There is a superstitious side of me that thinks there's a lot of karma points to be gained in sharing kindness with strangers. Many of you know that I hosted several travelers at my house in Austin (often to the chagrin of my roommate) through a social network called Couchsurfing. It's often difficult to explain the concept of Couchsurfing to others, because most people tend to be cynical and mistrustful of strangers. I will be the first to admit that one h...

The dirt road that separates the Nu'uk Cheil Cottages and the Jaguar Preserve is only 10 kilometers, but due to bumpy terrain and unpredictable roadblocks, the ride usually takes 20 minutes each way. During this time, our Mayan guide Julio Saqui kept us entertained with stories about how the area had grown over the last several decades. He told us about Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, the famous environmentalist who established the world's first jaguar sanctuary here ...

On the crowded Southbound bus, we were the only two people who requested a stop at the Maya Center Village. As it turns out, we were the only two people who were visiting the entire town. That suited us just fine - after three days of lounging on the beach, we had wanted an intrepid leg of the trip to improve our travel street cred. Our plan? To march through the c*** comb Basin Jaguar Preserve. Twice. Once during the day, and again at night, when a differ...

In 1961 Hurricane Hattie ravaged the coast of Belize, battering the reefs and actually cracking the island of Caye Caulker in two. When we were returning from our snorkel tour, however, the rift now known as the "Split" served only to frame a sunset that was already made-for-postcard beautiful: a kitesurfer gliding over the water, the dark silhouette of his parachute bathed in the glorious backdrop of a Caribbean sunset. Breaking the silence, a c...