We dreaded the drive to Managua, the place where driver's licenses confiscated on the roads of Nicaragua go to die -- at least those belonging to foreigners/extranjeros.   People we asked said, "don't even bother". You'll stand in line all day and still never get that license back.    We couldn't find anyone who'd gone there to get their license. Vacationers don't  waste the time; they fly home and apply for a replacement; Every expat we consulted -- all of...

"The ideal travel book," Christopher Isherwood once said, "should be perhaps a little like a crime story in which you're in search of something." And it's the best kind of something, I would add, if it's one that you can never quite find. -- Pico Iyer Our ideal travel book may be called many things. Too bad, light weight isn't one of them. There's no Ebook version and it's out of print. Despite our best intentions to travel light, we've lugged around a 52...