The sounds of the wildlife at Tikal are what sold me on the experience.
I follow suit and listen for the sounds.
In the distance I hear a deep growling sound – it almost sounds like hogs…but only magnified times ten in both volume and intensity.
It’s the howler monkeys.
The ruins of Tikal, a pre-Columbian Mayan site, sit nestled still well within the Guatemalan jungle and although archeologists have uncovered numerous ruins all over the area, the forests are left in tact…and in fact they’re still hiding secrets as yet uncovered.
As we wander …

Sometimes I hate Los Angeles. From the delightful orange smog coating the city skyline to a general lack of public transport, truly hellacious traffic (I’m not particularly prone to road rage, but the closest I come is when forced to navigate an LA rush hour) and the “Fake Factor” of plastic people and botox, there is a lot to hate
But I also love Los Angeles.
And I feel like backpacker or passing travelers can easily come to LA and see all of the bad. But! with the eye of …

Affectionately referred to as “Irish mothers’ milk” by some and “the pint that drinks like a meal” by others, Guinness is a cultural right of passage on a visit to Ireland…and as a fiercely Irish yank (although to be clear, I’m not actually a yank…but in Ireland, if you’re American, they call you a yank no matter where in the states you call home) the Guinness Factory Tour was tops on my “must-see” list.
And before you wrinkle your nose and proclaim “I don’t drink Guinness,” I loved the Factory …

I’m heading to New York City at the end of the month and I’m actually probably as thrilled to head to NYC as I am to the more exotic locales in Central America that I’ll visit in February.
I’ve been to NYC a grand total of once – for the three days surrounding my 18th birthday. And while I jam-packed in a Broadway show and a handful of the most popular sites…I’ve never really seen the city.
Which begs the question:
What’s your favorite place in New York City?
I’ll be staying with a …

My nearly year of traveling around the world had to end at some point – check out the first installment of my RTW route through Australia, Thailand Laos and Cambodia, the second installment through India, Nepal and Italy before tuning in for stories and an outline of the last four months around the world:
June ‘09: Croatia’s Parks to Bosnia’s Quiet Charm & Slovenia’s Theatre
June started off with a few transportation problems on the way to Croatia, but all of that was forgiven as we camped out in a rented …

My trip around the world started in November 2009 and for the first three months I traveled through Australia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia – check out the first three months of my round the world travels, and then come back here for this installment and end with the final leg of the RTW route!
February ‘09: Goodbye SEA and Welcome to India
I was incredibly sad to say goodbye to Southeast Asia and could have easily spent several more  months here instead of just the six weeks I had. But …

It’s really hard to believe that this week exactly a year ago I was well into my around the world trip and diving on the Great Barrier Reef – and right now, a year later the RTW trip is over. Instead, I’m plopped on my bed in my childhood home working hard to save up the cash I’ll need for Central America in February.
With a new travel plans in the works, for posterity’s sake let’s recap my RTW travel route and some of the more interesting adventures. We’ll do it …

It’s no secret that I truly love Ireland – I think I have pretty successfully waxed poetic about the country in most of the past week’s blog posts. Fortunately for you, I’m not done yet!
As wonderful as Dingle town is, a trip to the Dingle Peninsula isn’t complete without driving Slea Head Drive. This is arguably one of Ireland’s most scenic drives and contains several of the oldest sites in Ireland all contained in one small area. I filled the car with two other women I met at the …