Chichén Itzá, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, is estimated to have been built between 400 and 600 AD. It is the second most popular tourist destination in all of Mexico with over 2.6 million visitors per year! It’s not only an iconic destination for international travelers—domestic Mexican citizens make up the majority of its tourists.
So it’s no wonder Chichén Itzá can be a very challenging place to visit especially if you don’t love crowds or paying top dollar (like me!).
On my visit to meet up with Ellen and Tori in Playa Del Carmen, we decided that organizing a trip to Chichén Itzá ourselves was more our style. This option meant we experienced more freedom, less crowds, and more comfort overall. We ended up spending about the same amount as an organized tour—maybe even a little less!
In this post, I share the step-by-step planning and insider tips that went into visiting Chichén Itzá by our own design. I feel lucky and grateful that I had Ellen and Tori with whom to share the costs and this wonderful experience!
I’ve been writing about my trip to Cozumel for a few months now. At this point, it’s time to wrap things up by sharing all of the highlights in one big post!
My hope is this post serves as a starting place from which travelers contemplating Cozumel or planning a trip to Cozumel can further solidify their plans. Each section provides links to launch further into my lengthier posts about each aspect.
There’s even a little exclusive bonus feature highlighting more of my free beach access experience!
Enjoy this overview of highlights from Cozumel!
San Miguel is a wonderful city to explore by foot. I managed to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of street art and sculptures in just a few hours one morning. Full exploration had me walking all over the city and seeing parts at night, too.
I never once felt unsafe walking around San Miguel—whether in the tourist areas in downtown or in the back streets away from the crowds.
I highly recommend taking a day to explore it. It cost me nothing and helped me better understand the culture of Cozumel and my part in it as a visitor.
The last two nights of my time in Costa Rica were spent in the city where it all started: San Jose. I purposely booked a relaxing stay with nice amenities so I could recoup from all the adventuring I’d done in the previous 2 weeks (best decision ever!).
It was time to sit back, relax, and take in some Netflix! Of course, the adventurer in me couldn’t sit still long. I had to get out and see a bit of San Jose. San Jose’s famous Central Market was the main attraction for me!
This 140+ old indoor market had everything I could possibly desire. I mention a few of its highlights but there’s one place in particular that had what I needed. This place had possible the most unique ice cream I’ve ever tasted made in 20 different ways. Read on to learn more as I close out my Costa Rica trip experience.
Many people go to La Fortuna to hike around Arenal, see La Fortuna Falls, spend a day at the hot spring spa, and more. All of these experiences require spending extra money for tours and access fees.
I spent just 2 nights in La Fortuna and managed to spend less than $55 the entire time there. The key? Find the right accommodation and don’t pay top dollar for hiking tours, waterfalls, and hot springs.
While staying low budget, I managed to enjoy clear views of Arenal Volcano, a garden labyrinth, a beautiful jungle hike, a swim at a secret waterfall, a dip in a natural hot spring, a cozy hostel stay, and some of the best food in town. These are my top 7 recommendations for a great, low-budget experience in La Fortuna.
Going, going, going! I was nonstop in Costa Rica for 9 days. With only 5 days left, I felt the need to slow down a bit, and Taramindo was the ideal place in which to relax.
The perfect start to my short stint in Taramindo was arriving for sunset. I got overjoyed by the zoom lens on my camera as I observed the surfers, sailors, and glorious setting sun against the sights and sounds of the perfect waves rolling into shore.
The next morning, I started off the day with my first Airbnb experience—yoga on the sandy beach. This turned out to include some unexpectedly special touches that made for an already unique experience even better! A tarot card pull to open the practice and fresh coconut water to close it? Wonderful!
I had one night planned for the Nicoya Peninsula region. The reason? I was there for only one things—to snorkel Tortuga Island.
This was one of those destinations I researched very little ahead of time. I didn’t really know how I was going to snorkel these islands. I just knew they were snorkelable. And if I got as close as I could, I’d figure it out.
Figure it out, I did! I managed to stay overnight in a very inexpensive Airbnb with a lovely local family. And I believe I discovered one of the most accessible, low cost, and small group tours for snorkeling these islands.
I didn’t even know what I was going to get as part of this tour. But I ended up having an awesome time including plenty of underwater sightseeing in addition to quiet beach time with a fresh fruit feast.
I had a sore throat when I went to bed while staying with the Brunca people in Costa Rica. When I woke up, it wasn’t better and it only got worse as the morning persisted. I decided I should probably get some medicine to nip this in the bud and not let it ruin the rest of my trip. But I didn’t really know where I should go.
My research online revealed that I had several options but all would basically result in quality care and be very low cost to me, even as a tourist without insurance. That’s because Costa Rica has a universal healthcare system that guarantees medical care to anyone who needs it. It’s considered the best in Latin America and people from all over the world go there for its low cost and high quality doctors and services.
At the recommendation of my Brunca hosts, I decided to visit a hospital just 35 minutes away. Despite a nearly 4-hour wait time in the heat, I received fast, quality care with easy access to all I needed to complete my visit and get my prescriptions filled right there in the hospital.
You never know where chatting up a local may go. As a solo traveler, I really welcome my alone time on my trips. But sometimes being a solo traveler means anything but being on my own. Instead, it grants me the opportunity to meet others more fluidly and easily.
While diving Drake Bay, my dive master turned out to be a fun guide to a whole afternoon and evening of special experiences including a river swim and sunset bonfire on the beach.
I recount the story in this short post about the second half of my day. This was an off-the-beaten-path adventure around the Osa Peninsula after diving Caño Island.
Taking a little break from Costa Rica this week to bring you some extra content from my trip to Santorini!
On our last day in Greece, on the island of Santorini, Carolina and I decided to explore one last area. The Akrotiri peninsula includes a few nice highlights that are worth the bus ride down for part of the day.
We went to the red beach and to the Venetian Castle of Akrotiri. Both of these were free to visit. We had the option to also visit the Akrotiri Museum but we opted not to. Sometimes there are certain highlights that I choose to pass up on trips especially when they cost money. The fee and not feeling enthusiastic enough about the museum turned us away.
Otherwise we had a nice visit to Akrotiri before we departed for our next adventure in Sweden and Norway!
I only planned to be in Oslo, Norway for 2 nights. Then my COVID-19 test remained positive and 2-nights turned into 5!
I had to find things to do that were not only predominantly outdoors and socially distant but also low budget—just in case my travel insurance didn’t come through for me on this occasion (it did!).
Anyway, what I learned is that Oslo is a small, fairly quiet city and it has some really special features and experiences that make it stand out.
I had an awesome time exploring everything from its outdoor sculptures to parks and waterways. Check out this post for my list of low-budget highlights in the beautiful city of Oslo!
We began our road trip into Norway after picking up Carolina's coughing, sniffling child in Stockholm (lol). We were on our way but stopped for a night at a friend's place in Kopparburg, Sweden and at a park before crossing the border north of Oslo.
In this post, I cover the major highlights we saw as we made our way from the Oslo area out to the Bergen area and back over 7 days.
From roadside views with multiple waterfalls to the longest tunnel in the world, Norway is a great country to take a road trip.
Carolina and I had time to kill in Stockholm for a day as we waited for her daughter to arrive from Italy. After recovering from our red eye flight from Greece with a car garage nap, we wandered the streets and did a little self-guided landmark and art museum sight-seeing.
We were on our own and pretty aimless until we met up with an old friend of mine. Giles took us around to a few of the more interesting spots including a sunken warship museum with a funny backstory.
This top 10 must-see’s include some typical stops but also some unexpected ones, like where to find Stockholm’s legendary stone face crying over—you’d never guess it—a sculpted vulva! Keep reading to find out more about our 24 hours in Stockholm!
For our last few days in Greece, our visit to Santorini forced us to take it up a notch in terms of food prices and dinner views. Our eating experience was different from our time in Crete mainly because it was so centered around getting the best seats for sunset.
I managed to find ways to balance out the price of our view-centered dinners. Alas, we could not have experienced the best of what Santorini had to offer without recommendations from our villa stay host. We ended up taking up several of his suggestions and they were all excellent.
The best part was the last night when I finally got to eat one, single vegetable that he insisted we must not miss: a Santorini cucumber.
I absolutely love Greek food. For 6 years, I lived near Ditmars Boulevard and Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens, a major Greek neighborhood of New York City. In that neighborhood are many traditional Greek restaurants, serving up delicious fresh seafood and souvlaki. Outside of my graduate school in Manhattan, there was a Mediterranean-style food truck that I would often go to for my lunch break—tzatziki sauce, anyone?
I fell in love with this cuisine back then and now I was going to experience it while visiting the country where it came from. The food was absolutely a top reason why I chose Greece as my destination this past summer.
Crete has its own special Greek foods as well as the traditional style found all over the country. From homemade Mediterranean breakfast spreads to the dish of the day at local tavernas, Crete was an amazing food experience all around.
Chania is a new favorite city of mine and its all because of its area called Old Town. I had the perfect Airbnb location in the center of the Jewish quarter of Old Town. This put me right in the middle of an incredible mix of historic architecture and modern tourism.
From the crumbling ruins to the colorful painted alleyways, I was utterly enchanted by Old Town. Walking the streets alone was a magical experience. Add in a charming, Greek local who I heard open up his restaurant each morning, an Egyptian lighthouse reflecting off the waters of a Venetian harbor, and some furry friends and you have a total package of an experience.
I have so much to share with you in this post. There’s so many photos that I hope capture at least a small percentage of the feeling of this place! Enjoy!
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the continental US. The city was settled by Spanish colonizers in 1565!
In 24 hours, Kim and I had a whirlwind, self-guided tour of the main walking part of the city called “Old Town.” We ate delicious food, explored shopping, observed various opportunities for museum visits and tours, and so much more!
In this post, I give twelve recommendations for various experiences you can have. Each suggestion is accessible along the main tourist street or just beyond it.
While up north in Seyville, I could not pass up the opportunity to visit St. Augustine. St. Augustine is the oldest city in America founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers.
One of the most famous tourist attractions in St. Augustine is Castillo de San Marcos. I decided to do this very typical tour because castles are just cool!
Along the way, I discovered that accessing one of the coolest parts of the castle is only an option when the skies are clear of lightning! This meant that I went back to visit twice in 24 hours—worth it!
When I moved to Miami, I thought my food adventures would center mostly around Cuban cuisine. I quickly realized how wrong I was!
Cuban food happens to be one of my least favorite and most infrequently tapped into cuisines here in Miami. Instead, I’ve satiated my foodie desires through this pandemic with a vast diversity of not only Latine foods but cultures from all over the world.
Being in a big city means I can still find some of my favorite types of food as well as some of my all time favorites for a tropical climate with a huge Latine and Caribbean population. In this post, I introduce all of my favorites, as well as giving some honorable mentions and acknowledgements to the Miami standards.
I learned a new word this past weekend—Agritourism! Who knew there was a whole word for all the farm stays, farm stands, and farm-to-table dining?
This new word came across my path quote literally as I rode up and down Krome Avenue in Western Miami. This stretch of road is one of several popular bicycle paths, better known for its access to farmed goods and supplies.
I enjoyed a few hours ride in the afternoon sun, visiting different farm vendors. From homemade breads to roasted corn on the cob—this was an agritourism experience I’d like to taste all over again soon!
