Phew! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here on my travel blog. Life gets busy! It’s not like I haven’t traveled. I have! In fact, I achieved my goal of visiting all 50 states before turning 50! Over the past four years, I’ve traveled multiple times to Colorado, the east coast and Texas, but my international trips came to a slow down during and right after COVID. In fact, my only international trip post-COVID was a Costa Rica student trip in 2022. I guess you could say that my zest for international travel was effectively zapped in the days after COVID.

In addition to post-COVID travel jitters, I was also sidelined by multiple high school and college graduations and several years of caretaking for my late father who passed away in October 2024. Inspired by his love for adventurous cuisine and by my realization that NOW is the time, I’m back on the road again with a trip to Nicaragua with my son Kevin.

Kevin, also a teacher, is my only son and one of my favorite travel partners. He’s low maintenance (i.e. needs about ten minutes to be ready to go anywhere, eats anything and doesn’t complain) and makes me laugh. As teachers, we decided to explore a unique opportunity to take a guided teacher trip to the small town of El Tránsito, Nicaragua. This trip is designed to introduce teachers from the US to the volunteer opportunities available for US travel groups at the Craft for Community Center. Along with a small group of US teachers (mostly Spanish), Kevin and I will enjoy a week learning about this community and what opportunities lie therein for both future personal travel as well as potential student trips.

I am hoping to share our experiences here on the blog with the hope that it will inspire others to seek our unique ways to see the world.