Feeling disoriented and breathless after a long travel day and wheeling our suitcases up the steep stone Callejón (pedestrian street), we knocked on the rustic wood door of the rental house and hoped that the housekeeper would be there to greet us as planned.
I was jet-lagged from the trip but, even more, I was emotionally exhausted. My husband, Hank, and I had returned to the States, after more than three years of living abroad, to attend a family wedding and ended up postponing our travels for the next five months due to a series of events that had left us reeling. This was our first foray abroad since then and I hadn't realized how tense I was until a woman with a kindhearted smile and a cheerful yellow apron opened the door and I felt a wave of relief flood through me. The intensity of the emotion startled me.
As dream jobs go, to spend your days photographing lions, cheetahs, and leopards in the wilds of Africa could possibly be the ultimate gig for a wildlife photographer. For Kathryn Haylett, co-author of The Photographer’s Guide to Etosha National Park, it is a daily reality. And as one of four participants on a photo safari with Haylett, it was my reality, too.
Snorkeling with sea lions, beach bonfires, cocktails to celebrate the full moon, stand up paddle boarding on glassy blue water, desert mule rides and not a port of call in sight. This is not a cruise. It’s an Un-Cruise. Unhurried. Unconventional. Unbelievable.
Discover ten trip highlights and the essence of Baja’s magic and the Un-Cruise experience in the following photos and videos.
Can’t stop searching for the next mind-blowing destination or exciting new adventure? Me neither. From once-in-a-lifetime dream trips to absolutely doable, here are 10 extraordinary adventures currently topping my Wanderlist —and why I want to go.
What about you? What places and experiences do you dream of? Where next?
Cartagena, Colombia
It was 4AM. The kerosene lanterns used to illuminate our open-air room flickered to life, a subtle reminder to get moving. I crawled out from under the mosquito netting, shuffled down the hall to the communal bathrooms and fifteen minutes later was tromping down a dark jungle trail in mud boots and a headlamp to board a boat.
Groggy and grumpy, I wished I’d stayed in bed as the motorized canoe puttered upriver in damp obscurity to deliver us to the sandy islet that would serve as our birding blind. The sky was still ink black as we settled in to wait. Perched upon folding canvas campstools we clutched cameras and tin cups of tea in anticipation of the morning’s Big Event –the world’s largest macaw claylick.
I admit it. Reptiles creep me out. I find them as cute and cuddly as Hannibal Lecter. But there I was, face to scaly face, happily snapping photo after photo of iguanas: self-appointed paparazzi of the Galapagos Islands.
Mother Nature can do that to me. One day I’m going about my rich yet ordinary life–work, hang out with Hank, read, nap, eat, walk, meet up with friends, eat again, read some more. The next, I’m stalking lizards like a star struck groupie at the Oscars.
“Why Cuenca?”
“Do you need to be fluent in Spanish?”
“Is it affordable?”
“What’s the weather like?”
These were questions I asked my husband more than a year ago when he first suggested we try out expat living in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Now that we’re here, these are the same questions we hear from friends and family who are curious about Cuenca.
“Don’t worry, Elena,” said our host, Juan Rabasa, co-owner of Enduro Ecuestre, an equestrian outfitter based in San Cristobal de las Casas in the highlands of southwestern Mexico. “Palomo is the perfect horse for you. You can trust him.”
But could Palomo trust me? Everyone knows you can’t fool a horse. But fooling yourself? That’s easy.
How easy it was to forget that the ‘me’ that is seduced by exotic adventures, is only a distant cousin to the ‘me’ reflected in the morning mirror, and - here’s the rub - a complete stranger to the nervous ‘me’ perched atop an Arabian horse in the wilds of Chiapas, Mexico.
We all have our favorite places. Maybe it’s the place we call home, or where we grew up. Perhaps it’s a vacation spot we return to often. A place we know inside and out; where to find the best cup of coffee, who to ask for information, and the businesses best avoided.
For me, one of those places is Ajijic, a quirky lakeside village in the mountains of Jalisco, Mexico, an hour’s drive from Guadalajara. For the past fifteen years, my husband, Hank, and I have called Ajijic home for extended stays in every season.
There are plenty of reasons to visit Portugal, from its sandy beaches, cultural riches, flavorful cuisine and mild climate, to its lost-in-time pace of life and inexpensive cost of living. But in the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal, a lush area of emerald hillsides carpeted with vineyards, it always comes back to the wines.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
