Recently I’ve been reading, “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed . When the author was in her mid-twenties she solo hiked the Pacific Crest Trail . Her book unfolds as she treks north, nursing her blistered feet and cumbersome heavy pack along a majority of the 2,663mi (4,286km) trail. It initially begins at the Mexican border, passes...

Cost: $50-60 a day What's the strangest thing you've seen recently? Immediately after learning to scuba dive in Utila, I hopped on over to nearby Cayos Cochinos (Hog Islands). Some of the small islands and cayes that make up Cayos Cochinos resemble one of those 'paradise island' posters that bored office workers paste on their...

Cost: $50 a day What's the strangest thing you've seen lately? Two days of trekking through muddy paths deep into the mosquito infested jungle of Northern Guatemala's Peten region brought me and nine other adventurous travelers to the ancient Mayan city of El Mirador. Upon first viewing the ruins I was struck by how thoroughly...

Cost: $25 a day The strangest thing I’ve seen lately Few people outside of the small town of San Pedro la Laguna on the shore of Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan highlands have heard of the San Pedro Celtics basketball team. With a population of approximately thirteen thousand people, mostly of Mayan descent, one could...

Cost/day: $10 The Caribbean isn’t really that cheap. However, if you’re creative and have some skills, anything is possible. Most of my money went on beer and bus tickets. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately? Three men waving a live lobster, barracuda pizza and and an Ugly Man competition. A recent day typical of...

Many moons ago I was flown to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica to evaluate a business plan for horse tours on a 2,024 hectare family owned ranch. It has mangroves, jungle, two river estuaries and 3.5 km of undeveloped shoreline. The family was in the beginning stages of protecting a good chunk of that...

There has been a lot of talk on Vagablogging lately about the merits of slow travel and taking time to understand local culture when traveling. This was my goal when I came to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, to volunteer at an after-school program for a month, and I quickly discovered an even better, unexpected outlet for cultural...

If you had asked me any time in the last couple of years what word I associated with San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua—I’d have said surfing . With waves on my mind, the region was the highlight of the surf trip I was planning with my husband. Sure, I wanted to see more of the...

While my personal wardrobe may lack variety in the color department, I always appreciate the use of bright hues everywhere else. On a recent trip to Nicaragua, I couldn’t stop smiling at the tropical colors on buildings, in clothing, on pottery and in fruit juices. The vividly painted adobe walls of the colonial city of...

I’m all for staying healthy while traveling, but I still want to try new things and enjoy myself. One of the keys to enjoying my food is finding a local version of fried dough. I’ve long been a fan of beignets in New Orleans, where the unwritten rule is that you cannot breathe in or...

One of the things I’m always searching for on my travels is a restaurant that makes the region’s traditional food so well that it’s a daily stop for locals. There are always plenty of eateries that cater to tourists, so it seems like a special discovery when I run across a place that both tourist...

The next time you’re in a forest, imagine a building hiding in the earth just steps away from where you’re walking. According to National Geographic , a 2009 survey using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) equipment revealed images of an ancient Mayan city stretching over 68 square miles in western Belize. Presented at the recent...

Travelers with a preference for environmentally sustainable practices don’t have a wealth of resources when on the road. As with travel in general, it’s often necessary to carve together information from a variety of sources—from books and magazines to online resources to word of mouth. Sometimes it’s like a treasure hunt to find the ideal...

In July 2010, the 34th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee will meet in Brasília, Brazil, to determine what new properties it will add to the UNESCO World Heritage List . Currently, the list includes 890 properties (689 cultural, 176 natural and 25 mixed) that the World Heritage Committee has determined have “outstanding universal...

Spring is just around the corner, as are a handful of festivals in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. If you’re looking for a break, but want to avoid typical Spring Break destinations, here are the spots to hit in late March through early May: The BVI Spring Regatta lures sailors and landlubbers...

Got a craving for Carnival? If you can’t get to Rio, don’t just give up and stay home. There are plenty of places in Mexico and the Caribbean, from Mazatlan to Dominica, to celebrate the annual bacchanal. And there’s still time to get there! The Mazatlan Carnival lasts six days (in 2010, it’s from Feb....