A Week in Southern Belize

About 2 years ago I traveled to rural Southern Belize alone, much to many peoples dismay. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

What I learned:

When someone asks you if you want to go swimming, you say yes. Then you get to spend the whole day swimming in paradise while humming birds fly around your head and fish nibble your toes.

Kayaking is a great way to sneak up on birds and animals, especially since they come to the river to drink. 

Eat just about everything.

Getting to know local people has its benefits. I wanted to get out to see the reef, and ended up meeting a local fisherman. After talking a bit he learned that I was a marine biologist and got really excited and asked if I wanted to go spear some lion fish. Obviously I said yes. Lion fish are invasive in Belize and are incredibly detrimental to the local marine ecology - they're also pretty tasty. 

The Mayan ruins are beautiful and terrifying. I almost slipped to my death terrifying both myself and a nearby local man while attempting to climb down the ruin pictured below. 

You make friends far more easily when traveling alone, which was how I was introduced to a young man studying to become an ecologist, who currently worked at Blue Hole National Park. He ended up inviting me to places in the park most tourist never get to see since they're either off limits or not included on the group tours. It was one of the best caving experiences I've ever had since it was basically like having an adventure with a very interesting and knowledgeable friend.

There are animals everywhere if you're willing to find them. One night I managed to meet up with a local hunter, who let me come along on a night hunt with him. We ran out of luck when our headlamps died (good batteries are hard to find in rural Belize). Two things I learned that night: 1) sprouted coconut is delicious, and 2) trying to find your way out of the jungle with no lights is incredibly difficult.

2015 in Review

January 2015: 

Istanbul, Turkey

Casablanca. Morocco

El Jadida, Morocco

Marrakesh, Morocco

  

Sahara Desert

February 2015

Snow-pocalypse, Boston

March 2015

Northampton, Massachusetts 

April 2015

Spring in Boston 

May 2015

Big Basin Redwoods, California

June 2015

Rockport, Massachusetts

July 2015

Mount Whiteface, New Hampshire

August 2015

Marble Head, Massachusetts

Acadia National Park, Maine

Montreal, Quebec

October 2015

Fall in New England

November 2015

STRANDBEEST in Salem, Massachusetts 

Salem, Massachusetts

December 2015

 Columbus, Ohio

New York, New York

NYC For 6 Hours Only

On the way back to Boston from Columbus Ohio, my Husband and I had a 6 hour layover at JFK. Since it's relatively easy to get to Manhattan from JFK via Long Island Rail Road, which takes you to Penn Station, we figured we head into the city for dinner and some quick site seeing. From Penn Station we walked to Times Square, then took the Subway down to Greenwich Village where we ate a Babbo. Then the subway to Queens where we panicked about making our flight and opted to take a Taxi the rest of the way back. We made it back to our gate just as they started boarding our flight, with stomach cramps from running on a far to full stomach.

Things that I learned:

People who eat at Michelin rated restaurants on a rainy Tuesday are so distracting you will forget to speak to your husband because you're too busy people watching.

Times square is the human equivalent of moths drawn to porch lights.

The subway is insanely nice and clean, and makes Boston's T look like a garbage train full of crazy hobos.

There was surprisingly no honking, and people weren't rude. But then again I've been living in Boston for over a year so my standards might have shifted.

I always thought that NYC would be intimidating. But it wasn't.

One Year in Boston

We've spent a full year as Boston residents. There's a few things I've learned in the past year:

1. Winter is really pretty, up until you're trapped in your house for a week eating nothing but canned beans and soup. 
2. Spring in Boston is the grossest thing I have ever seen. As the snow melts, the 4 months of dog shit and garbage that people are too lazy (or too cold) to clean up during the winter months starts to thaw out as well. 
3. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die here. Boston drivers are literally the worst. I've been hit by car on 2 separate occasions - one time I was even on the sidewalk. There's a reason why insurance rates are insanely high here. 
4. Boston really likes the complain about the T, despite the fact that it seems to be a pretty reliable (even if flawed) source of transportation. Most of the time I would much rather be taking the T than driving (especially since the chance of death seems reduced.) 
5. The food is bad, especially for vegetarians. I don't know if it's partially just a lack of fresh ingredients, or just a lack of taste. My current theory is that because so many people smoke (and smoke heavily), they just can't taste what they're eating. 
6. Young people smoke here, a lot. Which is crazy because a pack of cigarettes is something like 11$ a pack. How do you afford this habit?
7. Boston has a pretty neat craft distillery/brewery scene (and I am not talking about Harpoon or Sam Adams). Nightshift brewery, Short Path Distillery, and Grand Ten Distillery are some of my favorite places.  
8. It's okay to be completely shit faced drunk by 10pm on any given night. 
9. The airport is really easy to get to and has cheap flights to a lot of places. This is especially great for west coast vegetarians who find themselves accidentally living in Boston. 
10. The Boston Common and Garden are beautiful, and offer excellent people watching. 
11. Bros are everywhere, and travel in packs. Sitting in a T station before a Red Sox game was probably the best people watching experience of my life. Popped collars everywhere. 
12. Christmas isn't a holiday, it's a season that lasts from November-March. 
13. Despite the fact that Boston isn't my favorite city to be in, it has to be one of the top (or near the top) cities to walk around in. Beacon Hill and the esplanade are particular favorite spots. With so much brick and beautiful old architecture it really is a beautiful city to look at not to mention you never know when you're going to accidentally stumble into history.  

Spring in Boston

It's finally here! And I do not want to be inside. Unfortunately my day job prevents me from riding bicycles and reading in the sun all day. Thankfully there are weekends and flower filled gardens to spend them in.

I Survived Winter

Forest Path Trail, Blue Hills Reservation

I survived my first New England winter! I am paler than I have ever been, have sores all over my feet from wearing shoes for months, and am really tired of wearing two pairs of pants. The snow is almost all gone, and the weather is supposed to be in the high 60s and low 70s all this week, green things are starting to appear in the sea of brown (formally the sea of white), and the baby birds are coming to my feeder. I am so relieved, I was spending a disproportionate amount of time searching airline tickets to warmer places.

It's ALIVE! Doe Hollow Path, Blue Hills Reservation

Of all the things people warned me about before I moved here, I really wish they'd told me about the shoes. I have never in my life had to wear shoes this much, which means I lack the necessary calluses for months of snow boots. My friend, who recently moved here from India, has suffered the same painful fate as I have. It got so bad that I  had to give a presentation barefoot. I never want to wear shoes again. 

Skyline Trail, Blue Hills Reservation

Of course now it's warmer all I want to do is go outside. When I woke up Saturday morning and realized that even at 7am it was tolerable outside I got really excited and went to do the longest hike I could find within an hours drive. Unfortunately that's only about 5 miles, but hey it's Boston, and with my feet in their current state it was probably all I could handle. 

  

Doe Hollow Path, Blue Hills Reservation

GrandTen Distillery

We wanted something local and warm to do over the weekend, and having a fondness for craft distilleries (as well as their products) we decided to investigate one of Boston's. After a few quick Google searches we settled on GrandTen for two reasons: It was close, and it's free on Saturdays. Double win.

It's located in a more industrial part of South Boston, and thanks to plenty of signs it's not hard to find despite its less-than-obvious location. As soon as you enter you're aware of just how small an operation it is. You can almost see everything from the door. The staff were great, making the tour entertaining, and highlighting the differences between their distillery and one far more industrial. But the highlight of the tour, by far, was the tasting.

I have tried my fair share of spirits. And I'm not embarrassed to say that generally I really don't like them on their own. I have never enjoyed anything that smelled simply of ethanol and burned my mouth like antiseptic mouthwash. So, generally speaking, I haven't enjoyed a tasting at a distillery. So it was pretty darn surprising when I actually enjoyed the tasting at GrandTen. None of their spirits smelled simply of ethanol, instead I smelled banana, fresh carrots, almonds, chocolate and butterscotch. Instead of burning my mouth, it went down smooth and tasted delicious. I'm not usually a whiskey person, but I would drink their South Boston Irish Whiskey neat. I wanted to buy almost everything they sold, but settled with taking home a bottle of their white rum, sold exclusively (for the time being) at their distillery.

In short - you should go

Website: http://www.grandten.com/