Antigua is one of the star attractions in Guatemala. It was the original capital and the major city in Guatemala in the 1500’s to 1700’s. It is located at 5000 ft elevation and is near several volcanos. In the 1700’s the continued eruptions and earthquakes destroyed most of the buildings so they moved the capital…
Guatemala!
After 3 weeks of enjoying the holidays with friends and family we are on the road again. It is great to see everyone but 3 weeks was just enough of 39 degrees and rain so we are now back in Central America. Guatemala is a new country for us and we are excited to compare…
Costa Rica isn’t easy but…
you need to go! Costa Rica is “less than easy” to visit for an extended stay when you are on a budget. It is not cheap or convenient to get around, especially without a rental car. There are several challenges, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you should visit it. The spectacular nature of…
Quepos and Manuel Antonio NP
Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the top attractions in Costa Rica and we couldn’t leave it out of our trip. It is is the smallest Costa Rican National Park but it also the most popular with more than 150,000 visitors annually. It has some beautiful beaches combined with a lot of easily seen…
Montezuma, Costa Rica
We have company again! My brother Gerrit and wife Sarah were able to plan a Costa Rica trip the same time we were here and stayed with us in Montezuma for a few days. It was fantastic to have someone else to talk to for a while and G and S are very compatible travel…
Playa Del Coco and Samara
Part of our plan to slow down while traveling; and to do that we are trying to take some time once in a while in some destinations where there isn’t much to do. Traveling in cities can sometimes be hectic when it feels like we need to navigate a metro system every day to see…
European Snowbirds?
We are currently in Costa Rica in an Airbnb in a condo development that is filled with North Americans. Some are only here for a week or so but most are staying the whole winter. We have seen this many times now… it is usually 25-75 units surrounding a pool which becomes the meeting place…
Monteverde, Costa Rica
After spending a week in La Fortuna, we weren’t quite ready to hit the Costa Rican beaches. We needed to see the Cloud Forest. Monteverde is a cloud forest jungle that is at a fairly high elevation of 4000-5000 feet. To get there from La Fortuna, we did the so called “Jeep-Boat-Jeep” transfer that was…
I don’t want to wear pants!
Or socks for that matter. I have dreamed that our retirement would be traveling with the good weather and spend my life in shorts and sandals. I hate socks. I hate having to wear jeans to stay warm. But I wasn’t always this way. I remember when I was younger getting upset when people complained…
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
We had a good flight from Madrid through Bogota and arrived in San Jose about 4pm. Spain was getting a little chilly in November so it was great to feel the hot humid air when we left the airport. It was only 68 miles from the airport to the mountain town of La Fortuna but…
Alicante, Spain
The last stop on the European leg of our fall trip. We have spent September in France, and October in Spain, and we knew we would be a bit weary from all that European culture travel so we had planned 9 days at the Spanish beach town of Alicante. We were envisioning a quiet week…
Altea and Elche day trips
We stayed 9 days in Alicante, Spain and we anticipated doing a lot of day trips along the coast. Alicante has a light rail (tram) that goes a long ways North and hits several different beach towns. On our first day in town, we walked a few miles along the beach to Playa de Albufereta…
Traveling Guilt
I told my wife I wanted to write about my guilt of traveling so much, and she laughed and said she didn’t think I had any guilt. That is a little bit true, I handle my guilt just fine, but it doesn’t mean I don’t think about it. And honestly, its probably better described as…
Valencia, Spain
We did not do too much travel planning for Valencia. We just spend 2 weeks in 4 different Spanish cities with P & K, which were thoroughly researched and planned.. Now P & K have left, and we are again left to our own planning (or lack thereof). So… the first thing to do in…
Barcelona, Spain
We were in Barcelona in 2007 and remember being blown away by the number of tourists from all over the world. Walking down the Ramblas, you can here many different languages while trying to stay in the flow of the mob of people. It seems like there are now twice as many people and we…