Just three weeks before I’d planned to leave for Guatemala, the first country on my itinerary for my first long-term trip, a friend forwarded an email from her Guatemalan friend regarding my upcoming travels: “My advice is that if she has her heart set on going to Guate, do the volunteering thing and keep travel...

Warm sunshine and the open road never fail to ignite wanderlust. Long days stretch ahead, beckoning to be filled with adventure and explorations. Distant points on the map are ripe with possibility. Before you, the entire world opens up. And it's waiting for you to find it -- to "tramp a perpetual journey" as Walt...

Cost/day: $20/person What’s the strangest thing that's happened lately? Yes, I am nine months pregnant (today is my due date). But instead of sitting at home waiting around, we decided to visit an organic chocolate farm (and swam in a tropical river on the way. Okay, I just took pictures, I didn't swim.) We had...

Cost/day: $50/day What’s the strangest thing that's happened lately? We left the beach life in Nicaragua and are housesitting in the mountains of Costa Rica, above San Jose. I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant, but that doesn't stop us from taking a trip to the beach after we've been here a couple of weeks. You can...

Cost/day: $30/day What’s the strangest thing that's happened lately? After crossing two borders in one day , and hanging out in León and Las Peñitas, we've finally found a place to stay for a little while. My oldest son discovered a bat on the floor in the room where's he's staying in our rented beach...

Cost/day: $100/day What’s the strangest thing that's happened lately? We left El Salvador and crossed the Honduras AND Nicaragua border in one day with our five kids (and ran out of money at the Nicaragua border.) Oh, and I'm six months pregnant. Describe a typical day: This was an untypical day... after being unable to...

Panama is not the most walkable city but there are newer pieces and parts planned in pedestrian friendly style. The Casco Viejo is a city of contrasts, a city under restoration intertwined with a city crumbling down. When I arrived there unexpectedly for a week's stay I was surprised at the intensity of traffic crowding...

Cost/day: $55/day What’s the strangest thing that's happened lately? Between my husband and my son, they were stung three times during the one week we were in El Salvador! Describe a typical day: We're driving most days, exploring the coast and searching for a place where we could possibly rent a house. Stopping at towns...

We turned the corner on the path and my heart immediately dropped. We had seen this man before. He passed us a while back, while we were taking pictures of our idyllic setting. Now here he was, standing amongst the corn, looking out over the lake, and waiting- for us. I knew something wasn't right...

Cost: $22/adults $12.50/kids What’s the coolest thing you’ve done lately? Extreme Bungee!! Get strapped into a harness and shot into the air with up to 4G forces pressing against your body… basically you’re a human catapult. That’s extreme bungee. Describe the experience: We are picked up by Lionel who owns and runs Xtreme Bungee ....

As we travel around the world , one of our most important goals is to connect with people and find out what common threads exist that bind humanity together. It is so very easy to categorize people and to explain away the worlds ills with generalizations and dinner table chats on politics. But who are...

You can trust me when I say that any morning beginning with vomit and a side order of anti-diarrheals with breakfast for two thirds of the family is a harbinger of things to come. Add the words “chicken bus” to the breakfast conversation and it’s the perfect storm of endlessly horrific possibilities. Every single chicken...

Cost/day: $40/day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? Sidewalks! Living in Latin America for the past year and a half, sidewalks are unseen and non-existent... but not in Antigua, they have sidewalks to walk on, even if they are skinny and crowded. Describe a typical day: In the morning we head out to walk...

Cost/day: $32/day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? It's 'strange' to observe the traditional celebrations of another culture as an outsider. Our family of seven is currently observing the holiday traditions of León, Nicaragua (and Las Peñitas, the nearby beach town.) Describe a typical day: The atmosphere in the city of León is becoming...

I spent some time talking with local residents of Monteverde, asking about the history and traditions associated with their Christmas holiday celebrations. Everyone got so excited that they started talking over one another, but I had a translator, so I think we captured everything they wanted to share with me. Here is some unique insight...

Cost/day: $40/day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? GIGANTIC kites made from tissue paper, tape and bamboo. Incredible and beautiful! Describe a typical day: Awoke this morning at The Homestead , ready for our trip to explore Guatemala before heading south to El Salvador. First stop? The Giant Kite Festival in Sumpango, in celebration...

Cost/day: $40/day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? Ancient Mayan religious rites being performed in a Catholic cathedral... a unique blend of religions that tells stories about a part of the world with a conflicting history. Describe a typical day: Awoke at Mayan Eco Homestead , loaded up our five children into our truck...

Cost/day: $65/day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? The strangest thing had to be the view looking down at the tree tops when doing a superman over them. The superman zip lines were over a mile long through the mountains and they provided a uniquely strange – but amazing – experience. Describe a typical...

Cost/day: $50/day What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? The Panama Canal. I sat on the observation deck for hours, watching in amazement as several ships passed through one of mankind’s greatest engineering feats – which saves ships the arduous 8,000 mile (12,875 km) journey around South America by connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean....

Cost: $20 a day What's the strangest thing you've seen recently? Volcano boarding down the slopes of Cerro Negro, outside of León, Nicaragua has become a popular activity with travelers, especially since making number two on CNN Go's Thrill Seeker's Bucket List . Ignorant as to what was involved in this new sport I had...