Sometimes I feel like a broken record talking about my recent backpacking trip in Central America and South America, because I’ve written so much about it on my own blog. But here I am on a brand new website, with a brand new audience, and I guess I’d better start from the beginning. I had this grand plan to spend a year backpacking from Mexico City to Santiago de Chile, completely by bus, boat, train, car; anything except from flying. This was for a few reasons. The first being that […]

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Exploring coffee cultures around the world. Follow two caffeine junkie-backpackers searching for the world’s best coffee! The quality of a cup of coffee is determined by a complex combination of factors, both environmental and method of preparation. Since altitude, soil quality and climate are influential factors,  the bean origin influences coffee quality. These were our favorite coffees around the world. South East Asia Coffee culture here varies between nothing and top quality around here. Coffee culture in Indonesia Indonesia is a big player, the fourth biggest coffee producer in the […]

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Let’s face it; volunteering our time and effort to a worthy cause is a nice, feel-good thing to do.  For many of us, however, the idea of doing work when we could otherwise be relaxing on a beach or exploring the jungle just sounds … crazy.  We’re traveling to enjoy life, not to waste our precious time milking cows or digging ditches.  Well, I’d like to help you see the light: not only can volunteering let you to contribute directly to a cause you’re passionate about, it can also be […]

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Spring is the season hope is rekindled, when broken blades are renewed, and light washes the shadows. We can go barefoot in the grass, pluck the charms of flowers, whistle in the warming breeze, and hit the winding road. Jasper Bangs, who has been to 34 countries, with a spring in his step But, as with any venture, travel can have its pitfalls and pitsprings, if the traveler is not rightly attuned to or aware of warning signs. Many, and I include myself, celebrate uncertainty, mystery, and well-planned trips gone […]

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Honduras is like the monkey who locked up the zookeeper. This little tropical realm has put away the constrained thinking that keeps others stuck in unproductive routines, and allowed its wildness to escape the margins. ~Richard Bangs Because it’s faithful to our childlike imaginations of wilderness, our youthful notions of life authentic and unadulterated, Honduras remains a true, original adventure. Far from the strictures of gentlemanly routines, here we can remember what makes life rip-roaring and breathtaking. We can test our mettle, hear our hearts race, and even encounter a […]

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John M. Edwards Liquors Up and Loosens the Tongue of Adventure Journalist Bruce Northam, the Guru of Globetrotter Dogma Award-winning travel journalist Bruce Northam has wandered freestyle in over 100 countries on seven continents, with experiences ranging from drifting with Burma’s sea gypsies, playing naked Frisbee with New Guinea natives, and beholding the beguiling shores of Antarctica. With three books under his equatorial belt and a fourth on the way called “The Wisdom of Strangers”—a 108-country journey in search of unsung hero wisdom and happiness–Bruce still finds time to contribute […]

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Hidden yet in plain sight is the poor but plentiful country of El Salvador in Central America. Bound on one side by the brilliant blue waters of the South Pacific Ocean, cornered by Honduras and Guatemala it is a country of many different facets each one shining light upon its varied attractions. Mountains, tropical rain forests, sugar plantations and the ever present pounding of surf on sandy beaches, add up to a traveller’s dream but underneath an abject poverty can be seen in many places. With over 21 volcanoes some […]

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Moon Maya 2012 by Joshua Berman In time for the end of the 5125 year cycle started by the Mayans in 3114 BC – Moon has released “Maya 2012” a guide to celebrations in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize & Honduras. This region is often referred to as the “mundo maya” – where most of the world’s 10 million Mayans still live today. While some of the guide is geared towards touring in 2012, much is not and the book offers helpful advice in general on traveling in these regions. This is […]

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Volunteer Vacations by Bill McMillon, Doug Cutchins and Anne Geissinger This book (Eleventh Edition) is the definitive guide about specific volunteer organizations. It was originally published over 20 years ago and today highlights 150 charitable organizations in detail. Looking to help strawberry farmers in Azerbaijan, rehabilitate wounded elephants in India, build homes in Honduras or a variety of other volunteer opportunities – look no further than Volunteer Vacations. An introduction chapter highlights the rewards, opportunities and answers typical questions about volunteer travel. In addition real life volunteers highlight their experiences […]

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For inhabitants of Colombia, coffee production is an effective means for economic growth and prosperity. And the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafe), located in Chinchiná and sponsored by the Colombian Coffee Grower’s Federation, is working hard to highlight the influence of coffee on the economic development of the Cafe Triangle region in Colombia and countries like Guatemala and Honduras, says Fernando Gast, PhD, director of scientific and technological research at Cenicafe. “It’s the best alternative to coca production and for people wanting to go from illegal to legal crops.” Plus, […]

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What did I know about birds? Enough to feed spinach greens, not stale muffins, to the domestic ducks at Recreation Park in my hometown of Long Beach, CA. Enough to avoid annoying the thirty-pound swans in London’s Hyde Park. Enough to understand that silence was golden while trailing knowledgeable birdwatchers in the woods near The House of the Doves at Uxmal. And once, at my grandmother’s house in Los Angeles when I was ten, I learned the hard way that it’s wise to avoid poking a thumb inside a budgie’s […]

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Hello, my name is Nicole, and I am an addict. Hello Nicole. The realization of my addiction came at the point where most addictions come, in a dark, dingy hotel room, alone, surrounded by pink pills. The only difference was that I did not have a needle up my arm and I was not in the center of downtown LA. I was in Puerto Rico, and was in my right, conscious state of mine (which I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.) As I laid sprawled out […]

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Oh the joys of trying to visit countries with a Thailand passport. While not the lowest of the low, trying to visit many countries around the world using a Thailand passport is about scraping the bottom of the barrel and is about as difficult as it gets. My wife is from Thailand and until she can get USA citizenship these are some of the fun times we have experienced trying to travel. We either try to apply for a tourist or transit visas depending on the countries we visit. Some […]

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We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest. ~ Oscar Romero Pollo Campero Jackie, Trout, Molly, and I were on our way back from spending the week in Honduras and were physically and emotionally exhausted from our trip. We had been traveling by bus all day – almost […]

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The destination is the large La Perouse Bank off Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, where halibut, salmon, ling cod and rock fish dine on the smorgasbord of herring, sardines and other bait fish that make the banks their home. “Ucluelet is in a unique spot geographically being very close to offshore banks,” says Matt Olcen, of Westcoast Fishing Expeditions in Ucluelet. “You are not going to find a more consistent place for fishing in terms of salmon and halibut.” Olcen’s company has been taking out small sport […]

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