South America Travel
Lost In Uruguay
A good friend once told me: “Sometimes it’s nice to get a little dirty.” On this rock we call Earth, there are two places that I love: the country and the city. I grew up in the countryside of Canada, and even though it was wonderful, I wanted to move to the city where I […]
Top 7 Places To Eat In Bogotá
A destination for backpackers and hip travelers, Colombia is known for its vibrant culture and friendly residents. With Medellín attracting those seeking nightly salsa partners, and Cartagena drawing travelers looking for a Caribbean beach getaway, Colombia continues to fascinate travelers and overcome its sordid reputation. Despite its image to some, one reputation that’s well deserved for this country of […]
Video: An Unforgettable Flight To The Highest Waterfall On Earth
It’s been a while since I checked into our “Travel Videos” group on Vimeo and — holy crap! — the group’s closing in on 1,000 members and home to 3,811 videos as of today. Check the group page out now for some great videos and true travel inspiration. Anyway, this week I thought we’d take a look […]
Searching For Jaguars In Paraguay
“Be Careful,” he shouted at me in clearly articulated Spanish as I began to walk towards the glowing green foliage of Cerro Cora National Park. “We’ve seen the jaguar out there three or four times already this month. It rained last night, so any prints you see will have been fresh.” As the park warden continued […]
Buenos Aires: Living In A City Of Passion (And The Comedown)
I remember when I first walked the streets of San Telmo — a neighborhood in Buenos Aires — and becoming hyper aware that I was no longer in North America. The people, the architecture, the steak, the all-night partying was all very grandiose. The young ladies talking loudly on their phones, the groups of guys […]
Lions, CouchSurfing And Murder: On The Perpetual Strangeness Of Existence
If I were superstitious, I might have seen the lion as a sign that in an hour-and-a-half I was going to be kidnapped or murdered. From the back of my motorcycle my roommate McKenzie pointed and exclaimed, “Dude, there is lion just sitting in a cage in that vacant lot. A lion!” I just shrugged and […]
How I Taught Guatemalans To Stop Worrying About Kama Sutra And Love Yoga
“Come join us for yoga after work,” we would often ask them. We being gringos. They being Guatemalans. At the educational development organization I work for in Guatemala, we have both local Guatemalans and international volunteers on staff. Since one of our international volunteers was a yoga instructor in a previous stateside life, we began […]
Madre De Dios
The rain sounded different to Cusco rain. Fatter, wetter somehow, the decadent splatter of water on leaf. The drugs had me pinned between an exhausted indifference to whatever may have been crawling through the holes in walls and window screens, and a lurid imagining of too-many-legged tarantulas seeking escape from the rain under the worn […]
What It’s Like Visiting Neruda’s 3 Houses In Chile
You can count on seeing an oversized men’s shoe, a life-sized photo of Walt Whitman, and windows shaped like those on a boat when you visit famed poet Pablo Neruda’s three houses, all within the Chilean capital of Santiago or a short trip from there, as detailed recently by the LA Times. Having known little […]
A Look At Bogotá’s Hipster Scene
As safety becomes the norm and Colombia’s young begin to enjoy life around the city (and money) the way a generation ago never did, a burgeoning, dare we say it, hipster scene is emerging in Bogotá. (Full disclosure, I live in Brooklyn. I feel this is something necessary to disclose with regard to any discussion […]