Escaping the Tourist Trap
I’ve never understood the appeal Fisherman’s Wharf has on visitors to San Francisco. The tourist trap on the northeast waterfront of our lovely city is closer in character to Vegas than the rest of San...
View ArticleChoosing Wonder
Why does anybody ever leave home? What is it about the gravitational forces that push and pull us away from familiarity, towards….something else. Last night my twenty-year-old cousin asked me at dinner...
View ArticleReal Talk For Women Traveling Alone: Getting Settled
Every time I start out on a solo trip, I have the same uncomfortable, irrational thought –– “Am I ever going to make friends, or will I spend my entire trip walking, reading, and eating…alone?” By now...
View ArticleWhat do I know about Nature Conservation in Belize?
My first two weeks of solo travel have spun themselves out in a way that has been serendipitously full of encounters with awesome. They have been challenging and lonely too, but I’m learning a ton...
View ArticleA Gringa’s Observations from Guatemala
The month I’ve spent wandering around Guatemala and (to a lesser extent) Belize is coming to an end —— I start the Ridge to Reef nature conservation program tomorrow. So I’m back in Belize, enjoying my...
View ArticleLife and Loss from a Field Station in Belize
For anyone paying enough attention to notice, my choice to join an eight-week nature conservation expedition in Belize probably seemed like a non-sequitur. Unlike all the other program participants...
View ArticleThe Case for Conservation. A Science-Light Perspective.
I’ve gotten used to preemptively defending my participation on the Ridge to Reef expedition. I’m not a scientist, I’m no longer a student, and I wasn’t looking for anything like this program when a...
View ArticleGetting to Know a Place is Getting to Know its People
The past six weeks on the Ridge to Reef expedition have been a wild experiment, not just in nature conservation, but in community, participation, and attitude adjustment. During the high moments, I...
View ArticleA Gringa Living in Guatemala
Yes, you read that title right. Yesterday I arrived in Xela, Guatemala, officially starting what I’m considering phase two of this five-month long trip. I’ll be living here for the next few months,...
View ArticleThe Deafening Wisdom of Everyone Else
There’s a common reaction I encountered before I moved to Guatemala: “You’re moving where?” “But it’s so dangerous.” “I hope you’re bringing some sort of protection….” As if pepper spray or condoms are...
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