I recently got back from a trip to Central America and while traveling I posted a few pics of something a little strange I had ordered off the menu. My friends all agreed that there was no way they would ever order such a thing and couldn’t believe I would. I thought about it for a while and realized that I felt the same way but I almost had a responsibility to...
When travelers complain about luggage getting lost or start packing 2 weeks before a trip, I’ve always told them the same thing. The only two things you really need for any international trip is money and a passport.In reality you can actually get by without money for a little while if you’re resourceful, but the passport is the key that opens the lock...
As I’m going through some old photos tonight and posting them on Flickr, I see the evolution of my travels and recall my first adventures when I started discovering the world. If someone had told me when I was 20 years old that I would be gallivanting around the globe, I would probably not believed them. When I was 12, I collected stamps.I looked at each little...
I’ve always said that the first day of your vacation is the most expensive. Why is that? Chances are you don’t know prices or currency conversions. You probably have to exchange money, get transport to your hotel and then tip a bunch of people who stand between you and your hotel room and you don’t really know how much. For many people, the unknown...
When I told my friends that I was going to South Dakota, most of them just gave me a “why would anyone go to South Dakota?” look. I have traveled the globe and been to many fantastic places, so what is my fascination with the Black Hills? A few places in America have been on my list for a long time and it seemed to be a good way to knock a few of...
I guess before you start thinking how amazingly multilingual I am, I should point out that I don’t read Russian. Let me take that back; what I mean to say is that I don’t understand or speak Russian. I do however have the ability to sound out words. Remember when you first learned to read in first grade and you were so proud that you could finally read...
I recently traveled to South America with 2 20-something male friends of mine and realized the first day that this trip would be a lot different than any previous adventures. Traveling with men there’s a lot less picture taking, a lot more dangerous “hey! look at me hanging off this cliff” stuff, and much less emphasis on comfort. There is also a...
A lot of my friends have made comments that they have to have the very best when they travel.They insist that they must fly first class and stay at only 5 star hotels. The ironic thing is that these usually are the same friends who don’t go anywhere. If you have a rock star budget and money is no object, get the best. If you’re in a once-in-a-lifetime...
My parents took our family camping from the time I can remember. The only international travel experience I had as a child was crossing the Mexican border from Big Bend National Park and a trip to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls when I was 16. One of my adventurous youth leaders from church was adamant that the young men should become certified in SCUBA and that...
For most newbie travelers, ending up in a country that you know nothing about is seldom a problem. Let’s suppose however, that you end up in a place that really isn’t as exciting as you thought it would be and you really don’t want to spend the time that you had originally planned. Or, perhaps you’ve always wanted to go someplace and just...