If there is a modern day heir to the great traveler/scholar Ibn Batutta – I would say that Francis Tapon is the guy.
Category: Books
William S. Burroughs – Junkie Vagabond
William S. Burroughs – no other name rings so loudly in the annals of extraordinary literary vagabonds of the 20th century.
Vagabond Frontier Writer – Louis L’amour.
Louis L’amour was more than just a prolific writer of Western novels. He was a boxer, a hobo, a round the world traveler, a merchant seaman, a soldier and a vagabond.
Vagabond Explorer – Sir Richard Francis Burton
Explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton was quite possibly the greatest vagabond in history. In his lifetime he lived diverse cultures, broke boundaries, and did most of it without much in the way of resources or travel money.He is this week’s Extraordinary Vagabond.
Vagabond Granny – Grandma Gatewood
Every once in a while you come across someone that inspires the hell out of you. Emma “Grandma” Gatewood is one of those people.
Greedy Vagabond – Conquistador Hernando Cortez
He conquered an entire empire. Sure, it was shitty for Montezuma, but for Cortez? It must have been cool.
Cross Dressing Vagabond – Isabelle Eberhardt
Traveling the world used to be a game that only the men played, but as in all fields, brave pioneers broke out of the Victorian conception of women as meek and mild and showed that even the hardest travel makes no distinction among the sexes. Isabelle Eberhardt was one of these extraordinary feminist vagabonds.
Herodotus – The Father of History (and all Vagabonds)
Not only the father of history but of anthropology, and one can equally (but not so forcefully) argue he is the father of all travel writers and vagabonds.
Amazing Vagabond: Anthony Bourdain
I still miss Anthony Bourdain. Remembering he is gone makes me sad although, I don’t know that he would have been enjoying himself in Covid Times – hell, he wasn’t enjoying himself in pre covid times, I guess. I hope in whatever comes next he is doing what he loves and finding joy where he…
Papa Vagabond- Ernest Hemingway
When it comes to famous vagabonds, people often forget that respected writers now often had their roots as shiftless vagabonds. Ernest Hemingway is no exception.