There is almost ALWAYS a good reason to find yourself in Villa de Lleyva, Colombia. In truth, the town itself is reason enough. Fiercely protecting the architectural influence of the Spanish that invaded these lands centuries ago has given the whole town a sense of cleanliness, continuity, and tranquility that has appealed to travelers from…
Category: SD Girl in the Third World
The adventures of a Midwest girl and her dog, as they make a new life in a third world country: Colombia
FLYING
We’ve been trying to go paragliding since my first trip to Colombia. Or, at least, the first trip we had together. But despite having spent nearly a half a year here, we just couldn’t make it happen. Conditions weren’t right or we were off doing other things, or whatever. Finally the stars aligned, however, and…
Manizales, Colombia: the BEST little detour.
We’d already been on the road for 7 hours and still had four to go when we stopped for gas a little after midnight. We’ve done it before – pushed through 13, even 20 hours in the car – but we were both tired and we couldn’t hang out with Li’l Wild until afternoon the…
Backpacking packs are not the right way to travel.
Back when I bought my first backpacking pack I used it exclusively for camping and true backpacking, because that was really all the travel I was doing at the time. The first time I took a trip and packed my backpacking pack I was so excited to BE backpacking through a country! It felt so……
Mesa de Los Santos and the 2nd largest canyon in the world: Chicamocha
We’d thundered across the Andes (because the Wild Man LOVES his music at full volume) a few days before, fresh from Socorro and 10 days living with his mother. Whom I love. But, you know, living with the boyfriend’s mom… not super easy. (Shameless plug: if you’d like to read the more personal stories of…
Monterrey Mexico: Parque Natural La Estanzuela
Monterrey is a significant city full of beautiful ways to spend your days and a rich nightlife. San Pedro-one of the cities that comprises the Monterrey metro area-is perhaps the richest city in all of Latin America and as such San Pedro and the surrounding area of Monterrey offers a lot in terms of shopping…
Angels in Colombia
Yes, weird things happen to me. It isn’t news. In fact I have another book on the horizon detailing all my weird little adventures. Or at least the ones that are appropriate to publish. (Actually, no guarantees on that – some of the best stories are the slightly inappropriate ones). Anyway, I’m so excited about…
Toilet tales
You may have recently discovered your personal level of gratitude and appreciation for toilet paper. And I’m happy for you. I really am. Because I learned that lesson, back in June when I made my first trip to Colombia. In my now-favorite country, you often have to pay to use public restrooms and TP isn’t…
15-ish Tips for Traveling in Colombia
Being from a small midwest city, when I told friends and family that I had plans to travel to Colombia, the news wasn’t exactly received with unbridled enthusiasm. Quite the contrary, in fact. Dropped-jaws, most notably. Generally, immediately followed by an apparently inevitable question: “Why?” And a caution: “Be careful!!” or even “Please don’t go.”…