We started our Trans-Americas Journey blog 2.5 years ago and we’ve produced more than 250 posts since then. When we were nominated by Immersed in the World to contribute to the “My 7 Links” project on Tripbase it felt like the prefect time (and perfect reason) to take a little stroll back through blog history and fulfill the pretty simple mandate to come up with seven posts that fit into the following categories. Some posts are old favorites, others are unsung heroes but they all deserve a second look.
Our Most Beautiful Post: Photo Essay: Even More Antarctica
Gentoo penguins in Antarctica.
Even the word Antarctica is beautiful and we made the most of the wonders of the white continent (penguins! glaciers! killer whales!) during adventure aboard the M/V Antarctic Dream.
Our Most Popular Post: What’s In Your (Travel) Wallet?
Our own frustration at being charged foreign transaction fees when using a credit card outside the US inspired a whole lot of digging until we uncovered the one, the only credit card that makes sense for serial travelers like ourselves who just can’t bear giving someone money for nothing. Which credit card is it? You’ll have to read the post (like more than 7,000 other travelers have) to find out.
Our Most Controversial Post: Rockstar in the Bullring
Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza doing his thing in the most controversial post on our travel blog.
Spaniard Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza is not just a rejoneador (a matador who fights bulls on horseback). He is the world’s best rejoneador so when we had the chance to watch one of his fights during his most recent tour of Mexico we had to go. Whatever your feelings about bullfighting (and, trust us, there are feelings) the experience gave us an amazing glimpse into Latin culture and an amazing display of horsemanship.
Our Most Helpful Post: How To Have A Mexican Road Trip
A crucial piece of any Mexican road trip.
After 18 months and nearly 25,000 miles on the road in Mexico we learned a thing or two (sometimes the hard way) about how to have a Mexican road trip. This comprehensive post covers all the bases from topes warnings to how to get out of a police shakedowns to which insurance to buy to the pros and cons of toll roads. Read this before you drive over the border (we sure wish we’d had a resource like this before we left). You’re welcome.
The Post Whose Success Surprised Us: Happy 188th Brithday! – Union de Tula, Mexico
Dancing in the plaza of La Union de Tula, Mexico.
We went to Tula with our friends in the Delgadillo family from Guadalajara. The patriarch of the family, who was born in Union de Tula, returned with his family to his home town to celebrate the 188th anniversary of its founding and we tagged along. We had a lovely time being welcomed to each neighborhood’s food and tequila and music-filled street parties and we produced a very nice post about a very nice Mexican town. End of story.
Nope. This post was an instant, huge hit. It rocketed through the roof and instantly to the top of our most popular posts list and stayed there for months. What readers were (and still are) after are the two videos embedded in the post–one of an adorable 5-year-old cowboy dancing up a storm in front of a band and another of couples dancing (very closely) to banda music in the town square. To date, these videos have been viewed more than 54,000 times. That accounts for more than 25% of all the views of all of the 150 videos on our YouTube channel. Turns out, a high percentage of those born in Tula now live and work outside Mexico and they’re homesick. Very, very homesick.
The Post We Feel Didn’t Get the Attention It (totally) Deserved: The Children of Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala
Irresistible (we thought) children in Antigua, Guatemala during Semana Santa.
Come on! This post has adorable children and one of the most famous and colorful religious events in one of the most popular destinations in Guatemala. Did cold-hearted readers care? Not so much.
The Post We’re Most Proud Of: Flower Wars: Is Your Bouquet Destroying the Jungles of Belize?
Workers sorting xate in Belize.
Published just prior to Valentine’s Day, this post alerted many readers to a hidden problem with that annual V-day bouquet. Besides being more than a bit trite as love tokens go, many bouquets use an innocuous-looking palm frond as cheap, long-lasting filler. This frond is from a species of xate palm and almost all of it is harvested in the jungles of Belize (having already been seriously depleted in Guatemala and Mexico) and sold to huge international floral companies.
Where’s the problem? Let’s see…illegal border crossing, animal poaching, jungle clearing, theft, violence and all of it in vast tracts of untouched jungle where endangered species like the harpy eagle are trying to regain a foothold. Makes chocolates look like a genius move.
To keep the ball rolling, We’d like to nominate the following great bloggers to take part in the My 7 Links project:
Great links! I’m especially interested in the V-day flower post. Going to check that out now. :) Thanks for participating!
[…] long breaks when I’m offline working on a project. When I was nominated by my friends Trans-Americas Journey to contribute to the “My 7 Links” project on Tripbase it made me think about what I’ve […]
[…] long breaks when I’m offline working on a project. When I was nominated by my friends Trans-Americas Journey to contribute to the “My 7 Links” project on Tripbase it made me think about what I’ve […]