Weather

FINCA TATIN, Izabel, Guatemala- Traveling a fast path across the world means jumping climates, changing environments, time zones, expanses of longitude and latitude — it means providing your body with a good wholesome shock as it must quickly adapt from one clime to another. Travelers now go from the freezing cold to tropical heat in [...]

FINCA TATIN, jungle, Guatemala- There was no sign of a tropical storm, no indication of mudslides, nothing to make me think that rivers had overflowed or that people had died, no way that I could tell that the county which I woke up in was besieged by natural disaster the night before. I am in [...]

Rainy Season Begins in Central America The rainy season in Central America begins in May and lasts until September or October. Traveling is still possible as, outside of genuine storms, the rains tend to come in torrential downpours that only last for a couple of hours at around the same time each day. SUCHITOTO, El [...]

CINQUERA, El Salvador- “Did you see why they did that?” “Did what?” “Did you see that they took the mirror off the wall because of the lightning?” It was true, as soon as lightning struck and the rains began pouring down all the mirrors in the little house in rural El Salvador were removed from [...]

SUCHITOTO, El Salvador- “There are not that many countries where it is completely socially acceptable to lay around in a hammock all day.” El Salvador is a hammock country. Hammocks swing from doorways, inside living rooms, on porches, in outdoor courtyards, and from trees. Just about everywhere a hammock can be hung, there will be [...]

SUCHITOTO, El Salvador- Housing in the tropics is often designed very differently than in places that know the winds of winter and the sharp feeling of cold. In the tropics, houses are designed for living both inside and outside. It is common for a house to have an outdoor courtyard that is in the middle [...]

I was surprised. Like many other travelers before me I was surprise by how cold New Mexico is in the winter. I was warned forthwith — two long term travelers previously told me that New Mexico was the coldest place that they ever traveled in. But I was undaunted: I am from Upstate New York [...]

Budapest in Winter BUDAPEST, Hungary- Budapest in winter: stone cold, dour faced, medieval. I would not know where I was if it were not for my map that says Budapest across the top. I must remind myself that I have been here before. In the warm breezes and bright light of summer. I rode an [...]

PUERTO VARAS, Chile- I left Puerto Montt today. It was quite the miserable place. I am now in Puerto Varas, a tourist town with few foreigners at this time of year — the winter. I can see why: it is cold and it rains, or has just stopped raining, or is about to rain ALL [...]