So, I signed up for a 10-day Vipassana silent mediation retreat. I first heard of them - and was tempted to try one - during my travels through Myanmar and Thailand. But at that point I didn't feel ready to commit to one. Since then, it's been in the back of my mind, and when …
Continue reading 10 Day Vipassana Course: thoughts pre-retreat
As I come around to the year-and-a-half mark of my travels, I've been getting a lot of questions lately. Mostly: "HOW ARE YOU STILL PAYING FOR THIS?" But also a few concerned friends:Ml "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?" I can answer the first, but the second confuses me too. Sorry! Let's just stick …
Continue reading Backpacking and working with VIPkid: Tips, Tricks and Triumphs
I'm lying, this isn't actually a guide to vegan travel in Central America, I can only speak for Guatemala. But from what I've heard, the cuisine stretches out quite similarly from here until Panama, with slight variations in the meat/bean/hot sauce ratios. Above all... it's been way, way easier than you could imagine. I was …
There is a dividing line among backpackers in Central America, and the issue is chicken busses. The busses run all up and down Central America and can take you anywhere you need to go for half the price of a shuttle or Pullman bus. (If you're reading this like - I KNOW, I'm a bus-riding …
Life in a small town by the beach. It's my last week living El Paredon, and mostly I just want to show off pictures of this place - the sunsets and the waves and the greenery. Feast your eyes. But when I remember this town, other things will come to mind - the things that …
Tool-kit for Travel Blues They exist. I feel like they shouldn't but they do. There are days when it doesn't matter how beautiful the city you're in is, or how fabulous the weather, how clear the water or how fantastic the people are, you're in a funk. All of the novelty and excitement falls away …
In the past few months the anti-straw campaign has swept the developed world, with consumer boycotts and multinational corporations - most notably Starbucks - stepping up and announcing reduced production of the product. The poster child of the movement: the poor sea turtle who supposedly mistakes straws for snacks and ends up eating them as …
Continue reading Gateway Recycling: the Straw-Boycott and its Role in Modern Environmentalism
Travel has taken me again and I've moved from my Antigua, Guatemala, my home for the past 6 months, to a small town on the coast. I'm here now, melting as my body adjusts from mountain temperatures to the 38 degree, 100% humidity of the tropical coast. Horizontal in a hammock is about all I …
The uber driver from last night was right when he said that there is a break in the rainy season. Una pausa, más o menos diez días sin lluvia. The usual clouds that pile up around the mountains, pressing humidity down on Antigua, Guatemala, are absent. Strolling through the cobblestones, the sun lights up the …
It's been awhile since I've had an honest-to-god travel day, big backpack and all. But there's a big music festival back in my hometown and I'm overdue for a visit. Plus, it's one of the 3 months of the year with genuinely nice weather and it would be a shame to miss Canada - the …
Vagabond and Beyond 