AlmostFearless.com

Where have I been? Just 7,000 ft above sea level.  Living in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (everyone calls it Xela, which sounds like Sha-La).  With a Guatemalan family. Taking 5 hours of Spanish lessons a day. Which is like finding out that yes, indeed, you really do suck. Warning:  This post includes geeky Spanish grammer stuff.  Don’t [...]

Crossing the Guatemalan border from Mexico was chaotic, scrambled and the perfect transition to my new Spanish-only world. The driver picked me up at 7:30 AM and 3 hours later dropped me off at the Mexican side of the border. One of the passengers spent 5 minutes screaming in Spanish at the driver. You’re an [...]

When I left for Puerto Vallarta, I had booked my flight only 3 days before. Ideas I had about where to stay (apartments) were out, as was my method of transport (our car). I arrived in PV airport disheveled, my hair sticking to my forehead, and lugging an overstuffed backpack. I stepped out into the [...]

This past week, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico has been “Latin Fever”. It’s a week long event over the Thanksgiving holiday that offers dinners, dances, and parties for the gay tourists. I found this out, after a teacher from Houston, took me to the gay beach one day. So we walked. We went down to the [...]

Surreal. I’m walking through the streets of Puerto Vallarta and someone stops me. Inwardly I sigh, expecting yet another sales pitch (You want braids? You want bracelet? How about massage). Instead he says, “Are you American?” I say yes and take a step to walk away. “When is Thanksgiving? “ It’s tomorrow I tell him, [...]

What if the same people who traveled around the world, could help end hunger?  Or stop AIDS?  Or promote gender equality?  What if, by teaming up with almost 50 other travel blogs, we could raise cash for a program who is doing exactly this kind of work? Well, four ladies in Seattle think we can.  [...]