Located steps from the crucial Tepeyac hill, a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe has potential to be a profound, moving experience. To stand on the site of so much history, culture, and legend, upon hallowed ground resplendent with irreplaceable relics is a visceral way to experience Mexican culture that is absolutely without peer or competitor. La Villa, as it is known to many Chilangos, is the primary reason to visit the Gustavo A Madero district, the Federal District’s northernmost. The vast majority of visitors are pilgrims or locals with the occasional foreign church group mixing their matching t-shirts into the throng.

Have your accommodation secure your transfer to and from La Villa, it is some distance from the mainly touristed areas and many public taxis do not fancy the long detour from their daily routes. If you do not bring cash for the excellent small shops and restaurants adjacent to the Basilicia complex there are cash points on site however be aware of bank fees and a less then ideal exchange rate. As with anywhere in Mexico City, the earlier you set out the less traffic you are likely to encounter whether by car or transit.

There is a palpable tinge of solemnity and determination in the atmosphere around the churches that feels tied to the history and spirituality of a site that has had spiritual significance since the days of Tenochtitlan. The Basilica has enhanced significance for anyone interested in the religious history of Mexico and featured some of the most venerated relics in Latin America and the World.

For most travelers the State of Colorado evokes images of snow dusted mountains rising dramatically above the fruited plain. Frocked in dense evergreen forests and chiseled from rough hewn granite “the mountains” dominate the marketing idea that is Colorado much in the way Hawaii is supposed synonymous with powder sanded beaches and California is known for smoggy gridlock. Deserved or not places such as these eventually become so defined by their own reputations that many fascinating, challenging places that don’t match up with the popular preconceived image are neglected wholesale.

So it is that Eastern Colorado sits isolated on the High Plains, hidden in plain sight from myriad visitors who never venture farther east than the airport. Largely forgotten by time, and some say state government, Eastern Colorado illustrates the illusory nature of the American Dream, as poignantly as anyplace in the country. Sullenly juxtaposed with the urban maw of the rapidly spreading Front Range the open spaces of Eastern Colorado are eerily alluring and mysterious.

This is Colorado’s Empty Quarter, one can drive hours down county roads with your own dust trail the only break on the horizon. Here in the dry dusty boondocks are nestled scores of small towns in various degrees of decay and isolation. There is virtually no way to see this region in any meaningful way without a car. Keeping your petrol tank full is crucial as filling stations can be alarmingly scarce away from the highways. The most fascinating and haunting aspect of visiting towns like Kit Carson, Crowley, Springfield, and Eads is the combined effect of being very far removed from any meaningfully large human settlement, coming upon one of the only towns for miles and finding it supremely neglected and decrepit.

Some places have a certain taste. Even in a region where similar products can be found in more than one place, there is no denying the synonymity of some locales with a given product, especially when that product is edible. Perhaps appropriately matched with the restless spiritual feeling that permeates Central America, the best of these delicious potables are casually psychoactive. Mexico has the chili pepper, Nicaragua has her fine tobaccos, but the undeniable taste of Guatemala is coffee.

Guatemalan coffee is not just good, it is seriously good. Guatemalan coffee needs no introduction, there is scant cause to linger on the details of how the volcanic soils and oh-so-perfect altitude and weather form a Goldilocks zone of coffee growing heaven. No need to mention that the most known, most storied coffees that put the region on the map are still roasted by hand in the volcanic hills around Antigua.

Do not miss the chance to enjoy coffee in Antigua straight from the source. Even if coffee isn’t your bag, the process it goes through to metamorph from a baby coffee plant to a hot beverage is complex and fascinating. Besides now you will finally be able to casually drop the word “terroir” into conversations and thence duly observe as the Philistines flock to you, a beacon of good taste in a world so devilishly bereft of the same.

Sayulita is the de facto capital of the sparkling, tawny Riviera Nayarit. Sayulita strikes a balance between the manicured expat haven of Punta de Mita and the funky bohemian San Pancho. Sayulita is one of those places that seems to crop up frequently in discussions regarding whether or not a place can be (or is, or was, or has been, or will be, or should be, or can’t be,…etc) ruined by travellers.

Assuming all forms of recreational travel are tourism in some form, it seems counter productive to debate the relative morality of travel practices based on thin definitions. It is no secret that many of us, the Backpackers, aspire to put as much physical and philosophical distance between ourselves and our bete noir: the Tourist. It is therefore fascinating that in spite of (or possibly because of) this desire to eschew the uglier trappings of traditional tourism, the younger, hipper traveler circuit often spawns it’s own hubs that are analogous to many of the most popular mainstream tourist destinations. Mexico is a fascinating example of this phenomenon. Tulum is an eerily Ptomekin Cancun, La Paz is transforming into the thinking person’s Cabo. Holbox is being brilliantly billed as hippy Isla Mujeres. Sayulita is to backpacking what nearby Puerto Vallarta is to mainstream tourism: golden beaches, screaming nightlife, and expensive water based activities. That is, if you believe every pessimistic travel blogger for whom travel is measured by likes and upvotes.

As with most things, reality on the ground lies somewhere in between the doom and gloom “authentic travel blogger” posts and the ersatz sunny “instant-gram travel selfietologist”. Sayulita may not be the “sleepy fishing village” it was in 1993 but a lot of places have changed since then. Nobody in the travel industry seems to be decrying the fact that by “creating content” they are perpetrating the exact behaviors they supposedly detest.

Go to Sayulita, you will love it.

Built up over the last 1000 years on islets in the Oder River, Ostrow Tumski is the most instantly recognizable part of Wroclaw and the location of the very recognizable Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The cathedral’s history reads like a condensed version of Wroclaw’s bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time during many wars and conquests that damaged the city and the cathedral to varying degrees. In testament to the chutzpah and determination of the city it has always been rebuilt, restored, and improved.

Today the historic and aesthetic buildings that occupy the historic islands enjoy the status and protection due to such venerable structures. Ostrow Tumski is exemplary of the kind of places one may find around the world that, while they are of obvious and glorious historical value or anthropoligical significance don’t garner the attention of their better known counterparts. These are the true gems of travel where one can indulge in a single church or museum uninterrupted for an entire day. Should you find yourself in Ostrow Tumski or any of the other countless treasures like it around the world, linger a little longer, dig a little deeper, read a little more, and whether or not you ever meet again on the terestrial plain, you will never leave eachother.

The largest of a series of rocky seamounts at the edge of Banderas Bay where cold Pacific water collided with warm water from the bay, El Morro is only visited by divers. Despite its underwater riches, El Morro and it’s neighbors, Los Anegados paint a fascinating portrait of life on the isolated guano rocks of the Pacific.

Frequently overshadowed by the much more famous Playa Escondida on the nearby Islas Marietas, skip the 15 minutes and torturous swim to get to this tourist trap and spend your money to dive El Morro, it is an adrenaline thrill for advanced SCUBA divers.

At present in society there is a fixation on “experiences” travel fits very neatly into what most 9-to-5ers and weekend warriors define as “experiences”. Accumulating these “experiences” earns humans points which upon death may be traded for upgraded status in the Afterworld.

The problem with experiences is the best ones have to be organic and true to a certain degree to earn these life points. Being authentic is hard and the experiences that made having an experience a popular thing to do in the first place are not easy, some are even arduous, literal or metaphorical mountains which must be bagged if one is to enter Valhalla or be prayed out of purgatory.

Some places have an air about them that hangs heavy and regal in the air when someone mentions them: “Everest” “The Vatican” “Maldives”. Xochimilco is decidedly NOT one of these places but it Is a UNESCO recognized site, although it is definitely at the low end of these and has been threatened to have its status removed. What it may lack in fastidious homage to its origin as part of the network of canals in Teotihuacan, it more than makes up for in the verve and energy that still flow through the place. Because Xochimilco is not a manicured tourist Mecca or a quaintly neglected “natural” site but rather one that is a destination mostly for domestic visitors and is unabashedly interwoven with modern city life it will be unlik any other you have visited. If you love Mexican culture you must not miss it.

A lazy summer drive drive along the lush banks of the winding Platte River is the closest you might get to a time machine in this part of the world. Al’s Service sits at the edge of Orchard, Colorado like a beacon for a forgotten world. A lonely filling station in a lonely town on an old spur long since bypassed by the freeway, perhaps the purest, most romantic vestige of a brand of Americana long since displaced by reed heads, land rapers and other human jackals.

Turning back the clock another fifty years finds you in Dearfield. So named because the original colony of former slaves believed the fields would indeed be dear to them. It is difficult to think of a more powerful alegory for the plains than freedom. In the contemporaneous plane the dilapidated wooden husks of Dearfield’s last few structures won’t last forever and such a unique and thought provoking place deserves a visit before it is no longer possible (although you should keep your eyes peeled for rattlers).

The Zwinger is one of the lesser known repositories of artistic riches of the world, tucked away as it were in one of the forgotten corners of Europe that spent far too long both under the jackboot and behind the iron curtain. Once the festival grounds of King Augustus it has survived and now thrives as a glorious museum where the late king’s treasures recline in opulence for the benefit of museum goers.

Entire volumes could and and indeed have been written about the Zwinger, but it bears mentioning that if you have even a slight interest in the renaissance, fine art, or the Holy Roman Empire you will thoroughly relish the opportunity to sink your teeth into such a juicy cache. The Zwinger is not without visitors however they come in much more manageable numbers than in similar European museums.

Roatan is perhaps better known as a diving destination than for any topside extravagance, and rightly so. In fact the whole of Islas de la Bahia is figuratively on the map (read: tourist radar) because of the diving. Unlike a Bonaire or Saba, however, Roatan serves up surprising doses of sun drenched beauty and a diversity of culture much different from mainland Honduras.

Roatan seems like a bizarre place for a cruise ship stop, almost like a dystopian punishment for thrifty holiday makers, and it may indeed seem so based only on a visit to the grim port at Coxen Hole. Anyone even vaguely familiar with Roatan will pack you off immediately for West Bay where there is a truly spectacular beach and West End where the divers and eco-tourists gather. Dig deeper into Roatan’s past as a hub for pirates and experience Garifuna culture firsthand.

Honduras is one of the few few places on earth where some of the hype about street crime is actually worth taking into consideration, although it is an old adage that the Caribbean keeps the Bay Islands isolated from crime, remember you are in Honduras.

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Dublin is a place that defies comparison like few other cities can. The only Irish metropolis (itself rather small by world standards) bears but little in common with the surrounding Irish countryside. Irish culture, itself unique in the world is on full display and in full strength. Although Dublin sees its share of tourists it retains its character and charm while being very easy to explore on foot.

A stroll through the historic core of Dublin along the Liffey reveals an embarrassment of world class locations within an easy stroll or pleasant bus ride of each other. The Ha’Penny Bridge provides the city’s face its eyebrows, and the famous Temple Bar can’t be missed for a cold frothy Guinness.

A (very) short hour-ish plane ride and a 20 minute bus trip from the airport are all that separated Dublin from its somewhat dire neighbor London. If you are making the effort to reach London you owe it to yourself to visit Dublin and soak in the Irish culture in the absolute center of it all.

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Agnes

was

my

day

and

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Stunningly beautiful with a unique culture you will not find any place else on earth Utah is weird. The state capital Salt Lake City rests within easy drive of some of Utah’s best skiing and alpine activities. Not as hectic or dirty as Denver, Utah in general is a step back to what made Colorado great in its ‘70’s, ‘80’s, ‘90’s peak as a world class destination that was still largely accessible. More than one Olympic committee found Park City a picturesque example of the ski paradise trope to warrant a spot on the world’s stage.

The weird part comes in the form of Utah’s culture. There is no better place in the world to learn about and experience the Latter Day Saints way of life and a visit to the temple complex will fascinate both believers and casual tourists. Utah can rewind you to a time of less traffic, less crowds and 3.2 beer, miss it at your own peril because SLC will become the next overgrown metropolis of the Mountain West before you can say “Methuselah”.

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Foundress of the convent, Agnes of Bohemia, was instrumental in introducing the gothic sensibilities of Western Europe to the nascent Czech state. While not solely attributable to the erstwhile abbess, the echoes of that decision color Old Prague to the present day. Despite the fact that the convent enjoyed its salad days in the 1200s Agnes had to wait 707 years from her death to be canonized Saint Agnes in a return to the papal favor she enjoyed during her lifetime from Gregory IX.

The convent rests comfortably near the Vltava in Old Prague on land gifted by Agnes’ brother Bohemian King Wenceslas I. It saw three phases of construction under Agnes from 1231 to 1253 and endured as everything from a convent to flats; from an armoury to a mint during its lifespan. The grounds are resplendent with many jewels like the Presbytery of Saint Frances, Chapel of Virgin Mary, and the quiet highlight of them all, the Church of Saint Salvator. The church represents a true gem of Czech architecture and features tributes to Christ the Redemer as well as Saint Agnes and Bohemian kings.

The beautiful convent seems still to relish its role as a cloister and is mindful oasis of quiet and stillness in an otherwise hectic Prague 1. Visiting the grounds offers a breathless glimpse into a watershed time in Czech history while also artfully illustrating its post Agnes history and many artifacts and examples of artistry relevant to the abbey. Mid afternoons and late mornings offer the best time to enjoy the grounds with minimal chatter and crowds. A silent step into the once busy workrooms and chapels seems to disrupt the reverent solitude that has brushed this special location as one may disturb a mixture of sandy water.

If any part of the Dominican Republic can be considered “off the beaten track” it is the northern quadrant. Yes there are resorts and beach towns along the northern coast of the DR but the area has a very distinct feel to the tourist hotspots like Punta Cana. The hour voyage from Luperon airport to Cofresi is a chance to see the real face of the country with messy hair and no makeup.

Puerto Plata itself certainly has the potential to be overwhelming for package tourists unfamiliar with travel in Latin American countries, with even surviving the town’s main traffic circle on the back of a heart-pounding mototaxi seem like an accomplishment. Prepare yourself for the Dominican Republic, a place the locals refer to as a “really free country” and free it is.

Cofresi, which lies on the same highway as Sámana but in the opposite direction offers some of the comforts of home but without the artificial sheen many of the more famous resort areas have. If you have ever had a desire to visit a marine park Ocean World will absolutely not disappoint in terms of quality or value. Jokes aside about the driving be extra mindful especially if you are unused to driving in the Caribbean. In the DR, drunk driving is essentially legal, lanes are merely a suggestion, and you definitely DON’T need headlights to drive at night!