Archive | Travel Writing RSS feed for this section
National Travel Writing Month:  Next Challenge: April 2009

National Travel Writing Month: Next Challenge: April 2009

Sometimes I get emails from people who’d like to be a writer.  My advice, and probably the advice of any writer is this:  If you want to be a writer, then write.  It doesn’t really matter about what, you’ll have to battle it out like the rest of us– over many years.  Might as well [...]

Read more
Bocas Del Toro and a Thousand Starfish

Bocas Del Toro and a Thousand Starfish

I celebrated my 32nd birthday on Isla Colon, the largest island of Bocas del Toro in northern Panama.  It rained in spurts and fits, then the sun would pop out like nothing ever happened.  I rented a bike, traveled to a deserted section of beach, and sat on the towel that I draped over a [...]

Read more
Carnaval:  Proof that Americans are Wimps

Carnaval: Proof that Americans are Wimps

There is a certain hand gesture used in Latin American countries, when someone finds something funny.   If you held out two fingers, diagonally and then made a motion like you were trying to whip something off your hand, you´d have it.  Well, almost, no one does it quite like they do. So I´m laughing, doing [...]

Read more
You Can´t Fight Carnaval, It Just Happens

You Can´t Fight Carnaval, It Just Happens

I didn´t want to go to Carnaval, honest.  I had the idea to skip the crowds, the noise, the heavy drinking, the late nights, the excess– all of it, and just head to this one coastal town in northern Panama.  In fact the entire trip was spur of the moment: a quick decision to skip [...]

Read more
A Night at Fresa y Chocolate

A Night at Fresa y Chocolate

On my last night out with in Cuba, I hung out with the boys: Brayan, Orlando, Roberto Carlos and The Mexican (Cesar).  We were doing it up Cuban style, which means that the American buys a $3 bottle of Rum at the liquor store, one of the boys hides it in his pants, we order [...]

Read more
The Cuban Contradiction

The Cuban Contradiction

(photo above: Cubana checking her cell phone) In a few days, you can get a sense of a place. Still, Cuba alludes me. There is a wicked sense of humor, something that charms me, but also reminds me of the men playing on the deck of the Titanic. It’s all screwed, what can we do–taken [...]

Read more
Watching Someone Discover Travel

Watching Someone Discover Travel

We stood at the immigration desk at the Cancun airport. The officer cracked open the clean crisp passport of my friend and applied his seal on the first page. Whap. It was official, we were in another country. Too often I forget the novelty of this simple thing, knowing that you are standing on foreign [...]

Read more
What You Learn When You Travel Solo

What You Learn When You Travel Solo

Today’s guest post is by Matt Kepnes, from NomadicMatt.com. People often ask me why I travel alone. They either assume I am too weird to have friends or am just anti-social. But that’s not why I travel alone. I travel alone because of the freedom it gives me. When you travel with a large group [...]

Read more
Travel Bloggers + Good Cause = Passports with Purpose

Travel Bloggers + Good Cause = Passports with Purpose

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.  [...]

Read more
A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama: Crossing Through to Colombia

A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama: Crossing Through to Colombia

The other day I talked about our itinerary up to Panama. I stopped there. Dead. That’s because there’s an interesting thing about Panama when heading south. You can’t go any further. Not by car anyway. Can you pay a fee to cross? Nope. Bribe an official? You can try, but no. So how are we [...]

Read more