I have yet to meet a world traveller who has never faced the dreaded “D-word:” delayed. As an individual who has experienced my fair share of airline delays, I find it only appropriate to pass along some tried and true words of wisdom to help ease the pain of camping out in an airport.

**Pack a sandwich and some instant oatmeal. …

Arriving in the Galapagos, I felt like John Smith arriving in the New World. After flying for two hours over 600 miles of Pacific Ocean, I caught my first glimpses of the alienesque archipelago: a strange, barren wasteland which, contrary to everything I know about it, looked completely desolate and void of life (minus the airport, which loomed in …

As a child, my sense of belonging in a place came from locating the Big Dipper and charting my relation to it. While living in New Zealand, the Southern Cross became my identifier. When asked about our trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, a certain memory related to stars comes to mind as my favourite. We took one starry evening to relax on …

If you’re anything like myself, you have a ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants’ type attitude. You might often overlook small details, which occasionally become important in the long-run, but you arrive at your destination nonetheless. The following are a series of tips to help you better function in your chosen destination.

**Learn …

Returning to mainland Ecuador after sailing in the Galapagos, I was amazed at the largeness of Quito. Due to the flight delay on our way to South America and the consequential re-arrangement of our tour, we had yet to view Ecuador’s capital city in the daylight until our trip was almost over. We bounded out of our hotel and into the …

To begin with: everything you have heard about Las Islas Galápagos is true. There will be tortoises. You will see piles of iguanas. You will be surrounded by sea lions. You might even get to see the mating dance of the Blue Footed Booby (I did not). The landscape will be weird and varied, and the scenery spectacular. However, no amount of …

Waiting for the clouds to clear from the peak of Cotopaxi, my husband and I set off on an exploratory hike around the grounds of Hacienda el Porvenier. Our guide, Giovi, remained at the lodge to watch Chile vs. Brazil in the world cup, a game I would have watched myself had I not been standing at the base of a volcano which contained one of the …