Rather than one of taking off, 2019 was a year of landing, of arriving rather than departing. We returned to Europe after nine months of tramping around Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, we visited our home countries and settled (temporarily, as ever) in Antwerp, Belgium. But just like we are writers even when we’re not writing, we are also travellers when we’re not travelling. And real wandering souls find wonders in their own backyard as well as on the other side of the world. In chronological order, these were our travel highlights of 2019:
Continue Reading →Month: December 2019
Christmas in Estonia: “Welcome to Chechnya”
It’s 17 December and, for a brief moment, I feel like a Real Estonian Man. You know, a Kalevipoeg strong enough to carry a huge stack of planks, but too stupid to spell his own name.
There’s plenty of chances to feel like a Real Estonian Man during Christmas time in Estonia. You could eat enormous piles of meat or put real candles in a tree. Not those fake led lights that everyone in western Europe seems to opt for. Chickens! To hell with fire safety, whoever burns down his house in Estonia at least does so in a festive mood.
Continue Reading →Trujillo, Honduras: the Caribbean town where Christopher Columbus first set foot on Central American mainland
From San Pedro Sula, former murder capital of the world, two bus companies make the trip to Trujillo. The first available one departs straight away. We have no time to lose because the next bus will only leave in an hour. Expected travel time: seven hours. And we’ve already left Lago de Yojoa a few hours ago. This conflicts with our philosophy of slow travel. Trujillo is a godforsaken outpost of Honduras, quite literally the end of the line. Whoever wants to travel more eastward, towards La Mosquitia, needs to organise a boat. There are no roads.
Continue Reading →La Palma, El Salvador: art, nervewracking bridge and bloodthirsty dogs
El Salvador is not the most popular destination for art lovers. It’s understandable- smaller countries tend to have less interesting stuff in their museum collections. MARTE, San Salvador’s art museum, is no exception to the rule. Most of the art there is pretty bad. But it’s an amusing experience nevertheless- every item has a price tag, just as if they’d be happy to sell their whole collection. Continue Reading →
The ultimate guide to Workaway: house and board in exchange for a few hours of work
Ten years ago, at 23, I wanted to travel fast, cover lots of ground and tick boxes. Go and never stop until I got there. The older I become, the slower I want to travel. As a travelling couple, we like to linger in one place for a bit longer, soak up the local atmosphere, get to know the environment, the people. Embark on some hikes, get some writing done. But travelling is expensive, at least that’s the common idea. That’s where Workaway comes into the picture. Workaway is the perfect way for cheapskates to travel long-term.
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