How to pack lightly for a long trip

If wriggling around in a 10X10 mud pit with 30 other people and having tons of people in you photos sounds fun to you, please check out the typical tours of Volcun Totumo and the Pink Sea (Salinas de Galerazamba).  If you’re sick of tours and Tripadvisor being the only suggestion on how to get there, read on. Especially if you want to have places like this all to yourself. (But please feel free to read the negative reviews of tours and compare it to my experience!) Originally doing a day trip tour to the mud volcano and pink lake was HIGH on my must-do list, but the reviews scared me away. NO, I do not want to get rubbed down in a mud pit by a guy I don’t know. NO, I do not want the local abuelas washing me down afterwards and touching my goodies in order to get the mud out. Everything I read about this day trip tours resulted in NOPE NOPE NOPETY NOPE NOPE NOPE. …Then the world traveler in me came out to say, “Uh duh, just rent a car and go in the afternoon AFTER a...

Interested? PIN NOW, read later! In previous decades, Colombia was considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world, but today it’s another story. With a BOOMING tourism sector, Colombia is now a popular eco-tourism destination with beaches, rainforests, mountains, and an enormous history to get stuck into. But it is true that Colombia was once rife with violence. Even as late as 2002 it had one of the highest homicide rates in the world. And though the civil war finally ‘officially’ ended in 2016, drug trafficking and militias are still active. So we don’t blame you for wondering, “is Colombia safe?” “Just how dangerous is Colombia?” Don’t worry. We really are going to make sure you know the full story when it comes to  staying safe in Colombia . We’ve written this guide for safe travel in Colombia because we at The Broke Backpacker believe you should be able to have an amazing time AND stay safe whilst doi...