Panama City Day 1 What do you do when you have an organic chemistry exam in 13 days? Obviously spend the next 10 in Panama. The only good thing about an awful flight delay was catching up on sleep with a row to myself. They kept having us board and unboard the plane. I talked… Read More
Medical Volunteering In The Esmeraldas Province I joined my university’s MEDLIFE chapter for our first South American visit over my freshman spring break. Each day we set up a mobile clinic at different sites around the underprivileged local community. Together, our group benefitted 1,578 patients in one week. One of the coolest things was that the doctors were Ecuadorean, removing any culture gap and… Read More
TBT: On the Rhine—Bacharach Excerpt taken from Europe 2010: Germany + Neighbors, Italy #3 After nearly 2 hours [on the train from Frankfurt] I stepped out into the greetings of a sign that read Bacharach. I still don’t know how to pronounce it. We dragged our luggage on the bumby roads and made our way to Pension… Read More
Quito In A Day After a week of medical volunteer work, my wing woman and I made the most of our last day in Ecuador. The organization said we’d have to give up protection by them and we said fine. Then it was just us and the capital city. La Mitad Del Mundo It’s hard… Read More
Backpack Jamaica Home to good vibes from Bob Marley and more of his like, this Caribbean neighbor with a badass flag is not swarming with backpackers. It totally should be, based on the lagoons and waterfalls alone. Most people fear for their safety, but done right, you won’t have to miss out on the more than photogenic nature,… Read More
Backpack Guatemala The lakes are better, the volcanoes are better. Despite corrupt politicians and the prominence of gangs in certain areas, there’s plenty of good vibes and natural beauty in this favorite Central American country. BUDGET BREAKDOWN: Duration- 5 Days Drive to airport- 5 hours, one way Airfare- 217 Airport parking- 12 Gas to airport-… Read More
Antigua Antigua: Day Three Sunshine and Indian Nose greeted us as we left the ecolodge on this fine election day. The lancha back to Pana was 25Q. I waved down chicken busses until we found ourselves back in my favorite crazy market. But before we get to the cuteness of colonial and UNESCO Antigua, the… Read More
Lake Atitlán: San Juan–Santiago The Lake: Day Two (Cont.) The cyanobacteria ruining the lake (too much village sewage) was immediately evident. The air was instantly more polluted and the houses less polished. Definitely Atitlan’s older, more developed side. But I’m being spoiled so let’s make it clear that it was still gorgeous. We started up the steep hill asking… Read More
TBT: Candid Rambles and Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain Excerpt taken from Spain and Portugal, 2004. 8 eight Ramblas Street and the Harbor My family was walking down a street called ramblas Street. On the street people were selling baby animals for instance a baby chick for one €uro! My mom wanted a chick. But before that, we had seen… Read More
Best of Busses No chicken bus experience beats what Guatemala will get you. I’ve never seen the back door of a school bus used so much. It’s often slamming simultaneously with the front door. The money collector would hang out of the vehicle holding onto the ladder in the back as we tore through mountain highways. In the rain.… Read More