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Latin America

Latin America, Travel

Best Adult Only Resorts in Cancun

It’s a rough morning. You may have overindulged a little too much last night. You’d say “ooopps” but you’re on vacation. All you need now is a cup of strong coffee and a plate of something greasy to sop up last night’s fun. And a Bloody Mary… Then a blood-curdling scream comes from the table next to you. You feel it shoot from your temples to the back of your head –…

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Latin America, Travel

Where to Stay in Cancun

Planning a trip to Cancun can be complicated. Despite what local tourist boards want us to believe, we’ve clumped the entire stretch of sandy paradise that runs from Cancun down to Playa del Carmen under the heading of Cancun. After all, the same airport does service the entire area and has the word Cancun in the name. But is all of “Cancun” the same? Will you get the same experience whether you…

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Food, Latin America, Travel

A Food and Drink Guide to Cancun

Cancun is the center of many jokes here on The Wandering Gourmand. After all, the goal of the blog is to help aspiring travelers experience a world beyond mega-resorts, chain restaurants, and Bud Light. But I have a secret. Please don’t tell anybody. I actually like Cancun! Its bleach white sand and turquoise blue waters offer some of the prettiest beaches in the world. It’s also easily accessible from the continental United States and…

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Latin America, Travel

3 Sports Activities in Cancun, Mexico

As the saying goes, “You know what the difference is between Miami and Cancun? They speak English in Cancun!” Cancun has earned a rather negative reputation among travel insiders. You know the type. The ones who call themselves “travelers, not tourists” with a judgmental nose in the air. To a point, they’re right. With a Subway or Starbucks on almost as many street corners as the U.S., Cancun can feel like just…

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Latin America, Travel

Getting to Know My Host Family – Semester in Ecuador Part 5

This was the toughest installation of this series to recall yet as it brought up many food memories and emotions from Ecuador.  I will always remember the family that I was placed with in Ecuador quite fondly.  It was a blessing to be dropped into the midst of the love they all shared for each other and extended to me.  The Valverde-Orellana family is the reason that I had such a positive…

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Latin America, Travel

Travelers Dysentery – Semester in Ecuador Part 4

It was bound to happen – the dreaded traveler’s dysentery.  We had been warned.  It wasn’t if, but when.  Somewhere on our journey, something would infect us.  It could be an innocent glass of water that was not purified, an unsuspecting ice cube, a freshly squeezed juice, expired mayonnaise (they serve it with French fries), spoiled seafood.  Whatever the cause, we wouldn’t be able to prevent the days of stomach cramps, diarrhea,…

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Latin America, Travel

Experiencing Real Relaxation at Tabacon Springs in La Fortuna, Costa Rica

I was wrapped in a towel damp from my wet swimsuit.  It was raining, but I didn’t care.  The canopy above our outside bed kept us dry enough.  The rain actually accentuated the tropical environment that surrounded us – the lush green foliage, the rambling creeks, the birds cawing, the occasional volcanic rumble, the steam from the hot springs.  At Tabacon Springs, for the first time in a long time, I felt…

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Latin America, Travel

Daily Annoyances – Semester in Ecuador Part 3

Living in a foreign country is filled with daily annoyances until you learn to adapt.  Even some of the most mundane and basic of tasks are done completely different causing you to pause and think through a process that was second nature in your home country.  Sometimes, you never adapt and that one action will always make you think of home.  The bathrooms were a daily annoyance to me in Ecuador and…

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Latin America, Travel, Travel Tips

Have You Ever Traveled to Meet Overseas Family?

I was nervous as I stepped off the plane in Buenos Aires.  I had no hotel reservation, no taxi waiting to pick me up, no tour guide holding out a welcome sign.  For the next three weeks, I was relying on complete strangers for my food, my lodging, my well-being.  Sure they were family, but other than two I met ten years prior, I only knew this side of my relations through…

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Latin America, Travel

Settling Into Class – Semester in Ecuador Part 2

I was infected by the travel bug as a junior in college on a study abroad program to Ecuador.  The adventure pushed me completely out of my comfort zone and caused me to challenge how and what I thought about the world.  I grew up somewhat spoiled as an only child enjoying comforts that most twenty-ones year olds didn’t.  Below are excerpts from the journal I kept as my conventions were challenged…

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