Comments on: Mish-Mash

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:24:22 +0000

[Y]ou have to have a passport to go anywhere that is not a U. S. territory

Oh, you know, that’s right. It increases our security to make, you know, fucking everyone get a passport for anything, because having more passports in the world surely makes them harder to forge…

But this is a fantastic point. And unless you’re traveling somewhere that doesn’t require an entry visa (lots of places for short stays, you don’t need one), you’ll need to allow another month for your passport to go back and forth in the mail to get that visa taken care of. Or you can drive to a large port-of-entry city nearby that has lots of consulates, and then drive back the next week to pick up your newly stamped and visa-ally devirginized passport, which is what I did.

By: Phoebe from Phoenix

Phoebe from Phoenix — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:34:08 +0000

You do know that you have to have a passport to go anywhere that is not a U. S. territory, right? It takes about 8 weeks to get one and they are about $100.00, so you better get on it if you want to have the wedding anytime in the next six months.

Is your mother helping you with your plans? I bet she would have a lot of ideas to offer. Just a thought.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:18:41 +0000

Pretending to finish my goddamn thesis here!

I absolutely, completely loved Brazil. We did have the advantage of going to an area that, while well-developed, was not terribly tourist-ish. They did have English menus most places, but those menus also had the Union Jack on them. They don’t see too terribly many Americans, I’m guessing.

Florianopolis was absolutely wonderful, and if you can find an inexpensive way to get there, I could even tell you places to go, stay, eat, etc. Once you’re there, it’s damn cheap, but until you get there, it may be iffy (price-wise).

Rio is, as I understand it, really sketchy in some places and very nice in others. Ditto with Sao Paulo. But I loved the country, the people, the trip, and the experience. And I sunburned my legs in December while working poolside, so that’s hard to beat, too.

Dammit. Now I miss Brazil. :)

By: Betsy

Betsy — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:29:02 +0000

I think almost all countries have some tourist-beaten paths and some out-of-the-way treasures. I spent time in Ecuador, which was really interesting and nice, as did several friends of mine (all at different times). One of them also lived in Chile for awhile. Patagonia, if you’re into that sort of thing, is awesome, or so my X-treme hikery friends tell me.

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 21:18:07 +0000

I’m invited to the wedding, right?

I haven’t been any further south than Mexico, but I’ve heard excellent things about Belize. It’s supposed to be just beautiful, and very affordable. My sister spent a semester in Ecuador, so I’ll ask her if she has any suggestions. I know she really liked the Galapagos, but I think that’s about as pricey as South America gets.

By: DStevens

DStevens — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:27:37 +0000

Western Sonora, Mexico is lovely in the spring. Skip Rocky Point (too touristy) and hit Kino Bay instead. Upsides: the beach and lax border crossing requirements (as part of the Sonora Free Trade Zone). You could rent a car out of Tucson and be there in 5-6 hours.

By: Heraclitus

Heraclitus — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:10:47 +0000

I haven’t traveled in Latin America, but one of my friend’s sister has travelled extensively. She lived in Guadalajara for a while and really liked it; I think it’s more of a cultural center than people realize, and, if I remember correctly, has everything from a major museum to bullfights (check out its wiki article). Seh curretnly lives in Argentina, and it is apparently very Europeanized. Since she –hey, come to think of it, her name is also Lauren–prefers places with stronger indigenous feels or cultures, she doesn’t care for Buenos Aires so much. So, there’s some third-hand information that might be useful.

By: luolin

luolin — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 20:07:28 +0000

Cusco, Peru is one of my favorite places in the world, but it is definitely not off the beaten tourist track, and I don’t know if there is any way to fly cheap to Peru (and unless you have a lot of time, you’d also have to fly to Cusco, but if you did end up travelling Lima-Cusco by bus, I could give some dated advice on that).

Do you want to go to a city and stay there and explore, or do you want to move around?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 19:42:08 +0000

I stumbled onto this place yesterday:

http://casacolibri.typepad.com/

looks better than Brooklyn @12 degrees…

By: binky

binky — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 15:26:11 +0000

The Yucatan is very nice… one of my all time favorite foods is either pork or chicken pibil. Wrap in banana leves, stick in fire pit, cook all day while drinking beer. Plus excellent fresh fish and beautiful scenery up and down the coast (if possible to avoid the big tourist traps of cancun/cozumel).

Depending on the time of year, Buenos Aires and Uruguay (Montevideo has a kind of sleepy belle epoque feel to it while remaining cosmopolitan but not quite to fast paced as BA) are great. There’s a small resort town up the coast from Montevideo called Piriopolis that’s lovely… you can sit in an oceanfront restaurant eating fresh fish gazing at the sea. The caution would be, don’t go in their winter, because it will be 40 degrees with wind driven rain. Ick.

If you’re really adventurous, why not the northeast of Brazil? Bahia is beautiful, and the food outstanding. You can sit on the beach and (hmm, there is a theme here). :) The bad thing about Brazil is that it is probably more expensive. The Yucatan or coastal Central America are probably much more affordable.

In any case, it’s nice to dream about people taking tropical trips as I try to ignore the fact that it’s 18 degrees outside. Wherever you choose, you’ll have a wonderful time!