And we’re off to Central America!

Hello from Mexico, and welcome to our first Central America blog post! We are Alejandro (from Colombia) and Gianna (from the U.S.), a couple that met at a language exchange in Medellín, Colombia – each learning the other’s native language. After spending time together first in Colombia and then in the U.S., we decided to travel through the countries in-between: visiting the must-see sights and learning about local cultures, while trying to make our small budget stretch out for as long as possible!

So here we are Mexico City, we’re setting out to travel almost exclusively by bus through Mexico and 6 Central American countries (all except Belize), ending our trip in Colombia. The plan is to document our trip step-by-step here on the blog. In a mixture of photos, videos, and writing we’ll share our experiences as well as practical information on buses, border crossings, hostels, and prices for other budget-minded travelers. All of our posts will be translated (by us) into English and Spanish, so be sure to click the link for English or Español that can be found beneath the title of each post!

Route planned through Central America

Alejandro made this hand-drawn map to plan out our intended route. We spent about a week compiling information mostly from other travel blogs, getting ideas for where we defintely must go, where we maybe should go, and where we probably want to skip. Of course it’s all up for revision once we’re on the road, but it’s a good starting point!

Backpacks

Choosing the right backpack is very important…We ordered 6 backpacks through Amazon to find the perfect combination of size, fit, and style. You can’t beat free returns and free shipping! Sorry, Mom, for the mess in your living room!

These are the cities and countries that we’re going to visit:

Mexico

Mexico

Cuernavaca

Teotihuacan

San Miguel de Allende

Guanajuato

Guadalajara

Tequila

Cancun

Valladolid

Chichen Itza

Tulum

Palenque

Guatemala

Tikal

Semuc Champey

Antigua

Chichicastenango

Lake Atitlan

Honduras

Copan

Santa Rosa de Copan

Gracias

Nueva Ocotepeque

El Salvador

Santa Ana

Tazumal

Juayúa

San Salvador

El Tunco

El Boqueron

La Libertad

Nicaragua

León

Managua

Granada

Lago Omepete

San Juan del Sur

Costa Rica

Monteverde

Volcan Arenal

Puntarenas

Malpais

Montezuma

Panama

Bocas del Toro

Volcan Barú

Boquete

David

Ciudad de Panamá

We hope you follow our trip through this blog. And if you happen to be on the route, let us know.