Study Spanish in Nicaragua: My Article in BUDGET TRAVEL

August 15th, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

If you’d like to improve your Español in the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes, check out this article I wrote about how to choose a Nicaraguan Spanish school:

The best way to learn to speak Spanish is to go abroad and study. And you’ll find fantastic deals on language classes in Nicaragua, a cheap and safe nation in Central America. For about $150-$200 a week, Nicaraguan full-immersion schools generally offer 20 hours of instruction, room and board with a family, and field trips.

Read the rest of the article

BudgetTravel Blog Props for Tranquilo Traveler

Interview about Travel Writing

August 3rd, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Liz Lewis is a freelance writer living in New Zealand. For years she has been saying she wants to write for a living, but has never really done anything about it. Until now. She describes her blog as “a journey from dream to reality as I work toward becoming a successful freelance writer. My ultimate goal - to drop the day job and become a travelling writer.” One of the things she’s done toward this goal is to ask a series of professional writers about how they accomplished their own publishing dreams. I am lucky enough to be featured in this month’s “Interview with a Travel Writer.” Enjoy.

Pre-Order New Edition of My Book, Moon Belize, Now!

July 16th, 2007 | By Joshua | 3 Comments »

Time to start stokin’ up the buzz for the seventh edition of Moon Belize! It’s not available till September, but why wait? Pre-order your copy today at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble: “Former Belize resident Joshua Berman knows the best way to experience Belize, from hiking the waterfall at Lubaantun and riding horseback to El Pilar to diving reefs at dawn. Berman includes unique trip ideas like Surf and Turf and Diving in Belize. Packed with information on dining, transportation, and accommodations, Moon Belize has lots of options for a range of travel budgets. Moon Belize gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience. With expert writers, first-rate strategic advice, and an essential dose of humor, Moon guidebooks are the cure for the common trip.” (more…)

New Travel Blog from Transitions Abroad

July 11th, 2007 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Go ahead and bookmark Transitions Abroad’s new venture: The Wide World Café, which “will feature travel news and commentary about current events affecting travelers, and provide insights and advice for travelers by our regular contributor Volker Poelzl.” They will also feature various destinations, books, music, and other travel-related tidbits. Transitions Abroad has been one of my favorite resources for years and I expect to check their new site regularly.

Geeky comic sums up life as a travel writer

July 3rd, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Check out this cartoon from xkcd.com, a “webcomic of romance,
sarcasm, math, and language.” It speaks volumes.

Portrait of my Workspace

June 29th, 2007 | By Joshua | 4 Comments »

I took this photo to serve as the “before shot” in a time-lapse movie of me cleaning my room. I didn’t think to post it until I saw an image of Al Gore’s cluttered workspace and thought, why not pay tribute to my own mess? The hanging pictures are Grandpa Dick and the Dalai Lama. I got the desk for fifty bucks on craigslist, the all-in-one printer at Staple’s, and the tired old G4 in Chiang Mai (remember that happy ending?). A quiver of my books, cold cup of that morning’s coffee, and Vonnegut quote taped to the wall complete the scene. Temple of the soul, word factory, or pile of wires and crap? You make the call.

Nicaragua murder story featured in Outside

May 21st, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

“The Boomtown, the Gringo, the Girl, and Her Murder,” by Tony D’Souza, is the main story in the current issue of Outside (June 2007): “When a local beauty turned up dead in Nicaragua’s San Juan del Sur, the dream of paradise became a nightmare for one expat American surfer. He got 30 years and, predictably, a media melee ensued. But TONY D’SOUZA was on the scene from day one. This is the story you haven’t heard.”

If you haven’t bought the magazine yet, check out this teaser of the article, this beautiful gallery of Nica images (by photographer Jason Florio), and this podcast interview with the author. (more…)

Our Honeymoon in National Geographic Traveler “Sudden Journeys” Article

April 30th, 2007 | By Joshua | 6 Comments »

A short piece I wrote about my recent extended honeymoon is included in this National Geographic Traveler feature article entitled “Sudden Journeys: Twenty-five tales of last-minute travel prove that the least-planned trips can provide our longest-lasting memories.” My piece, “Not Your Typical Honeymoon,” is near the bottom of the page, among an incredible assortment of writers, including such heavyweights as Pico Iyer, Mark Jenkins, Rolf Potts, and Arthur Golden. This is the first time I’ve been published in NatGeo and though my story was pulled from the print edition at the last minute, I’m happy they found a place for it. The piece is a broad brush stroke about the 16-month round-the-world trip my wife and I took last year. I’m writing a narrative book about the experience as well. It will draw heavily from these original blog postings.

Luxury Hotels in Belize

April 6th, 2007 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

I contributed the Belize section to a new website called Luxury Latin America. It includes descriptions of a few of Belize’s more fabulous accommodations. Ah, the irony of travel writing: one day I’m researching a $10-a-night backpacker dive (normally, the only place I can afford), the next a $1,000-a-night extravagance. But no matter the rates, hotels in Belize are unique when compared to other countries in the region. Why? For one thing, they are small (70 percent of the country’s 557 licensed hotels have ten rooms or less). International hotel chains are virtually nonexistent, mainly because of the relatively small market and labor pool, not to mention Belize’s longtime reputation as a forgotten “backwater.” That reputation is changing quickly, yet even as tourism forges ahead, most Belize hotels are still independently owned and managed, resulting in many properties being a truly creative expression of their owners’ dreams and visions. The results are impressive. [Link]

Solas Travel Writing Awards: TT Gets an Honorable Mention

March 1st, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

The First Annual Solas Awards Winners were announced today and though I didn’t take home any cash, my story, “Sara Kunda: A Homecoming in the Gambia,” received a Silver Certificate in the Culture and Ideas category. The piece was based on several Tranquilo Traveler blog entries spawned by our monumental trip up the Gambia River, in search of my wife’s old Peace Corps village. The Grand Prize winning stories (from Bolivia and Spain) are published here at Best Travel Writing.