2013, Gold Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for From Red to Green in Bulgaria

2013, Gold: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Southeast Asia on a Shoestring: 20 Years (and a Child) Later

2013, Silver: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Best Travel Blog

2013, Bronze: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Perceptive Travel, Best Travel Journalism Website

2013, Silver: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Bouncing Back from Terror in Budapest

2012, Gold Award: Solas Best Travel Writing Awards in the Travel & Sports category for Side Saddle Girls at a Mexican Rodeo

2012, Gold Award: Solas Best Travel Writing Awards in the Destinations category for "Surreal for Real."

2012, Gold Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for "Best Travel Blog"

2012, Gold Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Side Saddle Girls at a Mexican Rodeo

2012, Silver Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Best Travel Journalism Website

2012, Silver Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Touring Chile's Wine Districts Near Santiago

2012, Bronze Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for The Dreams of Man in Stone and Concrete

2012, Most Popular Travel Bloggers, poll at Elliott.org consumer advocacy site

2011, Gold Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Man Vs. Man: Saving the Galapagos

2011, Silver Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Best Independent Blog for the Cheapest Destinations Blog

2011, Silver Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Best Cruising Story for Untouched by Time in the Galapagos

2011, Silver Award: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards for Best Sports/Activity Story for Two Wheels, Two Drinks: Biking Through America's Heartland

2010, Silver Certificate: Solas Best Travel Writing Awards in the Destination category for "Unbalanced in the Sinking City"

2010, Bronze Certificate: Solas Best Travel Writing Awards in the Doing Good or the Kindness of Strangers category for "The Collision"

2010, Second Prize Transitions Abroad Narrative Travel Writing Contest for "The Collision."

2010, First Prize North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards in the Best Article for the Internet category for "Unbalanced in the Sinking City"

2008, Guidebook of the Year, Planeta.com Book of the Year Awards for Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America

2004-2008, Best of the Web: Forbes Travel Blogs for his Cheapest Destinations Blog

2007, First Prize: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards in the Hotels and Resorts category for "A Spa Built for Two."

2007, Finalist: Travvies Best Travel Blog on the Web Award for the Cheapest Destinations blog

2007, Bronze Certificate: Solas Best Travel Writing Awards in the Bad Trips category for "Shake and Bake on the Equator".

2006, Grand Prize: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards in the Journalist/Photographer category for Meat and Malbec at Midnight

2006, Finalist: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards in the Local Lifestyle category for "The Life of a Peruvian Porter".

2006, Finalist: North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Awards in the Best Travel Guide category for his book Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune: The Contrarian Traveler’s Guide to Getting More for Less

2006, Finalist: Planeta.com's Travel Book of the Year Award for his book Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune: The Contrarian Traveler’s Guide to Getting More for Less