Belize or Bust
I haven’t even been back in the States for four months, and I’m already planning my next trip abroad. What happened was this: my boyfriend put together an awesome travel video of our recent trip to India and SE Asia that got some attention. He sold a few clips to Lonely Planet TV, and got enough kudos from another travel site (www.tripfilms.com) to score us a (semi-) sponsored trip to make travel videos. And where do they want to send us? Guatemala and Belize.
STOKED.
It will be our first time to Central America–my parents traveled there 30 years ago (they got hitched in Costa Rica, with a marriage certificate in Spanish to prove it). We’re planning about three weeks in Guatemala and one week in Belize. Would love to stay longer but, you know, $. So a month it is. We leave mid-Feb and might stay through Easter (I hear Easter celebrations in Guatemala are rockin’).
One small confession: I read the US consulate sheet on Guatemala and–I’m going to be honest–it freaked me out. Now, I should have learned from traveling in Africa and the Middle East that these travel warnings LIE. Shamelessly. But when you look at a list documenting every violent attack on foreigners in the past year, it does little in the way of comfort. Still, I’m excited–I’ll just keep reminding myself that I survived war zones in South Sudan… How hard can Guatemala City be?
7 responses to Belize or Bust
Leave a Reply
Ashley Albright Green said on January 14, 2008
Cool stuff. I’m enjoying the series. India is amazing and so is central america. Disfrute!
Tim Patterson said on January 14, 2008
Awesome! Looking forward to hearing about the trip – and learning more about tripfilms.com.
-Tim
Lola Akinmade said on January 14, 2008
What a great gig Jenny! Congrats. You’ll be perfectly fine. Just like every other country, just keep your wits about you. You guys are already avid travelers
Jenny Williams said on January 13, 2008
Thanks, guys–your assurances are much appreciated! Good to know about the tourist police, too. Even if nothing happens, it’s always nice to know they’re there.
Jacob Bielanski said on January 13, 2008
Wow, that’s awesome!
Those warnings are especially outdated in Guatemala–they’ve longs since instituted a well-funded “tourist” police force (you’ll see their black trucks everywhere), so the stop-the-bus-and-rob-everyone instances have all but disappeared.
-JB
[size=10][i]“Seriousness is stupidity sent to college.” -P.J. O’Rourke[/i][/size]
[size=11][url=http://www.twistedcompass.com/pnomads]Perpetual Nomads[/url][/size]
Eva Holland said on January 12, 2008
Congrats! I really enjoyed the India video, it’s great to hear it got some well-deserved attention.
A fun game with those advisories is to check them for places you’d never think of as dangerous… People only check them for places they’re concerned about, so they don’t realize the advisories make EVERY place look terrifying. Last time I checked, Canada was still warning Canadians against visits to London. You know, because of all the terrorists.
Julie Schwietert Collazo said on January 12, 2008
Congratulations– what a great gig! I’ll definitely be interested to read more about your travel.
Don’t read U.S. State Dept. advisories– it’s like reading the news: somewhat true but overly sensationalized.