Category: <span>Travel</span>

The Best Coffee

“Where do you find the best coffee in Central America?” The loud and obnoxious tourist from New York interrogates me over dinner. I hate the question. A journey is a collection of experiences, some more pleasant than others but never better: they are what they are. I learned more about […]

Taxi Drivers in Panama

Ernesto was not always a taxi driver. A long time ago he worked in an import/export business. In his own words, his boss was “a fat Jew, a really good man”. So Ernesto drove back and forth between the capital and different parts of the country, including the famous Darien […]

Oil and Water

“Did someone tell you about the water?” asked the teenager at the hotel front desk last night. I shook my head with a blank look on my face. He explained there would be no running water from this morning at 8am until tomorrow 7am. I shrugged at the news: it’s […]

Risk Taker

Upon hearing that the next destination in our Latin American journey is Colombia, my brother emailed me. In his eyes I am crazy to travel to a country full of terrorists and drug cartels that kidnap or kill honest people. He cannot fathom why on earth I would take such […]

The Gazebo War

As I lay my yoga mat on the wooden floor of the gazebo for my martial arts conditioning practice, little do I know that a war is about to be declared. I boot my MacBook, place it on a stool facing the mat, and launch the video. On the screen, […]

Baptism by Fire

Stepping under the palm leaf roof that covers the yoga studio, steps away from the waves crashing onto the sands of Playa Hermosa, we find a paper sign at the entrance: “Today: Yoga with Live Music.” Mai and I exchange a puzzled look and take a peak inside the room […]