I’ve had an overseas bucket list since I was 18 years of age and I’m still nowhere close to completing the list, though I figure If I get to have 15 countries under my belt I’d be a very happy guy. So far I have visited 8 countries (Peru, Mexico, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Mongolia, UAE and Brazil)…my highlights of those trips were: Trekking the Inca Trail in Peru Staying in a Yurt in Mongolia Sand dune boarding in … [Read more...]
Baggage Handlers Don’t Lie: 20 Tips from The Frontlines
Article courtesy of Travel Just 4U, an Australia Travel Agency that specializes in tailored tours of South America. We Australians tend to have to travel long distances just to get anywhere. So much so that we like to think of ourselves as wizened travelers who know the tricks of the trade. Here are some of our favorite travel tips from the frontlines of baggage handlers at airports. When we travel it’s easy for us to take for granted some … [Read more...]
Looking for a Vacation Destination? Consider Venezuela
When I tell people that Venezuela is one of the most breathtaking vacation destinations in the world, my words are often met with glares of disbelief. Venezuela? That's Hugo Chavez territory! Well technically, Chavez is no longer alive, but the stigma remains. Awhile back, I was reading an article about the state of tourism in Venezuela. The piece indicated that while tourism is improving in this great South American nation, it's still … [Read more...]
The Worst Food in the World: Ñachi
On the way to the headwaters of the Bio-Bio River in Chile, where we hoped to make the first descent, we stopped at a Mapuche Indian farm house and asked if we might camp in an untilled field. Yes, Yaco, the owner, replied, but only if we joined for dinner. Of course! We would be delighted. As we sat at a long wooden table, Yaco served up Mudai, maize chicha, made by cooking ground corn in water, adding masticated maize meal, and … [Read more...]
The South Pacific Cargo Cult of “John Frum”
Dispatch: Coconuts and Campbell's: John M. Edwards traces the origins of the wackily hybrid South Pacific cargo cult of “John Fromm” (or “John Frum”) from the world’s most useful conversation starter. . . . “Where are you from?” “United States.” “What is your name?” “John.” “Hey, I am John, too!” Although the polite fisherman was dressed like a native, in imported out-of-date garb straight out of “That Seventies Show,” I … [Read more...]
How Voluntary Work Can Change Your Life and Travelling
There are as many different ways of seeing the world as there are people keen to pack a bag and head off to explore distant shores. However, how many of these ways end in a lasting benefit to both the traveller and the place they spend time in? Wouldn’t it be great if we could enjoy travelling the planet while leaving learning something valuable as well? I discovered that this is possible when I went to do voluntary work in the rainforest in … [Read more...]
A Place in the Sun
Not yet 09:00 AM and already he could feel a drop of sweat forming on his brow. A hat would have helped, but hats hide your eyes, and for Juan Manuel, his eyes were his meal ticket. He supposed it was his own fault, as he imagined most things were. After all it was he who had chosen to sit here in the sun when there was cool shade on the far side of the boulevard. But this was no ordinary boulevard. He sat on El Malecon, the grand avenue which … [Read more...]
Onward And Upward To Machu Pichu – Part 1
My heart kept beating like a tom-tom drum feverishly signaling an imminent enemy attack. It kept racing, and thudding, and pounding – not allowing me to get a wink of sleep. I recognized the symptoms. I knew what was happening. I had tried to prepare myself for it. It was oxygen deprivation, and it could lead to altitude sickness. Although I wasn’t in any immediate danger of becoming stricken with the illness, I knew that I was … [Read more...]
Onward & Upward To Machu Pichu – Part 2
The morning sun had ascended to its throne in the brilliant sky. The mist had excused itself for the day. Before us lay the grandeur of Machu Pichu swathed in golden sunlight. Everyone whipped out their cameras and started taking photos of the venerable gift that history had unwrapped for us. One by one, we captured the sight that we’d seen only in books. Angle by angle, frame by frame, we sought to imprint the majestic vista into the … [Read more...]
Destination: Buenos Aires, Argentina
I could see myself, watching myself. An “out of body experience,” they call it. I was naked, wallowing hysterically in the crisp, clean, white sheets of the king-sized bed in my Marriott hotel room. I hadn’t eaten for many hours, too tired, emotional, and downright fearful to leave the room to forage for even a candy bar, of which there were plenty. Abundant bodegas were filled to the brim with candy brands foreign and domestic; chocolate … [Read more...]
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