Two Backpackers

How We Paid For A Year Of Travel

| by Aracely on July 13th, 2010 | 26 Comments » | Travel Tips, Trip Planning

Working at the Beach in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Perhaps you are expecting me to reveal a secret formula or quick way to make money that gives you the means to take a year long trip.  I’m sorry, we do not have one.

It’s similar to asking a trainer or nutritionist what’s the best way to loose weight and their response is always, “eat healthy and exercise,” uh, what a bummer.  Who wants to do that!  We never want to do the work we just want to bask in the results. (more…)

Budget Travel: The Good, Bad, And The Ugly

| by Aracely on July 6th, 2010 | 28 Comments » | Reflections

Cocktails At Playa Blanca Colombia

It seems all of us in the travel blogging community agree that travel is good.  The majority of posts that are produced within the industry are intended to  either sell the reader on the idea that travel is one of the most amazing activities one can partake-in and that they too should travel, or momentarily take them into a world of travel fantasy (as Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere.com likes to put it, travel porn.)  In both cases, the story of travel is almost always good.  However, there is indeed a bad and ugly side to travel, more specifically, to budget travel.

There are different styles of travel and each gives the traveler a completely different experience.  Usually, the type of style can be defined by how much money is being spent on that experience.  For example, a luxurious trip to a five star hotel in Rome will be completely different than backpacking through Southeast Asia.  That said, the following issues apply to a budget traveler and only to most places of the world, mainly to the less developed world. (more…)

Inti Raymi Festival In Cusco Peru

| by Jason on June 29th, 2010 | 3 Comments » | Peru, South America

Inti Raymi Festival is the largest festival in Cusco and lasts one full week.  The festival takes place during South America’s winter solstice (June 24) and it is in honor of The Sun God which the Inca’s believed to be the most important God of all.  To be specific, the Inca’s actually worshiped the sun rays not the sun itself.

Band on Plaza de Armas

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F´d Up Economics of Tourism in Uyuni Bolivia

| by Aracely on June 22nd, 2010 | 14 Comments » | Bolivia, Reflections, South America

Uyuni Salt Flats Sunrise

I think it was during the first days of our trip.  We were in Guatemala having a conversation with Andy and Paulina, another traveling couple from England, when we first heard that the Uyuni Salt Flat Tour was amazing.  Bolivia was definitely in our plans but we try not to have an itinerary more than a few days ahead so at the time, there was no to-do list for our visit to Bolivia.

While traveling for a few months and meeting more travelers making their way up from the south of South America to the north, opposite of our route, we continued to hear great things about the Uyuni Salt Flats.  The destination quickly made its way up to my top three most anticipated events of this trip. Torres del Paine National Park in Chile and the famous archeological site of Machu Picchu were the others on that list.

I was not disappointed.  Everything we heard about the Salt Flats was true; it lived up to the expectation, which does not always happen with every place.  Not only was the experience one of a kind, but our guide was very informative, we met new friendly people, saw unique and unforgettable scenery and took over 750 pictures within a four days. (more…)

KanBa River Caves of Guatemala

| by Aracely on March 8th, 2010 | 6 Comments » | Adventures, Central America, Guatemala

KanBa Caves courtesy of semucchampey.com

Like our visit to Semuc Champey, we had no idea what we were getting into prior to leaving for our tour.  This point is echoed throughout most of our Guatemalan journeys.  The KanBa Caves are only a short walk from the metal bridge that spans Cahabón River. (more…)

Map

| by Aracely on September 7th, 2009 | 10 Comments » |

Travel Map of where we’ve been. Zoom in for details, click on markers for descriptions.

Lack of a Travel Itinerary

| by Jason on July 21st, 2009 | 12 Comments » | Reflections

After we tell people that we are going to travel the world usually the first question they ask is, “Where are you going?”  I struggled with this question in the beginning.  After stumbling for not having a definitive answer I would say, “Latin America and Southeast Asia.”  Well, that leads to additional questions for specifics from those that are truly interested.  We don’t have those specific answers, and initially I used the excuse that we were just beginning to plan the itinerary.  But, with only 4 weeks until we leave our apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey for good, I still have very little to add to my previous answer. (more…)