How not to travel like a gringo

It has come to my attention that when traveling to a foreign country in the developing world, many people don’t have the foggiest notion on how to do it.  Let’s start with the basics shall we?

Getting here:

Getting to Central America is quite simple.  It pains me to say it but, FLY SPIRIT.  I know Spirit is a budget airline that makes you pay extra to bring things like “luggage” and charges you for services like “water”.  But there’s really no cheaper way to get to Latin America with roundtrip tickets less than $500.  Plus, the Fort Lauderdale Airport is a great place to miss your connection flight, which let’s be honest, will happen on at least one leg of your journey.  If, in your opinion, this hassle isn’t worth saving $200, by all means fly with a different carrier.

For the truly cost conscious, there’s Tica Bus.  Run by the Costa Ricans, Tica Bus has a fleet of nice air-conditioned buses with bathrooms servicing southern Mexico to Panama City, Panama.  They’re safe and make relatively few stops (4 or 5 stops per country).

Vaccinations:

Latin America is not a dangerous place disease wise.  Therefore, if your HMO covers tetanus, the Heps, typhoid and rabies by all means go for it (and should be done 6 weeks prior to travel).  If it’s too expensive, don’t bother and just be smart.  Malaria is practically non-existent so I wouldn’t bother with that either and just load up on the bug spray.  What would be worthwhile is 3 days worth of ciprofloxacin, a magical broad spectrum antibiotic that will cure nearly any woe that may ail you during your street food eating adventures.

Packing:

First let’s start with the suitcase.  Por el amor del dios, please don’t bring your top of the line rolling suitcase.  Odds are outside the airport you’re not going to carry it more than 5ft so let’s leave it at home, ok?  To make this manageable, PACK LIGHT.  Generally I recommend gathering everything you want to bring and then ditch 50% of it.

DO PACK:

Camera, trust me you want to record these memories.  Your fancy DSLR is fine but be smart with it.

Sunscreen, obviously Hispanics don’t really get sunburn, therefore, there is little reason sell sunblock domestically.

Swimsuit, hopefully your trip includes rafting, waterfalls or the beach but swimsuit are still hard to find.

DO NOT PACK:

Rain jacket, odds are it IS going to rain during your adventures.  The thing is, when it rains in Central America, IT RAINS.  Your top of the line North Face won’t keep you dry.  Most likely you’re not in a rush anyway so wait it out or take a taxi.

Shorts and flip flops, if you want a chance of not being labeled a gringo, wear blue jeans and shoes / sandals.  I know it’s crazy.  Over 100 degrees and sunny and people are still wearing jeans.  Luckily at night it’ll cool off and jeans are the formalwear of Hispanics so you’ll be ready for fine dining and the discos.

Laptop, you don’t need it.  At most hotels there will be a computer for guests’ use.  Bringing a Wi-Fi enabled device such a cell phone will suffice.

Everything else is available in Latin America if you know where to look.  If you follow these suggestions, you can easily get by with just a duffle for a weeklong trip.  Which is conveniently enough to get by on with Spirit Airlines without paying extra fees.

Lodging

Where you call it a night is completely up to your budget.  Central America has a wide variety between hostels and all-inclusive resorts ranging from $4/night to $160+/night.  My best recommendation is find a place with hot water, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and free breakfast.  Places like this start usually around $40/night.  Where you shouldn’t stay are the Intercontinentals, Hiltons, Best Westerns and Holiday Inns which are undoubtedly available in capital cities.  They’re filled with gringos and don’t offer anything more except a higher price tag.

If you have questions or suggestions of your own, let me know!