I’ve been at this backpacking game for 26 years, but I’m still picking up a few tricks along the way. And useless bits of trivia, which might not be so useless if you ever go to Suriname, Guyana or Trinidad. Here are 10 things I learned during my trip in March.Continue Reading
Travel: A Very Un-Guyana Visit
After the speeding, singing shared taxi from Suriname to Guyana on March 10th, I checked in at Georgetown’s Tropicana Hotel, the only place I could find on the internet that advertised itself as backpacker accommodation. For $22 USD a night, it was nice enough, but unfortunately, aside from one young man who looked in my direction through mirrored aviator sunglasses without moving a single facial muscle, it didn’t have any guests with which to trade information.Continue Reading
Travel Comparative: Jungle Trips in Suriname and Guyana
This table compares a number of variables that you might want to consider if you’re planning to do an excursion into the Amazon jungle in Suriname or Guyana. My research was not super extensive, however I think I can safely cover the basics of what to expect (and for my own trip in March 2013, I went into the jungle in Suriname).Continue Reading
Travel: The Inevitable Backpacking Cock-Up, Followed by Redemption
3:40 a.m. on March 10th – My iPhone alarm goes off. It’s harp music. What a joke that is at zero dark thirty in the morning. I dress, then shove the last bits of crap into my backpack in a manner which bears no resemblance to packing.
4:00 a.m. – In front of the guesthouse, I get ready to wait for the shared taxi that’s to pick me up “sometime between 4 and 5 a.m.” in Paramaribo, Suriname and proceed to Georgetown, Guyana. Look, there’s a taxi out front already! Loaded with gear, I run-hobble over. It turns out to be another guest returning from a night out. Drunk, he stumbles into the guesthouse. Deflated, I drop into a chair on the porch.
4:30 a.m. – Of course the taxi’s not going to come in the first half of the hour. They’re going to make me wait. I could have slept until 4.Continue Reading
Travel: How to Un-plan Your Trip
When you’re planning a trip, how do you prepare for it? Not whether to bring two or three pairs of underwear but rather, what’s your philosophical approach?
This question was asked of me a few months ago by my friend Elaine. It’s such a good one, because if you’re going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a trip, really, whether you have the right SPF-level of sunscreen in your bag is merely a triviality.Continue Reading