Bill Wiatrak is a travel author, entertainer and video producer of travel content. He is visiting every country in the world.
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...
I often ask people I meet if they could go anywhere in the world, where they’d choose. One of the most common answers is often a place that the majority of travelers are unlikely to visit- a game park in Africa. For many of us, just mentioning the name of the continent conjures up images of lions chasing gazelles on the Serengeti and giraffes...
I first saw a picture of Antelope Canyon on a Windows screensaver. I wondered if it was even a real place since it looked more like a CGI image than something that could actually exist on our planet. As I looked up more information about this remarkable canyon, I realized that I had a growing list of beautiful places in Arizona that I never knew existed. Two weeks...
The most famous western shootout in American history lasted less than 30 seconds. Almost 140 years later, the town of Tombstone daily relives the gun battle between Doc Holliday, the Earp brothers and “the cowboys”. Visiting Tombstone is like being at a cowboy renaissance festival where you’re not sure who’s acting and who just really really likes to pretend to live...
Osteria Costa Might be It I love Italian food. I’ve wandered through Italy trying gnocchi in Verona, cannolis in Sicily, black ink pasta in Venice and consider myself somewhat of a “cibo Italiano” connoisseur. Last night I had an opportunity to check out the new Amalfi Coast inspired restaurant at the Mirage called Osteria Costa and what a night! I’m not a food...
I’m sitting in an airport of a country you’ve probably never heard of. It’s the newest country in Asia. It became independent in 2002 after a 26 year bloody struggle with Indonesia. I’m talking about Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor. Timor is one of the eastern-most islands in Indonesia and means “east” in the native language. So, East Timor translates to “East...
I’d never heard of Horseshoe Bay when I received an invitation to the “Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival” that is highlighted every year in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin. Austin used to be the place to go if you wanted to enjoy the lake and get away from the hustle and bustle of Houston traffic until it became so popular that many peace-seeking weekenders...