This is the story of two siblings, Shawn (that's me!) and Cristine (that's my sister!), who got it into their heads that a month of backpacking through Central America would be a good idea. Lo and behold, they were right. In June of 2007 this brother-sister duo, just over three years apart in age, decided they were mature enough not to kill each other with a month of near-constant together-time and set out to experience six countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. It was just the two of them, living out of a nearly-30-lbs backpack each (plus a really crappy Tica-made guitar that kept them company on the long, cold, lonely nights), traveling by bus (and sometimes by plane), and staying in hostels and (sometimes not so) cheap hotels.
The following pages contain 188 pictures (of 919 taken; 441 from Shawn, 478 from Cristine) and 15 videos (all linked through YouTube) from our trip through Central America (as well as links to a few videos on YouTube). Included with the pictures will be stories and commentary, sometimes taken from my travel journal and italicized and sometimes a summary or recollection after the fact (normal font). I'll be sure to date and label everything so you can get a feel of what happened when (even we got confused sometimes) and where.
 | To help get you started, here's a map drawing of the general route we took. This trip was much different from my time in Europe in that the planning we did (though extensive) was much more fluid, and changed a lot as we moved about (sometimes as many as 3-4 times). Like in Europe, we used the Lonely Planet Shoestring series; unlike in Europe, for some reason this was the only book we used. Not the wisest choice, but we did manage (and the use we gave it shows in the wear on the spine).
One final note: Contrary to popular belief, Central America is its own region, distinct from both North America and South America. It includes the countries of (from the south, working north) Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. Sometimes the three southern states of Mexico are included, too, but no more than that (Mexico is part of North America). Just want to set the geographical record straight... |
Questions and comments welcome! Email Shawn or Cristine.
 | Friday, June 1, 2007 (Newark, NJ)
Travel is an adventure. Due to air traffic congestion in the New York area we were delayed leaving Hartford -- by...3 hours! I ended up stuck overnight in New Jersey. When I arrived at the airport the following morning (as early as recommended, but early enough that security wasn't open) I noticed the sign to the left and couldn't help but notice the irony: having left Hartford the day before, I still had to fly through Houston that day before catching my final flight to San Jose; originally my flight out of New Jersey was direct to Costa Rica. So much for avoiding layovers. |
Costa Rica awaits. Onward!
On the likely chance that you can't stay enraptured enough to go through ALL of this material in one sitting, below I've listed a map of the pages in the order you'll see them if you simply keep following the links. So if you do have to quit and come back later before getting to the end, make a note of the last page you viewed (I'll label them at the top). Then when you return, you can just click on the next page in sequence below. Alternatively, if you just want to jump to a particular story, I've included links for that as well (see, aren't I generous?). (If you don't have the time, energy, or interest to read *everything* -- it is a lot, I know -- I highly recommend you at least hit the stories and descriptions linked; most of them are about a paragraph, only a few go longer.)
