When we’re not traveling, travel magazines can fill that void. Last year, we were on a Budget Travel kick but in the past few... »
Latin America
The Best Eco-Friendly Beach Destinations
With a record snowfall already in our little corner of the world and more than a month of winter to go, we can think only of the sun’s rays beating down on our bathing suited bodies. (Yes, a few more weeks on the elliptical will help that fantasy be a little more appealing.) Here... »
Building from Scratch the Best Eco-Tourism Project in the History of the Universe
After a particularly inspiring trip to Chile this holiday season, we are embarking on a plan to fulfill a long-awaiting dream of opening and operating our own ecotourism facility and program. Yes, unless we get financial backing (dream on, sistah), this plan and its implementation may be many years in the making. But, we... »
Galapagos: People or Eco-System and Do We Have to Choose?
Simon Romero of the New York Times writes about the Galapagos Islands’ problem of overpopulation and increased immigration, a trend that is affecting the islands’ eco-system and contributing to the decision to place the islands on the United Nations’ list of endangered heritage sites in 2007. Increased tourism over the past two decades has also... »
Lodging in Zihuatanejo, Mexico
Ironic, isn’t it, that this site is about travel and then when we actually do travel, we have a hard time figuring out what to write about? Thus the silence lately. We just need to dive in, right? We recently got back from Zihuatanejo, Mexico and had a wonderful time. One of the reasons we... »
Cultural Tourism in Argentina Heating Up
Is it finally time to head down to Buenos Aires like you know you’ve been wanting to do for years now? Sure, buy a leather jacket, eat some steak, but don’t think you’re going to find your own Maria Belen right away, alright? Let’s not go overboard on the whole cultural tourism thing, people. »
Being a Local in Brazil
Our friend Irene Edwards over at GreenSpot just got back from Brazil and had one particular experience that really stood out. Here’s her story: We stayed at the beautiful and isolated Costao Do Santinho Resort, where you can easily get lost in the relaxing ambiance of the Island where it’s located. As I was sitting on... »
Alert: Ecotourists in Peru Leading Birds to Stress Out, Poop
A new study has found that noisy birders in the Peruvian Amazon have been found to have a detrimental effect on the hoatzin birds. “The sound of even a quiet conversation caused the birds to begin clucking and defecating – a common defense response – at longer approach distances than for quiet approaches. The noisiest... »
Why to Watch TV on Vacation
Why spend your valuable time on vacation watching the boob-tube? True, you don’t want television-watching to get in the way of going out, seeing the sights, meeting people, and working on that all-important tan (skin cancer prevention advocates: no emails please). But when you have some down time, instead of turning on your computer... »
Chris Guillebeau: “It’s cool, life’s an adventure.”
We are big believers in TripAdvisor’s hotel rankings and reviews, typically always checking them before booking travel. That said, we know to take every review with a grain of salt since everyone has different expectations and tolerance for dirt, bad service, etc. We also know that no trip will go perfectly as planned so... »
Calling Poverty Tourism by its True Name
With the popularity of Slumdog Millionaire, we began to see more and more articles about poverty or slum tourism. Since it left a bad taste in our mouth, we did a little research (also known as sitting on our arse and websurfing) here and there but couldn’t bring ourselves to write a post about it… until... »
