By Isabel Clift

It’s October, which means it’s time for obligatory Halloween-themed spooookiness to descend on Blogger of the Month. Except, I’m not sure anything below will give you the actual heebie-jeebies… unless you’re creeped out by stuff like photos of the Scottish Highlands and things you can buy for $1. In which case you should perhaps have a cup of tea and a small life re-assessment.

Ready then? Deep breath and on to the blogs…

Blogger of the month

Brenna of This Battered Suitcase

Having visited over 80 countries in seven years, Brenna Holeman knows a thing or two about travel. She passes on hard-earned advice and stories in her funny and insightful blog, This Battered Suitcase – perfect for a browse if you want to catch a serious case of wanderlust.

Five things we love about Brenna…

• She’s hilarious: The 10 Unavoidable Truths of Travel
• She can tell a helluva story: Near Death on Bolivia’s Death Road
• She’s got advice in spades: How To Travel With Your Best Friend
• Her Around the World series rocks: Around the World: Coffee
• She loves London (we do too!): Why London Deserves Love

Follow This Battered Suitcase: Facebook | @SuitcaseBrenna

The best travel blog posts in October

What’s been going on in the blogosphere this month? We’ll tell you just what…

WORLD: GQ Trippin has us feast our thrifty eyes on the The World’s Dollar Menu

SERBIA: Katerinka Abroad photographs Serbia’s capital on film in The Unexpected Pleasures of Funky, Surreal Belgrade

Belgrade – c. Katerinka Abroad

WORLD: Suitcase Stories’s Travel Photography Tips will give you holiday snaps you can be proud to show off, rather than bore everyone silly with blurry pics taken out of train windows.

USA: The Case for Wanderlust lets us in on Manhattan’s Best Kept Secret (spoiler: it’s a really cool park).

WORLD: Jessie on a Journey takes a quirky look at a Traveller’s Guide to Cultural Immersion

SCOTLAND: Eye & Pen gives us an actual eyegasm with Photo Tour: Isle of Skye

Scotland c. Eye and Pen

WORLD: The Occasional Traveller gets her game face on in Don’t Sweat! Self Defence for Solo Travellers (ok, this is from late September but it’s a great subject so we bent the rules slightly – tsk, naughty.)

RUSSIA: Global Help Swap makes planning your dream train geek trip that bit easier with Top 5 Tips for Riding the Trans-Siberian Railway

WORLD: Chino House helps you get your camp on quicker with the Chino House Camping Checklist

What about us?

Um… not sure if anyone’s told you but… we’ve found 20 Warning Signs You’re a Backpacker Douchebag . Read, remember and try not to repeat!

In the time we haven’t been making semi-insulting checklists, we’ve been getting excited about Halloween via the medium of novelty food – 12 Grisly Nibbles for a Gruesome Halloween – and graveyards 15 Cemeteries to Visit Before You Die . As you do.

We also looked into the rather pertinent matter of How to Get Paid During Your Gap Year plus passed on holiday tips in How to Fake Being Swedish in Gothenburg and New Zealand Attractions: Road Trip NZ in Style , written by the lovely Lazy Travelers.

One last blog post of joy

Helen in Wonderlust captures the women and kids of The Himba Tribe, Namibia

Himba Tribe Namibia – c. Helen in Wonderlust

Our most immediate take-away from the post is: these might be some of the cutest kids EVER. Gaaaah.

Tell us if we missed a great post this October below…

Related posts:

• 69 Travel Blogging Tips From the Top Travel Bloggers
• Travel Bloggers of the Month: September “Back to Business” Edition
• Travel Bloggers of the Month: August “End of Summer” Edition

Flickr image via d0ndy. Please note, Flickr images were held under the Creative Commons licence at the time of publication.