I was wading through a sea of cowboy hats. There was a smell of wafting flavors of barbecue and fried corn dogs in the air. As I passed the giant bronze cattle statues, it seemed for a moment that I might have accidentally wandered into the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show, but this event wasn’t even in the same country. Texas rodeos don’t have poutine. I was at the...
Some of my friends think that I live the Life of Reilly when it comes to travel. They see my Instagram photos and read the highlights of my adventures and because I focus on my positive experiences, it might seem that everything goes according to plan. Nope. In fact, I probably have more travel setbacks than the average person because I am traveling all the time...
It was the perfect day. Lake Huron looked more like the Caribbean than a Great Lake and the sky was an impossible shade of blue. As I stepped off the ferry, I could immediately sense Mackinac island was something special. This was not how I had imagined Michigan. Truthfully, none of Michigan seemed to be what I was expecting. We had driven from Detroit airport to the...
Do you believe in trolls? Not the cartoon characters from the recent Dreamworks movie or the mythological figures your Norwegian grandfather warned you about. I’m talking about Alux (or Aluxob if there’s more than one); Mexican trolls.Impish little beings who vandalize things and play tricks on humans. They are usually dressed in traditional Mayan...
“Life is like a box of chocolates” echoed through my head as I navigated my way around the small square where Forrest Gump sat on his famous park bench in the 1994 blockbuster film of the same name. The park bench isn’t there of course, but there’s plenty of beautiful filming locations from other movies, lovely gardens and antebellum architecture to keep visitors...
You’ve no doubt heard people talk about the seven wonders of the world and wondered what exactly they are or where they are. The truth is that the original seven wonders of the world (established by the Greeks) don’t exist anymore except for one: the Pyramids of Giza. The Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemus and Diane, the Tomb of...
Going to Mexico on vacation? You’re not alone. Millions of Americans will visit Cancun and the Mayan Riviera next year. As demand has grown over the last few decades, former small fishing towns such as Playa del Carmen have turned into international tourist destinations. Over the years I’ve stayed at all-inclusive resorts, boutique hotels and even properties that...
Everyone in the World Hates Americans. I’m sure you’ve heard that. I actually know people who don’t travel because of this widespread belief. While I feel that some countries may not agree with our foreign policy, I’ve rarely seen any of that sentiment directed toward me. Think about it. You’re in a bar and you start chatting with a nice foreign guy and you suddenly...
It’s the number one country in the world for potassium and number two for prostitutes. The residents drink fermented horse urine. You can thank Borat for everything we know about Kazakhstan, which is nothing. The only things that Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 film parody got right about the world’s 9th largest country, is it’s flag and place on the map. Even the...
Take two scary things, put them together and what do you get? Inexpensive dental care. When a friend of mine first told me about going to the Mexican border to get her teeth fixed, I was skeptical. Actually, horrified might be a better word. It’s bad enough having to dodge drug cartel violence, but having a half-rate dentist drill holes in your teeth while...