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Brian and Brooke vs. the World

Brian and Brooke vs. the World
Brian and Brooke vs. the World brings you one couple who, after planning a multi-year RTW, had to switch gears when Brian accepted an expat job offer, and Brooke accepted traveling on her own. See how this couple handles the excitement, and stress, o

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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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From Palenque to Tikal - Muchas Ruinas
2008-02-14 00:04:00
It?s been a while since my last post since Brian and I have been on the move practically every other day. I believe we left off at Palenque, Mexico ? the home of one of the best preserved (or reconstructed) ruins of such a grand size. We heard many stories from other travelers ...
More About: Guatemala , Ruinas

Money. Money for the school.
2008-02-05 02:30:00
Normally, when in Guatemala, Brian and I would encounter countless kids on the streets that would break our hearts ? begging for something, anything, just a measly 1Q for whatever worthless piece of junk they had in their hands. It is for these kids that we would really, truly want to help out. ...
More About: Money , School

Ants!
2008-02-01 04:42:00
As we sat at dinner, I started to feel a slight tickle in my shirt. The tickles kept coming and going, while I scratched and attacked in between sentences. Finally, I couldn?t take it anymore. ?Brian, I have ants in my bra!?
More About: Mexico , Ants

Hello from Mexico
2008-01-30 03:13:00
When Brian and I arrived in Xela over a week ago and had to resort to buying what we call ?winter apparel?, we both decided a trip to the beach was in order. Unfortunately, Guatemala is not known for its beaches, and since we were already so close to the Mexico border, we headed north all the way to Puerto Escondido, or what we like to call Paradise. It wasn?t an easy trek, that?s for sure.

My favorite breakfast - tipico.
2008-01-24 22:48:00
My favorite Guatemala n dish is from the breakfast menu, but I often find myself ordering it for dinner as well. The first time I had it in Antigua, I wasn?t quite sure of what to do with it. They brought out eggs, some funny looking cheese, fried plantains, and bowl of black/brown pasty ...
More About: Breakfast , Favorite

Me and My Box
2008-01-23 22:39:00
On the way to Xela, and while walking around Xela, I realized having our backpacks stuffed with all the wonderful things we bought in Chichicastenango was going to be a problem. After tightening my straps all the way on my pack, I was still having trouble getting it to fit correctly (I have definitely lost some weight here! Not to mention the fact I ate something bad last week and couldn?t eat much for quite some time after.), and the weight was also making my bad knee hurt a bit more than I?d like. It was at that point I knew I was willing to lay down some cash to ship a box home. However, I had no idea how hard just finding a box to put our stuff in was going to be.

Hola, Quiere Pan?!
2008-01-20 19:12:00
In the last post, I made a reference to the ?Quiere pan? lady in San Pedro. There are actually many, but one in particular is very persistent with her job of haggling any passerby to buy one of the pastries she carries in a basket on her head. It did not matter how ...
More About: Hola

10 Realizations
2008-01-16 23:46:00
1) Chicken Buses aren?t for chickens. - Seriously, there are no chickens on these buses. If you can?t take whipping around mountain roads at high speeds, then these old-school American buses aren?t your best bet for getting around Guatemala . We had our first experience on our way to Chichicastenango last weekend, ...
More About: Realization

Our abode.
2008-01-11 21:10:00
Just wanted to do a quick post on the place we are currently staying at in San Pedro. This is a video we did of the school´s dorm (I know our families would like to see where we are staying). We are taking Spanish with Casa Rosario, which is very cheap here in ...

Spanish 101: Pop Quiz
2008-01-10 02:12:00
It?s hard to concentrate in class when: a) You?re surrounded by beautiful gardens bathing in the sun b) You?re able to hear the waves from the lake washing ashore c) Your Spanish language teacher spends more time picking his nose than he does quizzing your grammar.
More About: Quiz , Guatemala

I feel the earth? move? under my feet.
2008-01-07 21:26:00
?Hurry! Run to the doorway!? I tried to say, but there wasn?t time. I was already out of my chair in motion. My body was reacting before my mind could even process it. Brian, too, was reaching for his bag and on his feet. It was a complete fight or flight response. The lights flickered a few times, and when it all stopped, they dropped completely out for a minute. Other people in the restaurant scurried to light the candles, but the lights came back on. At the calming motions of the owner, everyone returned to their seats.
More About: Earth , Feet , Move , Feel

Panajachel? More like Pana - where the freak is the electricity - jachel!
2008-01-05 21:47:00
I believe we last left off in Antigua, recovering from our New Year?s celebrating. After a much needed day of rest, we decided to head off on the 2nd to Panajachel where we would catch the boat ride across Lake Atitlan to San Pedro. However, the seemingly simple task of getting on a shuttle to Panajachel turned into a very long day. Little did we know there were many more of these to come.
More About: Electricity , Guatemala , Freak

Guatemalans really love firecrackers!
2008-01-02 18:49:00
Stereotypical or not, Guatemalans have a soft spot for anything that goes boom, pop, or kaboom. Klay and Gabby, the hostel owners, decided to help us celebrate the new year in style. They provided us all with mojitos, which were very tasty! After that, Brian and Matt skipped down to the market ...
More About: Love

Yes, that IS lava.
2007-12-31 03:56:00
Finding interesting activities to keep you busy is not hard in Antigua. People are constantly handing out flyers on the street for the various travel agencies they work for. Brian and I found a fairly cheap tour to the volcano, Pacaya, for about $7 roundtrip for each of us and decided that it ...
More About: Lava

Helloooo Antigua
2007-12-28 04:37:00
It's after 9pm in Guatemala , and Brian and I are happy to report we are alive... but barely. We are absolutely exhausted! However, the day has been a joy since we did make it to Antigua and were able to enjoy the evening walking around town, trying to find the ATM and a place to eat. Lucky us, we were able to have a great dinner at the Sky Cafe, and let me tell you, our view was amazing. Just take a look!

Festively Plump
2007-12-23 23:35:00
From flashing lights to ringing bells, the one true sign that lets me know the holidays have arrived is when my pants start fitting a little more snug. You know you feel it, too! Fall is the season for eating, all the way from Halloween candy corn, to Thanksgiving turkey legs, and further on with Christmas cookies and milk. This year, I had an even larger head start with my four meals a day diet in Spain.
More About: Guatemala , Lump

Alsupsworldtravels.com Revamped!
2007-12-22 00:19:00
Yep, you guessed it! Another world traveler has been converted over to a wordpress format with a little help from yours truly. Craig was found just in time to save him from the evil, over-priced web hosting that is yahoo, and now has a more affordable and streamlined travel blog (formerly a website made with site builder) hosted by GoDaddy.

Gelati Superheroes
2007-12-18 23:51:00
Once upon a time, in a great land known as Italy, there traveled two superhuman beings ? Fragola and Limone. Together, as the best gelato flavor combination known to man, Fragola and Limone used their subzero powers to join forces and freeze the bad guys away. Together, they were Gelati Superheroes !

Getting Robbed, Mugged, & Pickpocketed in Guatemala
2007-12-07 18:32:00
I just want to thank Lonely Planet for officially getting me scared for my upcoming adventure in Guatemala . I know it is their job to point out anything that might be of importance to travelers - they don't want their asses in any bind for playing places off as completely safe - but man, every other page in this book is stating where I shouldn't go!
More About: Mala , Robbed

Not too long now ?til our world turns upside down.
2007-12-02 21:37:00
It’s officially December. We had our annual December 1st ice storm yesterday, and now its time for final trip preparations. When I think about all that’s going down this month, I get seriously overwhelmed: Brian has to finish his Master’s thesis. Brian graduates. We have to move out of our apartment in less than 2 weeks. Brian ...
More About: World , Long , Upside

I *heart* FREE stuff!
2007-11-30 23:23:00
Ever since my beloved TV LINKS website got dismantled, I have been feeling a bit down. I love free stuff, so when my free TV was taken away, I didn't quite know how to handle myself (Ok, not really. I still have Veoh and AllUC for my TV pleasures). I guess the way to explain myself is that I haven't felt like I have gotten any sweet deals since I discovered my TV LINKS website love... until now.
More About: Free Stuff , Free , Stuff , I heart , Heart

Further Frustration With the Kyrgyz Embassy
2007-11-24 08:09:00
The FedEx package arrived today that contained my crispy-clean Kyrgyz visa. I grabbed the envelope like it was Christmas morning, only to find a huge black fly in my Chardonnay. I stated before that I was specifically told by the language school to not get a tourist visa, and after multiple attempts at ...
More About: Frustration , Kyrgyzstan , Embassy , Stration

Upgrade Extravaganza
2007-11-21 06:04:00
I spent most of the day upgrading my website. I was running an older version of wordpress for this blog because I wanted to use the fold page list plugin (it didn’t like the newer versions we tried before). Luckily, I found the collapsing page menu plugin from sporkfancier.com. It does basically ...
More About: Spain

Possible PT Job!
2007-11-18 20:27:00
Notice the exclamation point in the title. Yep, I'm a little excited to possibly make some more money before we go to Guatemala. I feel like I'm shelling out the money left and right.

Contacting the Kyrgyz Embassy
2007-11-16 23:12:00
Now that I’m home, I’m making plans for future travels, which you can tell from the Upcoming Travel section on the right sidebar is quite interesting. I’m planning on spending 3-4 months in Kyrgyzstan taking Russian lessons, and, of course, that requires a visa. However, a simple task was definitely more difficult than ...
More About: Embassy

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