Misspelled Paradise: A Year in a Reinvented Colombia is nearing its final stages before publication: copy editing, formatting, and proofing. I expect a publishing date in mid-February. Until then, I will post updates such as the actual publishing date, release the cover, and post quotes, excerpts, and possibly chapters. Here is a short excerpt from …
Are You Travel-Sized?
I came to the conclusion while on my recent trip to Peru and Colombia that I am very lucky. Not only because I get the chance to travel so often but because I am, in many ways built for traveling. How, you might ask? Here are five things I don’t have to worry about while …
Visiting Colombia’s Coffee Growing Region
I write a lot about diffusing stereotypes about Colombia, stereotypes I continue to hear from other travelers and from friends and colleagues here in the United States. However, that not is to say that all stereotypes about Colombia are negative -- or are untrue. Think of Colombia and I bet Colombian coffee is on your …
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Visiting Cartagena
Colombia, as I constantly find and write about, is not exactly on most people's radar as a tourist destination. However, more and more, tourists of every ilk are descending on the city of Cartagena de las Indias, and this past week I did the same. The week was spent exploring old haunts, seeing old friends, …
Visiting (A Small Part of) the Amazon
The Amazon. Whether referring to the river or the rainforest, it is a one of those places that stirs the imagination in everyone, especially those of us who grew up in temperate climates, far away from jungles. It is a land of a diversity of cultures and countries, a land of thousands of types of …
A Week in Peru
There is no way to know a country in only one week, but I have enjoyed what I have learned and done in Peru so far. I quickly left the smoggy metropolis of Lime (population almost 10 million) and headed north to the mountain city of Huaraz. Huaraz is a bustling city all its own, …
Traveling and Writing
Why do I enjoy travel writing so much? In short, because it involves two of my favorite things in the world: traveling and writing. (You're welcome for that deep insight for the day.) This last year I have been doing a lot of writing and less traveling. Late nights typing away, afternoons editing, mornings brainstorming …
5 Things to Watch Out for During Cartagena Independence Day Festivities
It’s November 11. Yes, Armistice Day and Veterans Day. And also, the independence day of the Colombian city of Cartagena de las Indias. Colombia became independent as part of Gran Colombia with the help of Simón BolÃvar, a final victory at the Battle of Boyaca (in 1819) and the help of a broken flower vase …
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The Most Beautiful Women in the World are in Cartagena, Colombia (or at least they are during November)
Colombia is best known by almost everyone for the same four or five things: drugs, violence, coffee, and beautiful women. Traveling to Colombia just for any of theses reasons isn’t a great idea (good luck finding good coffee, for one), but all of these stereotypes are true in some senses. Today's blog post: the stereotype …
Things NOT to Do While in Colombia (Getting Kidnapped and Other Hints)
The list of things to do and places to visit in Colombia is a long one: drink coffee and fresh juices, eat arepas and arroz con coco, and see sandy beaches, snow-capped mountains, old churches, historic city streets, deserts, rainforests...enought to keep even the most-seasoned traveler busy for weeks or months. But there are certainly …
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Bryanna Plog 