This post is for American travelers who plan to use an American credit card while traveling outside of the United States.
It’s great to be able to travel with a minimum of cash in your pocket but did you know that when you use your credit card outside of the United States, you may incur a 3% fee on top of your actual charge?
For those of you traveling to Los Angeles and seeking souvenirs to take home, you don’t have to become customers of the touristy souvenir shops. You’ll find a good assortment of keychains and other stuff at Rite-Aid pharmacy stores – for less money.
As I was getting ready to travel, I looked and looked for a lightweight, ripstop nylon handbag that would take very little room in my backpack, yet be there for me whenever I stayed put in a town overnight and wanted a nice handbag to carry for the day or evening.
Every traveler should carry a light, well-made USB card reader that handles multiple formats. Why? Because you are bound to want some of the photos someone takes of you or for you and that person may or may not ever get around to sending them to you. Granted, you still need to get to a computer in order to upload those photos, but at least you’ll be prepared. Because you may need to copy data from a computer somewhere and this will let you copy that data onto one of your camera’s memory cards, something you’re likely to have while traveling. The Scosche USB 2.0 Card Reader is THE find among card readers! It weighs virtually nothing so its a no-brainer to carry with you daily as I did throughout my trip, and continue to do. It’s compact and the USB connector and cable are protected within the unit so it packs well. […]
While in Panama City talking about the Panama Canal with a terrific guy/terrific photographer named Joshua Flannigan, Josh showed me the time-lapse video he created of a few ships locking down in the Miraflores lock. I loved it — and loved the device in which he held his iPhone to shoot them. Josh traveled with a brilliant device — a light-weight, tiny $20 device called the iStabilizer Mount, which simply held his iPhone (or most other smartphones) in place and screws onto any standard tripod. I actually loved Josh’s photos and canal enthusiam so much that I brought him out on a Panama Canal tugboat and we got lots of great photos and time-lapse videos. Now that I am back in the states, I have the iStabilizer Flex™ — the same Mount but with a detachable, incredibly light-weight flexible-legged tripod. The iStabilizer Flex legs are well padded so they won’t scratch anything and […]
I am business-sitting (sort of house-sitting) for a month in Los Angeles as the result of a conversation with some travelers I met in Costa Rica. So this puts me in a whole new neighborhood. Today, I had a quick conversation with a package delivery man — and I learned he is from Roatan, Honduras. It’s a small island with a small local population, and he knows the places I visited and lived there — and likely knows my friends there. Roatan was one of my first stays on my trip. Most of that stay was fully unintended, but the people there remain in my heart. I think about them, and their area often. I need to do things for them, and to return. I love that parts of my last year intersect with my here-life. I look forward to seeing him again.
I write this on March 15, 2013. In November 2011, as I was preparing for my year’s travel, I visited a favorite cousin, who happened to work at a respected sporting goods store. At the time, I had no idea where I would begin my year out of the US, nor where I might end up. (I only knew I would stay away only for year due to a promise to my nieces that I would not stay away longer.) I had carefully picked out a pair of Aerosoles * as my all-around travel shoe, but my cousin looked at them, pointed out that they would not provide support and that I would want or should have a good hiking shoe for both hiking and long walks. I was 100% opposed to taking hiking boots when I had to fit everything I required for the year into one backpack — and refused to […]
I saw it so often — and each time the sight bothered me, being just short of sending chills down my spine… The sight of cell phones sitting on the floor as they charged. On the FLOOR where they might be stepped on, or a backpack could easily land having slide off of a tired backpacker. The sight of a cell phone sitting on a bathroom counter to charge — right by a water facet, or by the soap dish hands reach for so often, on a counter that gets wet at the hands of the various others using that counter. Yes, even iPhones were left charging in such manners.
I am listening to Peter Cetera, a voice and music that I have loved far longer than I knew, because for years I didn’t know he was the voice of Chicago that I was so enamored by. It is so nice to have my music again. I actually made a conscious decision to not bring my favorite music on my trip. I had a nice, small iPod Nano that would have been easy to bring. I was bringing an iPhone and MacBook Air. But on the latter two I wanted to keep the limited space available for work files, photos and videos. And I made my friend take my Nano so she could have music to walk to. My thought was that while traveling I preferred to be exposed to local music and sounds. I knew I would be doing a LOT of walking — and I sure did! — and […]
As I pull out my sandwich and cookies for lunch, I realize I have been remiss in writing about one of my always-with-me pieces of simple technology.
My two Repac reusable sandwich-sized bags have been with me from the start of my Central America adventure a year ago. I plan to continue using them for many years to come — at home and when I am back out traveling again.
Unfortunately, this company has stopped making/selling these great bags. I’m sorry for the loss. The woman behind them was great and caring.
The morning before I left the good people of the tiny village of Pueblo Nuevo, I used my SteriPEN UV light water purifier one last time as I purified one more bottle of water for my trip back to Panama City.
I got good use out of this SteriPEN but as I go back to Los Angeles, where I am lucky enough to have healthy, safe water, emergencies aside, I know my trusty SteriPEN can be put to much better use here. It will now be used to purify water for the newest baby in the village.
Funny how things go…. Yesterday I was in a remote village in Panama where there is no Panama-supplied electricity. After a day with my adorable 9 year old guide, as this trip is coming to an end for me, I gave him my flashlights — including the great little GoGo light I was given at an event. Today, as I make plans to arrive home, and as a client called with more work, I realized I want to get GoGo in-the-air Internet service for my flight home. UPDATE: I just spoke to GoGo Customer Care on their toll free like (via my MagicJack iPhone app) and asked them: “what if I have a problem or question while I am actually on the airplane? I won’t be able to phone.” The response impressed me: While in the air, you can chat with Customer Care even if you do not have a […]
Easy to use lock that lasted about 18 months of heavy use. However, it failed badly and the company had no interest in knowing how or why. Stick with one of the original TSA locks.
Traveling by bus from Santa Catalina, it is always necessary to travel first to Soná. From there, most travelers take a second bus into Santiago, a farm industry town that is at the highway crossroads. (A rest stop on the Pan American Highway acts as the mid-way stopping point for busses between Panamá City and David.) This is what I did. As Santiago is a bus hub and cross road, here is info about it.
As many other travelers have learned, it is best to start your travels early in Panamá. I was awake at 6am to start this travel day. I wasn’t sure where my own evening’s destination — and had several thoughts in my head — but it all starts with the almost $5 bus from Santa Catalina to Soná — and it is best to be at that bus stop at 7 as it departs 7:15 or 7:30. Traveling by bus from Santa Catalina, it is always necessary to travel first to Soná. From there, most travelers take a second bus into Santiago, a farm industry town that is at the highway crossroads. (A rest stop on the Pan American Highway acts as the mid-way stopping point for busses between Panamá City and David.) Here is the bus schedule posted at Ellie’s Surf & Shake shop ( Surf & Shake makes great shakes, […]
Visit the islands around Isla Boca Brava and Isla Coiba and you are greeted by a sight that’s quite a lot of fun. These beaches are literally crawling with shells of varied colors, shapes and sizes scooting around! Actually, the shells are being scooted around, not scooting by themselves. These shells are host to Hermit Crabs. What makes these tiny creatures so much fun is that rather than grow their own hard shells, they find, borrow, and live in other animals’ abandoned shells. When they out-grow one shell, they move out and borrow another. It’s great fun to watch these many, many tiny creatures digging holes, crawling in or out, or running around at a rather furious pace. Then when one of them feels the vibrations as you walk, or even feels a camera moving in close to it, it quickly folds into the shell so it appears to be […]
I was very lucky the day I met Susan, a Peace Corps volunteer who is working in a tiny indigenous Panamanian village. I wasn’t able to visit Susan’s village as she was away for a break, but I was able to visit the fabulous Juan Carlos and his friend Elmon in their own village, Soloy. I plan to write more about this visit and the opportunities for others to visit and learn about indigenous Panamanian, but here are a few photos for now. Getting to Soloy, Panama
In 2011, 30-something-year-old Murray Johnson and some friends reached out to CouchSurfers to join them driving two donated ambulances down to Honduras to give them to Honduran hospitals. Johnson recently posted: “The experience was so amazing and the donation so needed that we have made the Charity Rally official and opened it up for others to join! You can mix travel, adventure and charity all in one for a good cause. How it works: You form your own team or join a “potluck” team. Your team can be comprised of any number of people. (I am guessing it is best if all of our team members fit in your vehicle though, of course.) Each team secures its own car/ambulance/fire truck/buse/whatever and drive down. The rally organizers work with you to get the vehicle, secure the donation and do the paperwork to have the vehicle imported into Honduras — or wherever […]
This is the view I get to enjoy from my bed hammock at Hotel Boca Brava. I so-loved sleeping in a hammock at my friend Daniel’s that when I got here and saw this hammock setup I just had to try it. Yes, that is water you see — the warm Pacific Ocean — and yes. Those are islands you see out in the water. Both sides of this room have water views.
This weekend, there was a festival day in the tiny town of Boca Chica, Panama. I joined three others from my hotel, taking a passing water taxi from our Isla Boca Brava location to this nearest mainland town. ($3 from our hotel, $1 from the point we first walked to.) After a typical Panama lunch of rice mixed with beans and a small piece of chicken for $3, we took a very hot 20 minute walk up the road. As the day was so hot, this activity was postponed for an hour or so. We walked back down, picked up some cookies and drinks at the town’s market (tienda), played a handmade carnival game, then walked back to the corral. Here is a photo summary of the sport. Very early, people just start to arrive. Meat kebabs for sale. (There were also candy apples.) The bulls. We wondered why they […]
Photos don’t do justice to Hotel Boca Brava or its views, but here are some views from and of the patio restaurant of Hotel Boca Brava. (The hotel is on Isla Boca Brava, in Panama.) The boat dock:
I am very impressed. I am at Hotel Boca Brava, having arrived last night just as darkness fell. This morning, ordering breakfast, I said (as always) that I am allergic to Cilantro and Culantro. The man who took my order, Jaime, brought me my delicious Breakfast and then asked me since I don’t eat those, what about Perejill (Pe rey hejl). I told him I don’t know that word, so he said wait and brought some to me. It was Parsley and I told him I love it. Then he came back with one more thing, a piece of a lettuce, to see if it was OK. When I arrived and some guests told me of their meals here and then when I saw the menu and not-exorbitant prices, I knew I was in a good place. This morning’s Cilantro response confirmed that! Oh, here is my breakfast: Omlette with […]
As I sit in my Panamanian friend’s outside/inside room I turned on the TV to hear some Spanish. A familiar black and white woman greeted my eyes and as I was wondering if this was indeed lost In Space, the music confirmed this. I haven’t seen this show in…decades! It’s actually the first old or re-run American programming I have seen in a year in Central America. I wonder if I’ll hear the robot say Danger Robinson in Spanish.
Today I bought my ticket home. In some ways it was difficult. It took me 3 months to actually make the move and set the date. The experience changes once your travel days are numbered. However, in several ways it feels great. I love that I know when I will see my immediate family again. It will be great to see them and to see my friends again. It will feel good to have my own car again. (But I must keep up the walking that has been so good for me, too.) It will also be fantastic to have my real Mac again. (And my Rosetta Stone to actually study Spanish the way I had first planned.) This is a different kind of coming home. I don’t get to open my own front door into a familiar home and plop down on my lovely leather couch or my comfy […]
If you are an English speaking traveler, either male or female, looking for a great haircut in Panama — and you don’t want to pay $35+ at the English-speaking Panama City salons — I have a fantastic recommendation for you. The salon is Aaròn Estudo. It is in Punta Patilla, across the street from MetroCentro, in the side street beside Arocha Farmacia. (I have to get the correct spelling of Arocha as I know this is wrong.) The man to see is Carlos.
