A view from a ridiculously good vantage point can forge a lifelong memory. This spot above Lake Atitlan in western Guatemala, shot by Shuo Huang, really sets the standard for others to be compared to. This volcanic lake is what adventures are built around and make weeks ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Central America
Photo Of The Day: Perched Above Guatemala
A view from a ridiculously good vantage point can forge a lifelong memory. This spot above Lake Atitlan in western Guatemala, shot by Shuo Huang, really sets the standard for others to be compared to. This volcanic lake is what adventures are built around and make weeks ...Florblanca: Rock Star Luxury In Costa Rica
I was lying in a hammock with my two little boys, getting ready to sleep off a lunch of grilled sea bass tacos and the best chips and salsa I've ever tasted. We could hear the melodic, crashing surf of the Pacific Ocean on the golden beach at our backs and were enveloped in ...An Education In Mezcal
I inhale. The scent is earthy, smoky. I take a sip, rolling the liquid around my tongue, exploring its flavors. Per instruction, I gurgle. My mouth explodes, the alcohol transforming into a liquid fireball that burns the insides of my cheeks. It takes a few minutes ...Meet Pabrö Sanchez, Costa Rica's Monkey Whisperer
A good guide can help a traveler interpret the local culture. But sometimes a guide can sanitize and filter your experience by telling and showing you only what they think you want to hear and see. Pabrö Sanchez, a guide I hired through the Florblanca Resort in Costa ...The World According To A Costa Rican Cab Driver
I would never think of getting in a cab in my hometown of Chicago and asking for a lift to Indianapolis, Iowa City or Milwaukee. But when I'm outside the U.S. without a rental car, I sometimes resort to long-distance taxi rides as a way of getting from point A to point B. On ...Meet In The Middle: Plan Group Travel With TripCommon
Have a friend in Austria while you are in Austin and want to take a trip together this summer? How do you figure out where to meet? Do you choose a destination in the middle, or one with regular cheap flights from both of your destinations? A new website just launched in ...In Oaxaca, A Place For Friends
Sundays in Oaxaca are quiet. The stores are closed; the streets empty.
There is buzz around the churches, as families mill in and out dressed in their Sunday best. Near the Zocalo, children play with oversized balloons, pushing them high into the sky.
But ...Monkeys Are Big Business At Manuel Antonio National Park In Costa Rica
It was 6 a.m. and I was hiking alone in the lush, tropical forest below the Hotel Parador near Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica when I heard a noise that stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a deep, throaty guttural call that almost sounded like an animal clearing ...Happy International Pretty Brown Girl Day!
Today is International Pretty Brown Girl Day, a movement launched a few years ago that seeks to "address the harmful messages about skin tone and beauty in media" and is "for little girls of all ethnicities to send the message that brown skin is indeed beautiful."
...Book Review: 'The Food Traveler's Handbook'
Full disclosure: I know Jodi Ettenberg, author of "The Food Traveler's Handbook." I've eaten with Jodi and explored cities with her; she's even inspected the spices in my Istanbul sublet apartment. Rather than let my friendship with her just guarantee a great review of her ...Releasing My Inner Gringo In Costa Rica
I try not to be the stereotypical ugly gringo when I'm in Latin America. I tolerate leisurely or downright rude service, I use my poor but functional Spanish, and I try to go with the flow, bearing in mind that things are just different south of the border. But no matter how ...An Unforgettable Coffee Tour At Finca Rosa Blanca In Costa Rica
Coffee! It's the most addictive drug in the world. Many of us could barely function without it, but have you ever toured a coffee plantation? I hadn't until I stumbled upon a coffee plantation and inn called Finca Rosa Blanca near San Jose last week. We were set to arrive in ...Breezy, Probably Unfair Generalizations About Panama Based On An Hour At Tocumen International Airport
Writers are famous for blowing into places for a very short period of time and then spouting off on them as though they were experts. Click on my name here and you'll see that I'm just as guilty as everyone else. And writers with a hell of a lot more talent than me have done ...GeoEx Family Adventures Provide Experiences Of A Lifetime
Adventure travel company GeoEx is one of the best in the business when it comes to organizing unique excursions to the far corners of the globe. For more than 30 years they've been planning trips to some of our planet's more off-the-beaten-path locations, giving travelers ...Panama's Copa Airlines: Free Cocktails In Coach! And They Might Let Your Kids Fly The Plane
Leave it to the fun-loving Panamanians to know how to show their passengers a damn good time. I had some United miles burning a hole in my pocket this winter and wanted to use them for a trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The only routing available for my preferred time ...Mandatory Car Rental Insurance: Watch Out For Bait-And-Switch Pricing
Mandatory insurance. Those are two words that I hate to hear when I'm renting a car outside the U.S. On Thursday night, I spent an hour and a half in a Thrifty Rent a Car location near the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, trying to understand how an eight-day rental that I ...Go #OnTheRoad With @GadlingTravel On Instagram
The Gadling crew is one of the most diverse groups of travelers on the web. But different as we are, we're united in our thirst for adventure and our hunger for the open road. You read about our adventures here. Now, we'd like to invite you to travel with us in ...Has Mañana Arrived For Nicaragua?
Travel writers have been hyping Nicaragua as the next big tropical paradise for years. The New York Times listed it as one of 46 places to go in 2013. A host of travel magazines have promoted it as a cheaper Costa Rica without the crowds. And CBS brought some of Nicaragua's ...Why Ban Children From Hotels? In Defense Of Bringing Family On The Road
No dogs, no children, no lepers please. It's hard not to feel like an undesirable when a hotel you want to bring your family to says, "Sorry, we don't allow children." In America, and many other countries, it's illegal for hotels and other public establishments to deny ...Video Of The Day: Little Corn Island, Nicaragua
I was recently researching Little Corn Island, Nicaragua. I instantly became charmed by the island and obsessed with the idea of visiting it as soon as possible. But it's difficult to find footage online featuring the tiny island. Situated 43 miles east of Nicaragua's ...
