Upon learning that I would be living in Argentina for nearly a year, I resolved to maximize my time in the United States. I ate at all my favorite restaurants, I religiously followed the entire season of the Texas Longhorns, and I fulfilled one of my longtime fantasies to take a cross-country road trip. For whatever reason, I never had the opportunity to embark on this stereotypical rite of passage during my college years. While my friends were off doing ...

The coolest thing about Central America is that you don't have to go very far or search very long for an extreme adventure. Take Antigua, Guatemala for example. As the colonial capital of Central America, Antigua has retained a remarkably European aesthetic and attitude. It was easily the most populated and "modern" city that we had seen in weeks. For the last days of our vacation, we wanted to splurge and be tourists for a change. Modern comforts...

I often say that I love traveling, but I hate to travel. With very few exceptions, I rarely enjoy the actual process of getting from Point A to Point B, whether it is by plane, car, boat, horse, my feet, etc. If I could, I would choose to spontaneously teleport at my final destination, and skip the entire process altogether. Alas, until technology catches up with my imagination, I have had to rely on various forms of transportation. During our time in Centr...

The hostels in El Remate, Guatemala lack the revelry and unruly social scene you usually associate with youth hostels. The lights in the common area go out at 10, and most travelers are in their rooms by 11. Rowdy backpackers looking for a good time head to the hopping island city of Flores, which is only half an hour west. The only, only reason anybody comes through El Remate is because they really want to see Tikal. Tikal is widely recognized as the most...

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...