On Being a Vegetarian in Latin America
When I started my big trip, I considered myself mostly vegetarian. I found that long-term travel was a lot easier when I was willing to be flexible.
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Surprise Healthcare Tourism: My Knee Injury in Latin America
Halfway through my 15-month trip, I fell off a bike and injured my knee. I spent the next couple of months limping, navigating a foreign healthcare system, and being very thankful that I bought travel insurance.
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How to be Polite in Colombia: Greetings
Greetings are an important part of any culture. When you begin to study another language, saying “hello” is the first thing you learn. As I compile my list of little cultural things I’ve observed in Colombia, this one comes up most in my daily life. If you want to be polite and fit in, especially in the part of the country where I live, you need to get greetings right. But getting it “right” sometimes feels unnatural or uncomfortable for me.
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A Tale of Two Journeys in Sapzurro
I started 2025 with a trip to Sapzurro, a Colombian beach town near the Panamanian border. While there, I met a family preparing to cross the Darien Gap.
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Little Cultural Things from Colombia: Winks and Buses
Living in Colombia, I’ve been paying close attention to the little cultural differences that surprise, frustrate, or delight me. This is the first in a series of posts exploring those things.
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Learning Spanish – Reflections and Progress
I’ve spent much of the last two years working on my Spanish. In this post I reflect on the journey, the techniques, my emotions, and the goals I have now.
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Usted or Tú – What do I call you in Spanish?
There are two words for “you” in Spanish: usted or tú. The rules about when and with whom to use each one are less clear than I originally thought.
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Must-Have Apps for Travel – Being Smart With Your Smartphone
This is my 2024 guide to the smartphone apps, settings, and hacks that I found most useful during my long-term solo trip.
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What I Packed for a Year in Latin America
Everything I packed for 15 months of non-stop travel, including recommendations, regrets, and insights based on a lot of research and experience.
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Explorations in Albania – A Visit to Theth
I went to Albania on a whim, a weird detour between visits to Italy and Switzerland, but my time in a small village called Theth made it completely worthwhile.
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