Want to make $120,000 on your next beach vacation?

by Jerry Guo on

Bluefield, Nicaragua isn’t in any travel guides. After all, the bars and beaches aren’t anything you couldn’t find in more American-friendly outlets like neighboring Cancun.

Which is why you’re really missing. You see, even though 85% of the 50,000 people who live in this beach-side town are unemployed, you’ll find lush mansions and pimpin’ cars. Why? It all comes down to location, location, location.

Each day, something like 35 kilograms of pure cocaine washes up on its shore. Turns out, Bluefield is basically the bull’s eye for coke that gets tossed overboard on runs from Columbia to the US coast. Here’s what one local had to say about their favorite hobby, “People here now go beachcombing for miles, they walk until the find packets. Even the lobster fisherman now go out with the pretence of fishing but really they are looking for la langosta blanca – the white lobster.”

So if you want to boost your next paycheck, check out this great article about the place.

The less traveled part of the Caribbean

by Neil Woodburn on

There’s so much to love about the Caribbean, and so much to hate.

The “hate” category exists because the Caribbean we have all come to love is now loved by too many; there are too many hotels, too many tourists, and too much development.

But there are exceptions.

Thankfully, the fine folks over at Condé Nast Traveler have compiled a fantastic guide to the less touristy places along the Caribbean side of Central America that “are still under the radar” — such as Corn Island in the photo above. This also includes the coasts of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

No, you won’t find the swank, sophistication, and luxury yachts that populate the rest of the Caribbean, but you will find the peace and solace that comes with small coastal villages, empty beaches, and modest accommodations.

This is the true Caribbean, the way it used to be. Visit now before it becomes just another Cancun.

Traveling where the dollar is strong

by Neil Woodburn on

If you’re earning a salary in US currency and are unlucky enough to spend it traveling internationally, you know the pain of the depreciating dollar.

The rest of the world has become frighteningly expensive as the dollar continues its slide. My recent trip to North Korea, for example, was $800 more expensive than it would have been two years ago for the mere fact that I had to pay for the tour in euros. Man, did this hurt! Unfortunately, such increased costs have become a factor in many travelers’ vacation plans as prohibitive prices continue to limit options.

But this isn’t the case everywhere. Certain parts of the world are still “on sale” due to local currencies that even weaker than the dollar.

Countries where dollars go the distance is a handy LA Times article that explores some of these remaining bargain locations–Vietnam, Morocco, Bolivia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Albania–and provides a fantastic short list of wonderful places that would still be worth going to even if they weren’t “on sale.”

Photo of the Day (6/14/07)

by Neil Woodburn on

A mosquito coil and a local beer.

This photo, more so than the more technically beautiful ones you might find in our Gadling Flickr Pool, so perfectly sums up travel as we know and love it here at Gadling. I can just imagine the warm, tropical nights, the refreshing beverages, and the endless conversation with fellow travelers who just met earlier that day.

Thanks go out to OurManWhere who managed to take me back to my days in South East Asia staring at similar looking bottles with equally foreign brand names emblazoned on them. I’m sure Willy can appreciate this shot as well.