions and improvements. Just a few minutes from Copenhagen’s Central Railway Station, guests will find Hotel Ansgar. With its central location guests are only a few minutes walk from Tivoli Gardens, the famous shopping street of Strøget and Town Hall Square. The quiet street is perfect for getting to grips with the hotel bike rental. There are 81 rooms to choose from, ranging from singles to quads and all are equipped with Wi-Fi. Private rooms start at €43.60pppn.

The best thing about cycling in Berlin is the wide streets – Karl Marx Allee is 90m wide – and there are no uphill struggles. The government has decreed that all new roads in Berlin must have cycle lanes, and they are dedicated to ensuring the existing ones are updated. Currently there are over 620km of cycle paths and 190km of off-road routes. The Three Little Pigs Hostel in Berlin is housed in a former 19^th century convent at famous Potsdamer Platz Square. Guests will be just a short cycle ride away from the buzzing districts of Mitte and Kreuzberg, and they can rent bikes directly from the hostel. Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag Building are just around the corner as is the best of Berlin’s nightlife. Dorms start from €11.46pppn and privates from €18.52pppn.

Cycling in Beijing, with its nine million bicycles, is something of a rite of passage. Bike rentals start from around 10 Yuan (€1) per day plus a cash deposit. In 2010 the Beijing officials launched a campaign to get people off the car-choked roads and on to the nice flat cycle routes. They believe 20 years ago, 4/5 of the city’s population cycled to work, but now just 1/5 saddle up every day.

Built on a 400-year-old historic site which once served as the home of famous artist Mr Mei Lan Fang, Beijing Si He Courtyard Hotel is just 10 minutes from the centre of Beijing. They have a free bike rental service so guests can explore Beijing the local way. Wangfujing Avenue, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are all nearby. There are spacious traditional guestrooms positioned around the courtyard so you have lovely views. The antique furniture and carvings of ancient symbols add to the atmosphere. Private rooms start from €39.95pppn.

Cycling in San Francisco is becoming very popular, thanks mostly to the increase and care given to the cycling infrastructure as well as it’s trendy fixed gear culture. As far as the terrain goes, the city is extreme, with famously steep hills but along long straight boulevards and wide avenues. The government has installed over 1,500 bike racks and all new car parks must provide a certain amount of bike storage space. Around 16% of San Francisco’s residents class themselves as ‘frequent cyclists’ biking on two or more days per week.  Green Tortoise Backpackers Guesthouse offers free meals, free Wi-Fi and even a free sauna. It’s located in the city by the bay and the free bike rental means guests can travel around the city in style the green way. There are private and dorm rooms with comfy beds, a lucky few have TVs and a huge selection of movies. Set out by bike, and the hostel is just a few minutes away from Chinatown, San Francisco Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf and Little Italy. Dorms and privates start at €22.96pppn.

Locals rowing their sampans along the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

Same Logo, More of it

Well, OK, maybe that title is a tad bit dramatic, but it is true nonetheless. Here at Todd’s Wanderings I am always trying to make the website more user friendly and to enhance your experience. I like it when you are happy, I’m also a bit anal and I need everything to look fresh and cutting edge, and of course I want my site to be more popular than twitter, I’m almost there…15 million more readers to go!

Over the past few months I have been working with a designer to give my website a facelift. I have been trying to make the design and the brand as appealing as possible before I engage a coder. What I have realized is that I forgot to ask YOU what you think.

Yes, I get carried away sometimes.

So, I’m here to not only give you a sneak peak at what the next version of Todd’s Wanderings will look like, but to also get your feedback.

I’d love to know what you think of the proposed new design.

1) What do you like, what do you hate?

2)What else would you like to see?

3) What do you like better or worse compared to the current design?

The internet and blogging is such a wonderful thing. When I’m wondering what my audience thinks, I can take the unusual step of Just Asking You. We often forget it’s that simple.

So here I am asking you what you think. I’ll take your suggestions on the design, add in my own concerns and then we will finalize and roll out a brand spanking new Todd’s Wanderings in the near future.

Todd’s Wanderings New Homepage

Oh, and don't worry about hurting my feels

Please leave your comments below, and thanks again for being one of the most attractive, well read and intelligent audiences around! I couldn’t be this egotistical without you

Determine the Fate of Todd’s Wanderings is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

Welcome to the first installment of my brand new Travel Writing Corner! Every other week, I’ll be presenting interviews with accomplished travel writers and sharing travel writing tips here. This week, I’m thrilled to present one of my favorite travel writers, Anja Mutić. A native of Croatia and an adopted New Yorker, the accomplished writer has penned a dozen guidebooks, hosted several Lonely Planet travel videos and written for The Washington Post, Lonely Planet, Time Out, New York Magazine.

1. How did you break into the world of travel writing?

I came to travel writing from the world of publishing. As I always joke, I did my time in the “editorial cell”. I was steadily climbing up the ladder for five years, following the editorial assistant-editorial coordinator-editor-senior editor-editorial director path, and then realized I needed to break free. Travel started to lure me and I had to get to the other side and hit the road myself, like the writers I was commissioning in my editorial role. By that time I already had a decent network of contacts in the travel guidebook/website business, which gave me the guts to go freelance. So I did, in 2004. Ever since then I’ve been a full-time freelance travel writer and never really looked back. I know my soul would have withered holding down an office job so I’ve been willing to put up with the challenges of freelancing.

2. What were you doing before you became a travel writer?

I started off, strangely enough, in textbook publishing, then worked on Complete Idiot’s Guides for a while. All that happened in the five years I managed to stick to various office jobs in publishing. Ever since I remember though, I loved traveling and writing – they were my two main passions. When I realized I wanted to and could combine them into one, I felt like I found the key to happiness. In many ways, it really was that key for me, and still is. I think a lot of people never quite figure out what it is that would make them happy professionally and get stuck in jobs they don’t care for. It can be a vicious circle. So I feel truly lucky that I found my calling. It’s not all roses, of courses, but what is? I feel happy about the fact I am true to myself and my passions and haven’t had to compromise my dreams in the process. In fact, I’ve created a profession out of a dream. Recently, I’ve also been thinking that the loss of my former country – Yugoslavia – led to this intense wanderlust which in turn led to travel writing as my chosen profession. It’s almost as if I’ve been wandering the world ever since my country fell apart twenty years ago to find the home that I lost.

3. What do you find most fulfilling, and challenging, about travel writing?

I absolutely love the sense of discovery, those ‘wow’ moments of finding a secret little spot somewhere or having a meaningful encounter with a person you don’t even share the same language with… I also love the sense of movement. I realize some of my happiest and most fulfilled moments have happened on various means of transportation – trains, buses, boats, cars (planes not so much, as there’s no moving landscape to look at). There’s something about the world moving fast in front of my eyes and me being an observer of that movement that strikes a chord, and inspires a breathless type of happiness. It happens quite often that I don’t feel like getting off on my stop, because it’s so great to be moving. I do realize that it all comes from a sense of serious wanderlust, a restlessness of sorts. And that’s one of the challenges of travel writing, for me: how to calm down, stand still, be in the moment, engrossed in the here and now.

My friends tell me: “Why would you want to stand still? Your life is traveling!” In many ways that’s true but I do sometimes dream of having a “normal” life, of being able to stay in one place for more than a couple of months at a time (which seems to be my maximum these days). Regardless of all that, and my restless nature, I still love what I do and wouldn’t swap it for a more regular life. So far, I’ve been happy to pay the price for freedom and excitement that travel writing brings me.

4. Many guidebook and print writers are venturing into new media, are you dipping your toes into this field and if yes, why?

I actually came to travel writing from new media. My first job ever in travel publishing was as online editor for RoughGuides.com. That was back in 2000. So I’ve been following the industry’s trajectory pretty closely for over a decade. It’s been fascinating. On one hand, some of the same debates are still going strong, such as: if guidebooks release their full content online, will print go defunct? Other things are new – like the advent of social media. I think it’s a great dynamic time and it’s really important to be in tune with the zeitgeist.

As for myself, I have written for websites for over a decade now and I definitely dabble in all sorts of new media – I have a blog, I tweet, I network on LinkedIn, I play with a little video… I will admit though that I’m always on the edge of these things. Like you say, I’m dipping my toes but something prevents me from jumping in entirely, especially in the social media arena. It’s mostly lack of time – travel writing is 100% of my income and since it’s generally an underpaid profession I need to work really hard to make ends meet. So other things suffer, such as my social media presence (I always joke that I should get the award for the world’s worst blogger), especially since I also like to have a life away from my BlackBerry and computer.

5. Do you think new media is reshaping the role of guidebooks and travel magazines in today’s world?

New media is absolutely reshaping the role of guidebooks and travel magazines, very much so. Everyone today can be an expert and everyone’s opinion can be heard. While that’s great on many levels, I also think it’s creating a lot of noise and a serious need for good curation. I know there are all sorts of new websites popping up for curated travel but I’m quite skeptical. I personally have few sources of travel info that I trust and would turn to for advice. As for the rest… It’s a lot of racket and clamor, not to belittle anyone’s efforts. It’s definitely a brave new world we’ve entered and I think it’s important to know how to vet travel advice in the new media sphere.

6. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Write a great deal and travel a great deal. I feel that the art of writing is slowly being overshadowed by the art of SEO and marketing. I’m a writer and traveler at heart, and always will be. So I place huge importance on the writing itself. That’s what I tell my students (I teach travel writing for Mediabistro) – writing is what really matters, together with the power of observation. So make sure you perfect the craft and continue doing so.

Another thing: make sure you’re not romanticizing travel writing as a profession. It may seem peachy from the outside but it requires a high level of resilience, especially if you write guidebooks. So ask yourself very honestly if it’s the right thing for you. It’s always a good idea to take a hard-core trip somewhere – limited budget, packed schedule, cultural disorientation etc – and see how you deal with it. Observe yourself in that moment, as objectively as you can (although I know that’s tricky). If you find that you’re a little too precious to deal with all that travel throws at you or you realize a more sheltered kind of life suits you better, don’t choose travel writing as your career. You really need to know how to be flexible, on many different levels, and how to lower your expectations.

7. As a travel writer, you travel for a living. What are some of your favorite places in the world (I know pointing out one favorite is too tough!)?

You’re right, pointing out favorites is tough. I have many places I love. I love Bolivia for its under-the-radar vibe (it holds a special place in my heart because it was my first travel writing gig), I love Lisbon for its beautiful light (I call the city my impossible love), I love New York, my adopted home (the city’s energy is unlike anywhere else in the world), I love Croatian islands, especially Vis (it’s my special summer hideaway), I love Kenya (I visited just recently and it swept me off my feet). But these are just a few places that come to mind. There are many more, and new ones all the time….

A native of Croatia and an adopted New Yorker, Anja Mutić has lived, worked and traveled on all the continents, except Antarctica. Based in Brooklyn since 1999, Anja is a professional nomad and travel writer who has written for The Washington Post, Lonely Planet, Time Out, and New York Magazine, among other publications. Anja penned a dozen guidebooks, hosted several Lonely Planet travel videos and blogs about her journeys far and wide at EverTheNomad. You can also find her on Twitter as everthenomad.

Full moon at the Yosemite National Park, California. Photo shot from the town of Oakhurst.

The snow-covered Elbe Sandstone Mountains in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, East Germany.

AThe Arnhem Escarpment that borders the land of the Aborigines in the Kakadu National Park - Northern Territory, Australia.

Here’s a quick update to let you guys know that I’ve found paradise! An emerald isle found in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Mauritius is all that I’d imagine it to be, and more. Surrounded by turquoise sea and cluttered with luscious green rainforests, this tropical island is packed with plenty of surprises. Since we got here, we’ve been driving through its bustling towns and sugarcane plantations, soaking up its chilled undercurrents and getting a feel of its electic ethnic culture. We’re here for just a week, before hopping over to our main destination: Madagascar! While I try my best to steer clear from my laptop (we’re on our honeymoon!), here are some pictures shot over the past few days to give you a glimpse of island life on Mauritius. Enjoy!

Belle Mare beach – pristine waters, clear skies and not a single person in sight.

The 7-colored earth surrounded by luscious palm trees and mountains.

A stunning view of the Black Gorge River National Park in Southern Mauritius.

Huge waves and green grass at the Roche Noir beach.

Our intimate and cosy resort at Belle Mare.

That’s me, happily wading into the clear waters at Grand Baie, Mauritius.

Panoramic view of the ferocious Iguazu Falls in Argentina.

There are, of course, plenty of reasons to visit London that have nothing to do with the monarchy – stunning collections in art galleries, spectacular cathedrals, top-notch theater offerings, countless pubs, and perhaps the world’s most famous clock, to name but a few – but a simple poll of Americans to find out how many of them got up pre-dawn to watch televised coverage of Prince William’s recent marriage (or, for that matter, his parents’ wedding) shows just how highly we still think of the British royal family.

When you’re planning a London itinerary, then, it’s likely to include plenty of royal attractions.

Travel Tip: No matter what your itinerary includes, don’t forget to plan your accommodation ahead of time – especially if you’re visiting during the summer high season. The hotels in London can book up well in advance during the city’s busiest months.

Buckingham Palace

There are the obvious ones that will probably be on your must-see list already. There’s Buckingham Palace, the royal residence, part of which you can visit when the royal family is on vacation. One of the Buckingham Palace attractions, however, is outside and year-round – the famous changing of the guard ceremony happens every day during the summer, and every other day during the rest of the year.

Tower of London

Then there’s the Tower of London, combining the monarchy with history. The Tower is an 11th century castle that’s most commonly known as a prison and the site of more than a few executions, but since many of the prisoners and those sentenced to death were members of the royal family it’s an historic site in London that’s impossible to visit without reflecting on royal history, too.

Beyond the obvious royal attractions, however, there are things like the Queen’s Walk – a lovely, tree-lined walking path along the South Bank of the Thames that was built for the Queen’s “Silver Jubilee” in 1977. Westminster Abbey has clear royal ties as the site of coronations as well as royal tombs, but don’t overlook St. Paul’s Cathedral’s royal relations – it’s the cathedral where Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981.

What’s your favorite royal attraction in London?

- by Jessica of BootsnAll

Download mTrip’s London Travel Guide!

photos by PhillipC, xeddix