If you’re looking for a more personal, behind-the-scenes look at my travels, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve been sharing my travel experiences since 2014, documenting adventures across more than 50 countries — from remote islands and bustling cities to hidden wildlife hotspots and off-the-beaten-path destinations.
Here, you’ll find my travel blogs, packed with personal stories, tips, and reflections on the places I’ve explored. While my travel guides focus on practical advice and planning, these posts let you experience my journey alongside me — the highs, the surprises, and the unforgettable moments.
World-Class Birding in Manizales
From Jardín, our journey continued along some of the most scenic roads in Colombia towards the city of Manizales. Nestled in the Central Andes range,…
The birding starts in Jardín
If you’re a regular follower of my blog, you might have noticed a significant trend over the last year we’ve been travelling… More and more…
Medellín: From Notorious to Noteworthy
So… We were supposed to be going to Panama next, to complete the journey through central America, then fly onward to Colombia afterwards. But as…
Corcovado: Costa Rica’s last wild frontier?
Our next stop in Costa Rica was the biggy – Corcovado National Park. Located on the Osa Peninsula, on the south west coast, this region…
Finding peace (and Quetzals) in San Gerado de Dota
Since we’d had such a hard time spotting Quetzals in Guatemala – we tried three separate places with no luck, I hedged my bets here…
Resplendent Monteverde: Quetzals, Clouds and Hanging Bridges
When I think of Costa Rica, for me, the first thing that springs to mind is dense cloud forest, high in the mountains, full of…
La Fortuna: Frogs, forests and free hot springs
Miguel dropped us at the bus stop in Katira, a town on main road towards La Fortuna in the Rio Celeste region. We didn’t have…
Sloths and Snakes in Rio Celeste
Next stop in Costa Rica was the Rio Celeste region. Here, two clear rivers (the Quebrada Agria and Río Buena Vista) meet. One is slightly…
Liberia: the gateway to Rincon de la Vieja
Costa Rica has been at the top of my travel list for a long long time. I am a big wildlife lover and pretty much…
Sunsets in San Juan del Sur
After a great few days on Ometepe, we moved on to our final destination in Nicaragua, the beach town of San Juan Del Sur. Admittedly,…
Petroglyphs and Motorbiking on Ometepe Island
From the lagoon we got a taxi to the nearest town of Masaya. Before entering Nicaragua we’d heard that it wasn’t the safest country (only…
Wildlife and Peace at Laguna Apoyo
Never one to follow the Gingro Trail exactly, we had a look to see if there were any lesser known spots in Nicaragua we could…
Granada: Hot Streets and Cold Peaks!
Our next stop in Nicaragua was the pretty, colonial city of Granada on the shores of Lake Nicaragua and in the shadow of Mount Mombacho,…
Viva León!
After a bleary-eyed 2:45am pickup from our apartment in El Zonte, we finally bagged the best seats on the shuttle – marginal win! With a…
Facing the waves in El Zonte
We hadn’t planned to stay too long in El Salvador – more to claim back some days from staying longer than expected in Guatemala! We…
Surprising Santa Ana
From Juayua we got the public bus to Santa Ana, which is direct for just $0.70 each. However we had to wait a while, we…
A-maze-ing Ruta de las Flores
Our time in Guatemala was at an end, and so we booked a shuttle to take us across the border into another new country for…
Motmots, Volcanoes and Alfombras in Antigua
To get from San Marcos on Lake Atitlan to Antigua Guatemala by public bus looked like a bit of a mission, with potentially 5 different…
Exploring Lake Atitlan
From the city of Xela it’s only about a 2.5 hour drive to the scenic Lago Atitlan, nestled in a mountainous cloud forest region surrounded…
Unexpected Birding in Xela
The next stop in our Guatemala adventure is the town of Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela (sheh-lah), since its original name in the Kʼicheʼ Maya…
Seeking Quetzals in Cobán
We returned to Flores from Tikal and planned to leave the next morning at 8am on a shuttle to Cobán. We booked a shuttle as…
Incredible Wildlife and Ruins at Tikal
From San Ignacio in Belize our next stop was Flores in Northern Guatemala. Once again we waited at the bus stop for over an hour…
Sweating in San Ignacio
The next leg of our journey takes us inland towards Guatemala to the popular town of San Ignacio in Belize, close to the border. We…
Taking it Easy in Tobacco Caye
The next part of our trip had been in discussion for a long time. We’d initially looked at a 3 day sailing trip from Caye…
Chilling in Caye Caulker
Now the next leg of our journey continues into Belize. There is a boat which can take you from Chetumal in South Mexico direct to…
Beautiful Bacalar
So far in our trip the one thing which has surprised us the most in Mexico, is how expensive it has been. I’d looked into…
Carnival in Campeche
The bus from Merida to Campeche was super cheap as we checked the ADO website and were able to book one of the times (which…
Falling for Mérida
Our journey continued deeper into the Yucatan peninsula as we continued along the highway to Merida. One note for future travellers, ADO buses are FREEZING…
Valladolid: Mexico’s ‘Northern Quarter’
We got the boat back from Cozumel in mid morning, before walking back through Playa to catch an ADO bus to Valladolid. The “bus” wasn’t…
First stop, Mexico: Cozumel island
Our first stop on this 5 month adventure through central and south America is Mexico, thanks in part to the direct and super cheap flights…
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Travel Alchemist 