Guys, consider this my official resignation. I am formally recusing myself from the traveler Cheaplympics – I was never going to make it through qualifiers anyway. Below are direct quotes (some perhaps feature slight embellishments) I’ve heard on my travels – spend any time on the road and you’ll soon learn this is a serious sport. “Oh… you…

Since Zoe arrived in Peru, we had been doing a thorough exploration of the country’s hostel offerings. And while I love backpacking, I never agreed to be exclusive with it — and never has this girl needed to flirt with a little luxury more than the days before and after tackling the mighty Inca Trail. The…

This week found me snaking back up the coast towards Lima after finally bidding adios to the Andes. While I appreciated my seven days of staying still and catching up on computer time, I was really ready to get back down to sea level. The altitude had me exhausted and the temperamental weather was driving me…

Read about days one and two of my trek here, and days three and four here. While the Inca Trail is one of the most popular treks in the world, it can be surprisingly hard to find solid information on the logistics, breakdowns of complete costs, and reliable reviews on trekking companies. If you’re panicking about whether…

At the end of the second day of the Inca Trail, I felt a massive relief that the hard part was over and that it would be non-stop fun all the time from there on out — and hoped I wasn’t fooling myself. Turns out, I wasn’t. Day three would be my favorite day of the…