All Blog Posts Tagged 'travel' (748)

Start: February 12, Antigua

Finish: February 12, Antigua

Pounds of chocolates consumed: 2

Cost: $20 per person

Chocolate, it is so easy to devour. Jessica and I set out to find out how much work goes into making a simple bar of chocolate. What better way to kick off a Sunday afternoon than a tour of the Chocolate Museum followed by a hands-on class on making chocolate from scratch.

It…

Start: January 31, San Miguel Escobar

Finish: February 6, San Miguel Escobar

Birthdays Celebrated: 2

Pairs of Boots Purchased: 1

Hours Spent in School: 20

Vehicle Malfunctions: 1

After one week in Antigua, today marks the longest time we've spent in once place since our journey began over four months ago. We haven't done any traveling or sightseeing, and yet this week has been the busiest in quite some time. It's a good kind of busy, we're learning a…

Well, howdy, travelers!

I'm Justin Jones, of JustinWasHere.com and Editor for the new travel zine, www.WorldTravelBuzz.  We are launching a new section at World Travel Buzz, with interviews of great / interesting travelers and travel writers, and I thought I'd reach out to the TBEX community to see if anyone is interested in being a Featured Travel Buzz Traveler.

We'll include a photo or two and a link to your website / blog /…

The easiest way to ruin your trip before it's even started is to choose the wrong travel bag. You need a good backpack for travel whether you're vacationing for two weeks in Paris or spending a year vagabonding around the world. Everyone has his or her own individual style, but, regardless of the pack you choose, make sure it has the following features.

Carry On Sized

The most significant…

Start: January 25, San Jose Succotz, Belize

Finish: January 30, Ciudad Viejo, Guatemala

Borders Crossed: 1

Tallest Mayan Pyramid Climbed: 1

Hours Spent Driving: 19

Leaving the country of Belize, we head back into Spanish-speaking country and deeper into Central America. After another uneventful border crossing into Guatemala, we spend two nights in Tikal before driving farther south. Our end goal: the Global Visionaries office in San Miguel Escobar, just…

We visited Savannah when Tiny Traveler was almost 2 years old. We liked taking a carriage ride around town, eating take-out BBQ from Angel’s in one of the ciyt’s leafy squares, and sampling the pralines at…

Border name: Melchor de Mencos

Between cities: Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Belize and Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala

Cost to exit Belize: Q37.50 ($18.75 USD)

Cost for visas: Q20 ($2.60 USD) per person (unofficially)

Cost for vehicle: Q18 ($2.34 USD) for fumigation, Q160 ($20.78 USD) for Vehicle Import Permit

Total time: 55 minutes READ…

Luxury hotels in Vienna are booming like never before. When I moved from my hometown Vienna to London 10 years ago, local luxury was confined to heritage sites like Schonbrunn Palace, a handful of rather outdated palace hotels and lonely luxury shops, and even less gourmet restaurants. With the growing influx of well-heeled Asian and Middle Eastern travellers in search for suitable…

Another country, another budget recap. I'll keep this one short since you're probably still recovering from the awesomeness of my Mexico Budget Recap.

We only spent 11 days in Belize. Three days on the island of Caye Caulker and the the rest camping in the jungle. We were a bit over budget, but that's largely due to our decision to take an expensive ferry trip from Sarteneja to Caye Caulker.…

Start: January 21, Mayan Wells

Finish: January 24, San Jose Succotz

Jungle Cats Seen: 5

Monkeys Fed: 1

Days of Reliable Internet in Belize: 1

Price of Gas in Belize: $5.50/gallon

We wrap up our time in Belize with a trifecta of jungle campgrounds. First stop is Mayan Wells in the middle of the country, then it's on to the Belize Zoo education center, and…

General Availability: Medium to High

Quality of Bandwidth: Usually very bad. Few places pay for high speed. Unless you can get a hardline, count on painfully slow connections.

Frequency of internet in hotels: Medium. The more touristy the more likely to have internet. But if you need it, check in advance.

Frequency of internet in campgrounds: Surprisingly high. Most campgrounds were part of a hotel or wildlife sanctuary that also had…

Border name: Santa Elena or simply Chetumal

Between cities: Subteniente López (Chetumal), Mexico and Santa Elena (Corozal), Belize

Cost for visas: $0

Cost for vehicle: $5 USD for fumigation, $23 USD for 2 weeks insurance

Total time: 45 minutes

The steps:

1. Go to the Mexican immigration booth, hand in your tourist cards and have your passport stamped.
2. Go to the Mexican Banjercito and have your Vehicle Import Permit cancelled and your…

Welcome to part two of our exceptionally exciting series of articles describing in excruciating detail the monies we have spent during our trip to Argentina. This article covers our 70 days and 4500 miles through Mexico. Why should you care? If you're our typical reader, you probably don't want to know how much money we spent doing laundry. Pray forgive me this dry interlude and stay tuned for our next travel updates from Belize.…

The rejuvenating properties of white cement are noticeable in the lakeside town of Santa Comba Dão (aka the 'Princess of the Dão) in central Portugal. Like botox for buildings, the cement has been used extensively to smooth out the deep gaps that had formed between the granite blocks of traditional buildings. The rough stones are now boldly outlined in white, creating a lace-like effect around the smaller ones and a dramatic background for the chunkier…

I'd be lying if I said we weren't concerned about the security situation in Mexico before we left home. In the US it's hard to go two weeks without hearing a report of headless bodies hanging from freeway overpasses or newly discovered mass graves. It's news you can't ignore, and yet it's dangerously easy to sensationalize.

I did my fair share of homework before we left, until I got to the bottom line: common sense and a bit of research is all you need. We planned our route to…

How would you describe your paradise?

Everyone has an idea of what paradise is. Many people might say that their paradise is “lazing around on white sandy beach, “swimming in warm turquoise waters”, or “sipping an ice cold drink under the shade of a palm tree”.  How would you describe your paradise? A day trip to Akumal will offer you this and much, much more  - from the once in…

Start: January 4, Chichen Itza (Chicken Pizza)

Finish: January 10, Tulum

Mayan Ruins Visited: 3

Tourists Seen: Too Many

Collapsing Palapas Avoided: 1

Nights Spent Camping: 7

Continuing our whirlwind tour of the Yucatan Peninsula, this week brings us to three more Mayan archeological sites - two of which are without a doubt among the most visited tourist attractions in Mexico.…

When you think about what paradise is, you should visit Tulum.

After having traveled to Playa del Carmen for many years in a wor, I knew very little about Tulum, an archeologial site only 1 hour from Playa. I was always tempted to learn what…

Start: December 27, Campeche

Finish: January 3, 2012, Merida

Mayan Ruins Visited: 3

Spider DEFCON Level: Eleventy-Million

Gallons of Soup Made by Kobus: 2

Nights Spent in Crappy Campgrounds: 2

Nights Spent in Hostels: 6

This week took us from Campeche to Merida, the largest city on the Yucatan Peninsula. All told we've covered about a third of the peninsula, most of that heading north across flat, sparsely-populated jungle.…

Spring has already begun to blossom in my hometown of Chicago, and I'm ready to start planning my summer family vacation.   We love the outdoors, but sometimes, the thought of lugging all of the camping equipment, plus my daughter's wheelchair and other assistance devices, is a bit overwhelming.  However, there is an alternative! 

For those of you who enjoy the outdoors, but don’t necessarily enjoy setting up a tent or RV, there are many opportunities for the entire family to enjoy…