Celebrated travel writer Paul Theroux first went to Africa as a 22-year-old Peace Corps volunteer, and the pull of the continent never left him. In The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari, he tells what it was like to return, after 50 years on the road, to explore the little-traveled territory of western Africa and to take stock both of the place and of himself.

Matt Gross, former 'Frugal Traveler' for The New York Times, now editor of BonAppetit.com, and author of The Turk Who Loved Apples And Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World, talks about his journeys around the world and takes your travel quandaries and questions.

It's not clear what caused American's problems with its computer system.

“American’s not telling anyone exactly one happened,” said Brett Snyder, who runs the blog crankyflier.com. He says all we know is that the link between American Airlines and its reservation system, known as Sabre, went down. “And so American was unable to do a lot of things that are required of daily business."

UPDATE: 4:45 p.m. ET -- American Airlines is flying airplanes again after hours of delays due to computer problems. "Our systems have been fully restored, however we expect continued flight delays and cancellations throughout the remainder of the day," the company posted on Facebook.

Moses Gates gives a glimpse into the world of urban exploration, describing his trespasses in cities from Paris to Cairo to Moscow. In Hidden Cities: Travels to the Secret Corners of the World’s Greatest Metropolises he talks about secret art galleries in subway tunnels, breaking into national monuments for fun, sleeping in centuries-old catacombs and abandoned Soviet relics, and getting arrested on top of Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Bob Harris talks about being was inspired by a chance encounter in Dubai with the impoverished workers whose backbreaking jobs created such opulence. He began making microloans all over the world to help the poor. In The International Bank of Bob, he writes of travelling around the world to see the results of the hundreds of microloans he made online.

The city with the highest 2012 increase in airfare? Lima, Peru. The cheapest month to fly domestic? September. Jessica Casano-Antonellis of Kayak.com explains what the travel site's analysis of their 2012 data reveals about how to be a frugal flier.

It seems like there are travel guides for most anybody these days -- the budget-conscious, the backpacker, the vegan. Now, there’s a guide for the music obsessive too. Robert Reid, U.S. travel editor for guidebook publisher Lonely Planet, has recently drawn on music for inspiration for his travels, and travel recommendations, in a list called “Top 40 Rock 'n' Roll Travel Sites.” He shares some of his favorite musical destinations, from Stonehenge to St. Louis, and he explains how songs can function as guidebooks. Read more about his favorite 'guidebook' songs here.

Below are some of Robert Reid's suggestions. Do you have a favorite rock and roll travel destination? What are we missing? Let us know!

Lonely Planet's U.S. Travel Editor explains how you can plan a trip using songs as your guide. 

Are you a "mega-commuter"? That's a term used by the U.S. Census Bureau to describe those who commute at least 90 minutes and 50 miles to work. And nearly 600,000 Americans do. View an interactive map to see how your commute compares.

Alison Singh Gee tells the story of meeting and falling in love with Indian journalist who turned out to be a landed prince (of sorts), but his family palace is falling to pieces. Her memoir Where the Peacocks Sing: A Palace, a Prince, and the Search for Home, is about coming to terms with her complicated new family and learning the true meaning of home. 

With Boeing's 787 Dreamliner planes still grounded around the world, analysts are asking how much money the company stands to lose. Carol Hymowitz has been covering Boeing for Bloomberg News, where she's the editor-at-large.

Cruisers just off a ship reflect on why they decided on a cruise and whether it was worth the money. (Photo by Jolie Puidokas/Marketplace)

(Interview by Jeremy Hobson -- Marketplace) For many well-heeled Americans, the idea of a luxury vacation is a fancy hotel or an expensive flight to an exotic destination. And for the wealthiest among us, taking a break means private jets and pricey beach resorts. But for more than 10 million Americans annually, their luxury vacation means a berth on a cruise ship.

"The United States is still clearly the No. 1... market for cruisers in the world," Royal Caribbean president and CEO Adam Goldstein told Marketplace. "There are about 20 million people a year in the world taking a cruise right now and 11 or 12 [million] come from the United States."

Cruise ships weren't always so mainstream. In 1970, Goldstein said only 500,000 people took a cruise every year.

"It's definitely become more available, when I got into the business in 1988 we aspired to be a mainstream vacation," Goldstein said. "It's definitely become more accessible but what the last few years of challenges, economically, have posed to us is the need to really get across the value message of what is included in the cruise purchase."

According to industry research firm Cruise Market Watch, the ticket price for a typical cruise passenger is $1,311. When you combine onboard expenses and incidentals, the price tag rises to $1,711.

That's not inexpensive, but the the average American family will spend $4,000 on a vacation, including airfare, according to a 2010 American Express survey.

"First of all, we draw pretty broadly, obviously we offer upscale vacations," Goldstein said. "We are looking at household income of probably something like $75,000 and up generally speaking. The vast majority of our cruisers I would say would be middle and upper-middle class."

[Also from Marketplace: Fisher Island: America's most exclusive zip code.]

 

Stephanie Rosenbloom is a travel reporter with the New York Times.

(New York, NY) MTA head Joe Lhota called it the "worst devastation" the city's transit system has seen in its 108 year history. Water up to the ceiling in the South Ferry subway station. Sea water filling the 2/3 subway line under the East River. Sea water just lying in ...