Away From The Office

[...] at sunset. As part of the tour, I visited these places: Cartagena Santa Marta (*see note) Tayrona National Park Villa de Levya Bogota The itinerary is a wonderful mix of colonial cities, tropical [...]

[...] in quotation marks since we were about 45 minutes outside the city and about 5 km from Tayrona National Park. We stayed two nights at Posada Villa Margarita, a basic hotel with lovely views and even [...]

[...] to visit several areas of Colombia at the end of February, including: Bogota, Cartagena, Tayrona National Park and Villa de Levya. Winters in Seattle can be grey and dreary and the weather in almost [...]

[...] . Getting to Villa de Levya was an incredibly long journey. First, our group hiked out of Tayrona National Park in the morning and then drove 45 minutes to the Santa Marta airport. Our Avianca flight [...]

[...] I read an article about Americans and vacation time that made me sad. According to a survey by Glassdoor, the average U.S. worker only takes half [...]

[...] work. Make the most of that time by traveling abroad so that you don’t have to use as much vacation time. Do you travel a lot for work? Try to tack on a day or two of vacation time ahead of your [...]

[...] a hotel when they say they’re near the city center Unless you want to spend your vacation time commuting back and forth from your hotel to the city, don’t rely on the hotel’s [...]

[...] the boat, to go to dinner, book tours and so on. I hate lines and I prefer to spend my vacation time wandering around, relaxing on the beach or doing just about anything else other than [...]

[...] Colombia trip, we took a nice private bus from Cartagena to Villa Margarita, outside of Santa Marta. While at Villa Margarita, we walked to a nearby beach across the road. When we went river [...]

[...] a couple of days exploring the colonial city, we packed up our gear and headed to “Santa Marta.” I put Santa Marta in quotation marks since we were about 45 minutes outside the city [...]

[...] One of the many beaches in Tayrona National Park Gorgeous Cartagena at sunset A beach near Santa Marta. The waves were really high so it wasn’t the best swimming beach. A Cogi village leader and his [...]

[...] group hiked out of Tayrona National Park in the morning and then drove 45 minutes to the Santa Marta airport. Our Avianca flight from Santa Marta to Bogota was delayed by 3 hours, meaning we’ [...]

[...] When you think of Las Vegas, noisy casinos, clubs, smoking, crowds and loud music all come to mind. In the past few years, [...]

[...] Cave, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Ted. Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Located an hour outside of Las Vegas, the 36,000-acre Valley of Fire State Park gets its name from the stunning red rock formations [...]

[...] I left Seattle and it was 90 degrees when I arrived in Cartagena. Thankfully, I purchased travel insurance knew that I could spend up to $300 on clothing and toiletries. Changing out of my stinky [...]

[...] much more than I would’ve liked on replacement clothing. Thankfully, I purchased travel insurance before I left and it covered most of the cost. I spent the next couple of days [...]

[...] essential toiletries in your carry on in case your luggage is lost or delayed. Not buying travel insurance I always buy travel insurance and thankfully, I’ve only had to use it once. When my luggage [...]

[...] -check the entry requirements Photocopy of your passport in case it gets lost or stolen Travel insurance: Intrepid requires you to purchase travel insurance. Check out insuremytrip.com to get [...]

[...] , on the outskirts of Santa Marta and close to Tayrona National Park. The trip style Colonial Colombia is an Original-style tour, which is Intrepid’s classic style. The trips come with some [...]

[...] of their tours as part of a Black Friday sale in November, so I decided to book the 9-day Colonial Colombia tour on a whim. Colombia has been on my destination wish list for a few years and I finally [...]

If you’ve been following my 10-day Colombia adventure, you’ll know that I spent a couple of days relaxing in Villa de Levya, a colonial town of ab [...]

[...] make the most of my remaining time in Cartagena. Check back soon for the full story of my Colonial Colombia trip. [...]

[...] on the style of tour you choose and the country you’re visiting. In the case of the Colonial Colombia trip, we took a nice private bus from Cartagena to Villa Margarita, outside of Santa Marta. [...]