Many travel experiences are limited to a single location: the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Roman Coliseum, et cetera. Volcanoes, however, are a destination you can visit all over the world, in a voyage that is more psychological than anything else.
Volcanoes have held a place of deadly fascination for centuries, managing to occupy a space of destructive link between the heavenly heights and subterranean depths. Conjure up the images in your mind: frozen victims …
The Maya Trail cuts through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and even a bit of El Salvador. This is not a hiking trail, but a 1,500-mile imaginary loop with no beginning or end. Really, the Maya Trail is about hopping from one Maya site to the next depending on what you’re into. From Maya caves, to culture, to ruins, here are a few excellent hotels nearby worthwhile Maya sites.
1. Hacienda Uayamon – Yucatan, Mexico
The …
Argentina is a county of unparalleled beauty, from lush pampas, filled with grazing beef (or cows, depending on your view), to the crisp beauty of the lakes, mountains and glaciers of Patagonia, to the arid and largely indigenous desert of the north. Its tourism has long been that of exploring the country of the gauchos, the vibrant city life and the scenic landscapes, but I put to you that there is, for the sophisticated traveler …
Valparaiso, for want of a better word, is a shanty town on the coast of Chile. Starting from its docks, sitting in that all too commonly found water, colored grayish brown by the offal of container ships, it extends up scattered hills away from the sea. The city grows up with them; it’s a bit all over the place – disjointed and beautiful. It makes up a sort of patchwork cloth of a city, with …
We’ve all had it happen to us — you think you’ve packed everything you need for your vacation, only to discover at some point along the way that something, or several things, have been left behind. Or worse, your luggage gets lost altogether in the endless abyss of airline travel only to appear again (if you’re lucky) two weeks later, looking like it’s been to the moon and back, which it very well may have. …
Holidays have become all about the destination, not the journey. We cram ourselves into an airplane, jet off for a couple of weeks in a different culture, and often return more exhausted than when we went away. Maybe that’s because we’re forgetting that life is a journey, not a destination.
Yet in today’s fast-paced, instant-access world, there are still amazing journeys to be had if you take a trip on a freighter ship. Deep within …
“Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of Heaven, who hath gathered it? The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.” – Job 38:29
It is a land with little soil, where 96% of its mass is covered in ice, with no indigenous people, no indigenous government. No economic activity exists, except for that in small isolated encampments of scientists and from the …
I stood on the edge of the boat peering into the water in full scuba diving gear, hoping to catch a glimpse of what I knew lay below the surface – sharks and lots of them. Sharks were the reason I had made the 36 hour journey to Cocos Islands, located 600 km off the west coast of Costa Rica. But all of a sudden I wasn’t so sure this was a good idea. Before …
Giving back while getting away, or voluntourism, is becoming increasingly popular. During the last nine years I’ve spent abroad, I’ve had many chances to volunteer in schools, cities, and with regional wildlife, and have always had a richer experience because of it. There’s no shortage of organizations that need support, and choosing the right one can be overwhelming. If you’re after a hands-on experience in an exceptional destination, keep these voluntourism options in mind.…
Costa Rica is a land teeming with the paradoxes of its geographical location, bridging North and South America and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The resulting climate makes it ideal for year-round travel. The forces of nature are at their spectacular best here, churning out rainforest and volcanoes, great beaches and vistas. The animals and plants of the region are of two great continents. The diversity of flora and fauna, of geography and terrain all …
