My sunburnt arm pressed into the wooden deck. My head, propped up with a balled up, wet, pink elephant-print sarong I'd purchased in Thailand. My eyes were closed and I breathed in and out with the waves. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but...
You can't go to Panama without visiting the Panama Canal. I'm pretty sure they check that when you exit at immigration. Pretty sure. (Though, I wouldn't know, because I didn't really go through immigration when I left.) The Panama Canal was forged through the country in...
I didn't exactly intend to spend an entire week in Panama City. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice city, probably the nicest capital in Central America. But I probably only needed 3, maybe 4 nights tops. But, alas, I was trying to book a...
After a week of falling into more and more trouble in Bocas del Toro, I needed a detox. Sometimes I retreat to a new city with an intention of just relaxing. I did the first time I went to Chiang Mai after Vang Vieng. I...
1. I am not drinking tonight. I arrived in Bocas del Toro on the Fourth of July. In the morning, in Puerto Viejo, I watched Joey Chestnut break his hot dog eating record with the help of a vpn, a borrowed cable login, and espn.com, and...
I only stayed two nights in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, and really, don't have much to say about it. It was OK, I suppose, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. I had thought I'd stay longer, but most of the people I...
I hadn't planned on going to Jaco, Costa Rica. But in Little Corn I befriended a girl who lived there and invited me to stay with her for a few days when she got back. By day we'd hike up the hill or walk on...
While visiting Costa Rica, in between hiking the cloud forest, I decided to give Monteverde horseback riding a try. Most backpackers come to the town to do the zipline or the bungee jump or possibly both. But as I've tried so very hard to establish here:...
I've established already that "thrill seeking" isn't exactly part of my vocabulary. So, while everyone else seemed to go to Monteverde, Costa Rica, to zipline or bungee jump, I preferred to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. So, instead of flying through the...
Don't go to Little Corn. Because years ago the locals didn't even need money. Because years ago the men catching lobsters would hand them off for free. Don't go to Little Corn. Because it's the kind of place where you need a flashlight to see your way back...