28 Nov 2005 - Atlanta, GA

I'm at the lovely Atlanta airport. My flight has been delayed 3 hours. I tried to get on the early flight, but it was full. Then they let a whole group of us sit at the gate for a hour before they told us it was delayed. My friend Nicole knew a half hour before me. She was my ride home and my first touch with sanity. Now my first touch will be yet another cab driver. Delta: I hate you. Especially because you waited to tell us about the delay just a few minutes before the eating and drinking establishments were closing. You suck.

26 Nov 2005 - Tikal

I had to go back to Antigua last night in order to get to my plane this morning. We ended up shooting pool for most of the night. But the funny part was when Brandon and I walked into Points & Feathers, the Timberwolves were playing the Milwaukee Bucks. How strange is that. We were forced to watch the end of the game -- where Minnesota pulled out the chalk board and taught a class in how to kick ass. This morning I flew up to Flores and shared a mini-bus with a Dutch couple out to Tikal. I met my twin ... only about 40 years older. We had a great conversation about the Art of Travel. More on that later. Happy Birthday to my sister Teresa!

25 Nov 2005 - Panajachel, GUA

I got into Panajachel yesterday afternoon via the Chicken Bus. I didnīt mind it so much. In fact, it was nicer than some buses Iīve ridden in Asia, thatīs for sure. Granted, my knees took a beating on the backs of the metal seat, but it was only $2.00 to get out here, when a taxi would have been $80 or the shuttle would have been $20. Iīd say it was a great deal. Iīve explored the city, played some pick up basketball with some local girls. And I had a great conversation in Spanish last night at one of the local watering holes. I didnīt even realize I was speaking Spanish at one point. I have to leave tonight to go to Antigua so I can catch an early flight out of Guatemala City to Tikal. I wanted to stay here tonight and continue my spanish lessions. I guess thatīs fine considering they kicked my ass in Basketball today. Granted, I didnīt have my shoes or outfit, and thatīs the only way you know Iīm an amazing player. Ok, when playing against a group of 5 foot Guatemalan women, at least.

23 Nov 2005 - Guatemala City

I've been adopted by a Guatemalan family. I know that it's typically the other way around, but this time it's been fun. I'm at a guesthouse in Guatemala City waiting for them to pick me up for dinner. We met in Antigua the other night over drinks and I expressed my interest in seeing what a real family lives like. Granted, I picked a particuarly well-to-do family to check in on. That aside, I've visited with mother, father, sisters, nephews and seen a little fairy village on the side of a cliff. The well off in Guatemala live very much similar to our middle class in America.

22 Nov 2005 - Antigua, GUA

I've met nearly a half-dozen people from Minnesota in the past 2 days. How odd is that? In fact, last night Brandon (from Wisconsin) and I went to watch Monday Night Football at a local bar. The Packers were playing the Vikings. Then today, among many adventures, I had the best meal ever at Hotelito La Capilla -- it was a private courtyard BBQ of local expats that I was invited to. They do it every Tuesday and Saturday. It's almost worth the flight by itself. Tonight: relaxing and getting rested for a trip to the beach.

21 Nov 2005 - Antigua, GUA

I sat in the park yesterday, read a book, wrote a story, chatted with some locals. Then I wandered over to Cafe No Se for a cup of coffee and ended up wandering in with the same group as the night before. It's not uncommon to ask someone, "what are you doing here in Antigua?" and have them respond, "you're looking at it. I guess that's to be expected. Especially when I ended up my evening playing pub trivia at an Irish pub and then a game of back-room Texas Hold'em until 1:00 in the morning. I did meet some locals that want to take me down on a canopy tour in a few days. That could be fun.

20 Nov 2005 - Antigua, GUA

Via advise from fellow Vagabonder, Timo Luege, I headed over to Café No Se last night to say hello to a couple of his friends. It’s a quaint little bar/café that buzzes with transplants, transients and some of the most unique characters you can imagine. Within minutes I was chatting up with Patrick, the 61 year old New Castle native that has been living in Guatemala for years … he couldn’t quite recall how long. After a few more beers, he started to sound like my Burmese friends. The strangest thing about the evening was meeting 2 other girls from Minnesota (traveling separate from each other) and a guy from Madison, Wisconsin. As the night rolled on, a few of us went out and had one of the best steaks I’ve ever tasted. Thanks, Timo for the advise. John and Rosa send their love.

19 Nov 2005 - Antigua, GUA

I flew into Guatemala City, Guatemala yesterday. It was a rather uneventful series of flights. It only took about 7 hours and for the plane from Atlanta to Guatemala I had the entire exit row to myself. I got out of the city right away and got a taxi to take me directly to Antigua, which is a much smaller and quiet town which I can use as a base of operations.

15 Nov 2005 - Minneapolis, MN

I've decided on my next location. Central America. Guatemala, to be specific. People ask me why I want to go there and my only answer is: because I've never been there before. Task list for the next couple of days:

1. No sleep
2. Pack bag
3. Buy tickets
4. Study guidebook