Backpacking
6 Haggling Tips For People Too Nice To Haggle
1) Get to Know Someone Getting to know locals is always a good idea in general. Personal connections are an important part of travel, often leading to the most memorable and unexpected travel experiences. Although looking to someone to do any actual negotiation is asking too much, many people are happy to provide helpful information. […]
The Shark Whisperer Of Belize
“What do you mean, he’s the Shark Whisperer?” The bartender grinned slyly as he handed me a halved coconut brimming with rum punch. “I won’t give it away. You’ll see for yourself. Just try not to think of Steve Irwin and you’ll be fine.” Belizean culture, I had discovered, was a sizzling fusion of Mayan […]
Turning The Car Around: One Road To Expatriatism
Stories can be told from limitless angles of perspective. So let’s begin this tale from the viewpoint of a Salvadorian family living in a small, rural village. It is a sunshiny day in a one-goat town a few hours drive and world away from the busy capital — a place far removed from the beaches […]
Travel Guide to India (Part 5): The Himalayas
In part five (and last) of my video travel guide to India I trek into the Himalayas along the famed Singalila Ridge, a picturesque trail that winds its way between Nepal and India, and through multiple small Himalayan villages. The highlight is the morning sunrise over the third highest mountain in the world, Mount Kanchenjunga, […]
Travel Guide To India (Part 2): Bodhgaya
In part two of my video travel guide to India I travel to Bodhgaya, one of the most sacred places in all of the Buddhist religion. It was at this location 2,500 years ago that a young Prince Siddhartha sat under a fig tree, meditated and found enlightenment, thus becoming the Buddha. I start off […]
Travel Guide To India (Part One): Calcutta
In this video travel guide to India, I begin my travels in India with Calcutta. India had long been on my bucket list of countries to travel to in the world, and in April, 2013, I finally made it there, starting with Calcutta, with no better reason than the fact was I knew so little […]
You Haven’t Experienced A Sunrise Until You’ve Done So In Tikal, Guatemala
The only thing more magical than hiking through a jungle in the dark, following a path that must be made of white gravel because it glows faintly in the full moon, is hiking through a jungle in the dark past big black hills — blacker than the sky behind them, blacker than the trees that […]
33 Reasons To Visit India
1) Because rush hour here is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. (Calcutta) 2) And no matter what day it is, you’re likely going to see a parade. 3) Because eating fresh isn’t a lifestyle choice, it’s the norm. 4) And this is what your grocery store looks like. (Bodhgaya) 5) Because the British left […]
The Driest Place on Earth: From Bolivia’s Salt Flats To Chile’s Atacama Desert
Pan-American Transmissions: Part 11 “Pan-American Transmissions” is a travel series from Special Contributor Diego Cupolo as he travels south from Nicaragua to Argentina. He has few plans, a $10-a-day budget and one flute-playing gypsy companion. Check back as new dispatches are posted from the road. Pink flamingos wade through blood-red lagoons on a seemingly endless […]
Discovering The Real Morocco In The Souk
The chaotic atmosphere of Marrakesh, Morocco, is like nothing you’re used to. The coolest city in Morocco is unique in its regimented disorder. Horses pulling green carriages mark the roads that the motorcycles and taxis weave through in a wave of terrifying harmony. The main openings that lead into the narrow souks are at the […]