When couple travel becomes solo travel; breaking up on the road
We broke up. We broke up in a stuffy, low-lit hostel room in León, Nicaragua, tearily telling each other it was going to be alright whilst internally grappling with the thought of a lonely, uncertain future. Of all the things we had expected for this 2-year trip, a break-up whilst travelling was not one of them. But after 5 years of friendship and then 5 years in a relationship, we decided it just wasn’t working anymore, and that’s ok. Sad, but ok. While saying goodbye as I got into a taxi to Granada was one of the most heart-wrenchingly painful…
The best Colombian TV shows, documentaries and films (that aren’t Narcos)
When travelling to a new country, one of the best ways to improve your understanding of the history and culture there is to absorb local entertainment and media. This helps you see the cultural nuances, know what things are heralded…
Granada, the Nicaraguan beauty that offers a bit of everything for everyone
I fell absolutely head-over-heels in love with Granada, and ended up returning twice during my month in Nicaragua. To me, this is Nicaragua’s best city by a long run. It’s a hub of crazy adventure, beautiful architecture, backpacker vibes and…
8 photo editing techniques to take your travel photos to the next level
Fairly new to photography and not sure how to use editing to take your travel photos to the next level? I’ve put together a list of the 8 travel photo editing techniques that I use the most often to enhance…
How I created couple travel photos without a tripod: The Photoshop technique that always shocks people
As the professional photographer in charge of content creation for Cuppa to Copa Travels, I’ve always felt a lot of pressure to produce high quality images of epic places. However, being that the brand started on Instagram as a travel…
8 hand luggage essentials for long-haul flights that I couldn’t travel without
Long-haul flights can really knock you for six sometimes. With most of your possessions tucked away in your backpack for the hold, it’s a good idea to have a proper think of your hand luggage essentials to make sure you…
The Ultimate Bucketlist for Backpacking in Guatemala
Here it is, my ultimate bucketlist of places to go and things to do in Guatemala for backpackers! I’ll tell you about the historical points of interest, the Guatemala beaches worth checking out, natural wonders both famed and off-the-beaten-track, the…
Isla de Ometepe: Nicaragua’s tranquil lake island that’s brimming with adventure
Welcome to the place of crazy sunsets and sublime tranquility, with a dash of adventure for those who seek it. This guide is going to tell you all you need to know about visiting Ometepe Island, including things to do…
A Year with the Women’s Osprey Aura 50L: Backpack review for long-term travel
Time for my first in-depth product review! After 26 months on the road in Latin America, plus a couple of months here and there in Asia and Europe, I guess I know a thing or two about backpacks. Since the…
How to get from Bacalar to Caye Caulker: 4 ways to cross from Mexico to Belize
Any destination change that requires a border crossing, several land legs and a water crossing to an island is always going to be complicated. Luckily, I’ve done all the hard work for you and sussed out how to get from…
29 places to go in Colombia: The Ultimate Bucketlist
You know when people say “Uhh Colombia’s amaaaazing, it just has everythinnggggg”. Well, I’m here to bloody well prove it. I’ve painstakingly compiled all of my top entries for an ultimate Colombia bucketlist – all of the places to go…
Things to do when you can’t travel: Quarantine ideas for travellers grounded by COVID-19
Whew, what a world we live in! With coronavirus wreaking havoc across the globe, millions of us are having to come to terms with our new indoor existence, unable to gallivant and not sure if our future travel plans will…
Placencia: the once-sleepy village along the best beach in Belize
Placencia may be a less-visited destination in Belize than Caye Caulker or San Pedro, but don’t take that to mean that it’s going to be remote and off-the-beaten-track. It’s a favourite amongst Canadians and Americans for somewhere to retire to,…
How to get from Belize to Honduras by boat
While the typical route to get from Belize to Honduras would be via some time exploring Guatemala, we’d already spent 2 months in the mighty G the year before, and being tighter on time this year we were keen to…
11 tips for remote working during Coronavirus (from a digital nomad)
Coronavirus is pretty much all everyone is talking about these days, and I wouldn’t judge you for being bored of it before even having to begin any kind of quarantine. However, 14-days of self-isolation are a very real thing for…
Falling in love with shrimp stew on the catwalk of alcohol: Porto Seguro, Brazil
The first thing that hit me when we arrived in Porto Seguro, Bahia, was how COLOURFUL it is. Every house is painted a different colour, and the vibrant hues continue into the centre where you’ll find streets lined and lined…
Nicaragua backpacking tips (and why now is the best time to go)
Nicaragua backpacking was the part of my Central America trip that I was most looking forward to. Luckily, it had been saved to the very end of my 2 years and 2 months in Latin America, and what a way…
What’s the cost of living in Colombia in 2020?
Well, it’s good! For Europeans or North Americans, expect the cost of living in Colombia to feel pretty cheap. You do need to check your expectations though; I once saw a disgruntled expat complaining that he’d been told he could…
Cananéia & Ilha do Cardoso; São Paulo state off the beaten track
Cananéia, a small town with colonial beauty at every turn, is situated 3.5 hours from São Paulo by car, and Ilha do Cardoso is just over the river from that, amidst national parks and protected lands. If driving up to…
5 top destinations in Latin America to get the most out of your Christmas money in 2020
As backpackers with no real need for material gifts during the last 2 years of travelling, our families and friends have often struggled to know what to get us for Christmas. Many of them instead decided to gift us funds…
The best neighbourhoods to stay in Rio de Janeiro
If you’ve followed our adventures for a while, you’ll know that although we like to travel slowly, we also like to break up our time in a city into stays in different areas so that we get a broader feel…
8 easy phrases to make you sound better at Spanish than you actually are
Learning a new language is hard. Like, really hard. But if you’re travelling within the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America, the good news is that Spanish is one of the easiest languages for English natives to pick up. While the…
Counting 7 shades of blue on Lake Bacalar, Mexico
After the fairy-lighted magic of Tulum and the spotless streets of Playa del Carmen, Bacalar was the first place in Quintana Roo that I really felt like we were truly back in traveller mode. Used to hearing only booming American…
Going slow on Caye Caulker, Belize’s chilled out island getaway
Let’s cut to the chase here. Caye Caulker is hands down THE FRIENDLIEST place we have ever been to. You can’t walk a few yards down the street without someone wishing you a happy day, whether they’re trying to sell…
If we only had 2 weeks: Belize itinerary
Luckily, we'd say Belize is one of the few countries in Latin America that doesn't need months and months of travel to explore everything. 2 weeks in Belize is actually a pretty nice amount of time.
Lake Yojoa & Peña Blanca; small town life around Honduras’ largest lake
We thought Lake Yojoa (Lago de Yojoa), the largest lake in Honduras – which is very close to Pulhapanzak Waterfall, the largest waterfall in Honduras – was going to be more of a tourist attraction than it is. It’s still…
Backpacker vibes meet boutique luxury in Tulum, the Bali of Mexico
Apparently Tulum is a pretty hot destination right now – though admittedly we didn’t realise until people back home started messaging us excitedly about how great it looks all over the internet. Though we normally skim over the Insta-hotspots, we…
Chicken buses in Belize: a survival guide
For those of us travelling on a budget, chicken buses in Belize are by far the best way to get around. They’re usually one of the fleet of American school buses that were sold onto Central American governments when they…
9 things to know before you travel in Belize
You know what’s sad?! How many people skip Belize during their Central America travels. Admittedly, the first time we backpacked around this part of the world, we scrapped our plans to travel in Belize, too. We were told it was…
Best bars, rooftops & clubs in Cartagena, Colombia in 2020
Much like the array of food options in Cartagena old town and Getsemaní barrio, there are soooo many places to be considered for the best bars in Cartagena. We’ve broken them down into three categories – our favourite bars to…
The best restaurants in Cartagena, Colombia in 2020
Cartagena de Indias has a rich array of options for food & drink, given it is the #1 tourist spot in Colombia, popular not only with local visitors from Colombia but also its fair share of backpackers and American holidaymakers…
Stop pronouncing these South American place names wrong!
If 18 months in South America taught us anything, it’s that travellers are in desperate need of a Spanish pronunciation guide to get them saying South American place names right 😉 Pronouncing words in a foreign language is a difficult…
The Beer Guide: Brazil
Where to start with beer in Brazil? Somewhat of an anomaly among Latin America due to its status as the sole Portuguese-speaking nation and also its sheer size – it accounts for just under half of the population and land mass of South…
What is The Beer Guide?
During our trip, I (Andy) have decided to write a beer guide for each country we visit, in which I will look at partying trends, interesting beer brands, how to navigate the beer market in each country and top it…
If we only had 2 weeks: Uruguay itinerary
Uruguay is teeny enough that the longest bus you’ll have to take is 5 hours from Montevideo up to Punta del Diablo, which is on the border with Brazil. So don’t panic when you see ‘travel day’, it’s never going…
2 years in Latin America: 14 most unforgettable experiences
Over the last 24 months, we’ve had some fairly insane experiences in Latin America so far, so in light of our 2-year travel anniversary we thought we’d sit down and reminisce on all the most unforgettable. Some are because of…
Holiday the Colombian way on the Caribbean island of San Andrés
Everything you need to know about where to stay on the island, where to eat, what to do and how to go about renting a buggy on San Andres. At 6000+ words, this San Andres, Colombia guide is going to…
If we only had 2 weeks: North Brazil itinerary
When planning your 2 weeks North Brazil itinerary, you need to factor in increased travel times to account for its sheer size, as well as the fact that routes between cities can’t always be assumed to exist, even if they…
El Valle, Bahia Solano: where the Colombian jungle meets the Pacific Ocean
Though not yet on the international radar as such, Bahia Solano and El Valle whale tours have made the area famous around Colombia. For 5 months of the year, humpback whales come to the area to breed and rear their…
Bogotá Eats: Brunch, lunch and dinner in Colombia’s capital
Well, it goes without saying that the 7 months we’ve spent in Bogotá have left us plump and content. There are so many restaurants in Bogota to choose from that we have never felt like we’re scraping the barrel for…
Rainbow Mountain, the Cusco day-trip that will leave you breathless
Breathless not just in the sense of its beauty – the 5200m altitude of Rainbow Mountain will quite literally have you gasping for oxygen. Don’t worry though, it’s totally worth all the effort to get there. You’ll need a couple…
How to book a Death Road tour from La Paz
The Death Road cycling tour is one of the most popular things to do in La Paz. As with many activities in Bolivia, it can be hard at first to navigate just how to book a Death Road tour from…
If we only had 2 weeks: South Brazil itinerary
Remember, Brazil is GINORMOUS, like almost the size of Europe ginormous, and plane or bus transport internally tends to be both long & relatively expensive compared to the Latin average. Brazil needs a bit more travel prep than other countries…
Florianópolis, Brazil: The city with an island escape
Florianópolis – if you hear it also being called Floripa, please know that that is exactly the same thing – strikes as a strong favourite for travellers in Brazil, and was officially named the best place in Brazil to live…
Bank ATMs for free cash withdrawals in South America & Central America
We spend the first hour or so of being in a new country hunting around for ATMs that a) work and b) give us the cheapest/free transactions. We've made it easier for you by making a list of banks we've…
Isla Barú & the Rosario Islands, Colombia’s Caribbean Gems
There are many islands to visit within a couple of hours' boat ride of Cartagena, the most popular ones being Isla Barú and Isla Grande of the Rosario Islands, Colombia. You can do day trips to both, but we really…
San Gil, Colombia’s hilly adrenaline capital
San Gil, Colombia’s adrenaline capital and a great place to see Colombian life outside the big cities. We’ve now been twice to San Gil, one on a weekend break from Bogotá and the other incorporating San Gil into Santander exploration…
Otavalo, Ecuador – more than just South America’s biggest market!
One of the best Quito day trips on offer, Otavalo is an indigenous stronghold, famous for the Otavalo market, an everyday occurrence that’s said to be the largest in South America. Tourists flock in just to see this market in…
Salento, a vibrant town in the heart of Colombia’s coffee region
For those visiting both Medellín and Bogotá, a stop-over in Salento, Colombia’s coffee region gem, between them is a must. Deep in Quindío, Salento is a small town that has managed to maintain its misty mountain charm. Two of the…
Best places for your first time in Latin America if you don’t speak Spanish
Travelling to a new place can be nerve-wracking, and when a whole region is your oyster it can be difficult to know where to start. Even for those who have travelled extensively in Asia or Europe, Latin America can present…
Filandia, a less touristic alternative to Salento
The coffee region in Colombia remains Andy’s favourite part of the country. Imagine rolling green valleys, colourfully-painted balconies and little old men wearing traditional hats riding their horses down country paths. Oh, and the occasional howler monkey, too. As Salento…
Cuppa to Copa Travels
Exploring the best of Latin America
