This week brought me back to my happy place — the beach. After two months of past-paced, constant travel and an intense workload of blogging and freelance projects I’ve been teetering towards burnout. I can’t stop meeting deadlines and — let’s face it — I’ve got workaholic American blood in my veins so I wouldn’t want…

Travel Porn is a feature in which I review books from my beloved travel literature genre. So far I’ve reviewed Bangkok Noir, a short story collection that brings the noir genre to the steamy streets of Thailand, Hotel Honolulu, a fictional account of a Waikiki hotel manager’s quirky life in a paradise lost, Tiger Balm, the memoir of a…

When we left off, Dave, Gus, Leah and I were just entering the Colca Canyon. It was 11:30 in the morning — a good four or five hours later than most tour groups start their descent — but we were confident we could make it to Sangalle by sundown. We could see it after all! I…

In my last Peru hostel roundup I covered places to bunk down in Iquitos, Lima, and Huacachina. This edition focuses one just one city, that epicenter of Peruvian tourism that is Cusco. Here, all the major hostel brands vie for attention alongside small, one-off competitors. The upside? There’s plenty to choose from. The downside? It’s hard…

I’ve had this feeling I just can’t shake since I arrived in Peru, this feeling that I’m playing it too safe. I’ve followed the Gringo Trail with almost laser-like precision, and checked off all the appropriate boxes: Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, check; wore ridiculous outfit on Lake Titicaca, check; complained about Lima weather, check. I’d been…