A little over a year ago, Alison and I threw our stuff into a 5×10 storage unit in Charlotte, NC and boarded a one-way flight to Bangkok, with basically no other plans. It’s been almost two months since we returned from our 12 month round-the-world jaunt and the time at home has afforded some reflective…
Avoid Mendoza?! Isn’t that where all the malbec is grown that Argentina is famous for? Doesn’t it sit at the base of the beautiful Andes mountains? Are they crazy? Well, yes, we are pretty crazy. But that’s beside the point. There are almost no blogs out there bashing Mendoza and everyone seems to go there.…
Can’t Decide Between El Chalten and Torres del Paine? So you want to do some trekking in southern Patagonia? Maybe you’ve done a little research, maybe you haven’t. You want to see some breathtaking snow-capped mountains, jagged peaks, and stunning glaciers. But you can’t decide between El Chalten, Argentina and Torres del Paine, Chile, the self-proclaimed…
In a prior post we had indicated that there is no best way to travel. Scratch that. If you get a chance to stay with locals wherever you go, definitely take advantage. There is no better way to get to know a place than to live and breathe like a local with the locals. Argentina…
It was the afternoon before we were to arrive at Machu Picchu. We were driving through the Sacred Valley near Cusco, headquarters of the Incas back in the 13-15th centuries. The Sacred Valley is very narrow and the massive mountain ranges on either side form 5,000 foot wall barricades against any intruders to the capital…
Although I’m not very good at it, there are few things in this world that please me more than spending a day on a river with a fly rod trying to trick fish into eating small plastic insects. I had actually planned on carrying a rod with me this entire year. But it turns out…
Nope, it’s not Christ the Redeemer. Okay, so it’s tough to beat the views from the world famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio. You can see the entire city from there and the sheer size of the Jesus statue is remarkable. So even though it’s super touristy, you’d be remiss in not making it…
Nicaragua has 19 volcanoes (of which nine are active) that serve as a beautifully picturesque backdrop up and down the pacific coast of the country. You can’t look away from the ocean without spotting one in your peripheral. But these beauties aren’t just for good pictures, they are also a heck of a lot of…
As with many gems we’ve stumbled upon during our travels, we had never heard of Semuc Champey before some fellow travelers told us to go there. The promise of natural turquoise pools, waterslides, unexplored caves, and whitewater beer tubing was just too much to pass up. So our plans to return to Belize after visiting…
Tuk-tuks are prevalent throughout Southeast Asia and are basically motorized rickshaws. It’s a slightly more expensive alternative to taking a cab, and sometimes the only means of transport around small towns. Back in January, Alison and I took a tuk tuk to a bus stop in the small city of Sukhothai before traveling onward to…
Beaches & Backpacks 