Tulum is a small town located on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, known for its incredible white sand beaches, luxury hotels, azure waters, and lush green jungles with ancient ruins. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico being extremely close to Playa del Carmen, but lacking its lads-on-tour vibe. Tulum is renowned for its ancient Mayan ruins, which are perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean, providing visitors with a breathtaking view.

Bonampak is an ancient Mayan archaeological site located in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. It is known for its well-preserved murals that depict the lives of the Mayan people and their rituals. The murals are considered one of the greatest achievements of Mayan art and offer valuable insights into Mayan culture and history.

Nestled deep in the heart of the jungle along the banks of the Usumacinta River in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico, lies the ancient Maya city of Yaxchilan. This remarkable archaeological site boasts stunning examples of Maya art and architecture, including towering temples, ornate palaces, and intricate hieroglyphic inscriptions. Once a thriving political and cultural centre of the Maya civilization, Yaxchilan offers visitors a glimpse into the rich and complex history of the Mayans.

Palenque is situated in the Mexican state of Chiapas, close to the border with Guatemala. It is renowned for its ancient Mayan ruins, which date back to the 7th century. The Palenque archaeological site is one of the most well-preserved examples of Mayan architecture and features several impressive pyramids, temples, and palaces, such as the Temple of the Inscriptions, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of the Cross.

The Mayan ruins at Uxmal, located in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, dates back to around 600 AD, was a major ceremonial and administrative centre during the height of the Mayan civilisation.

On the north coast of Mexico, Merida is a good-sized town of perhaps 100,000 people. The city is modern enough if follows the US approach of square blocks with one-way systems running between them, making navigation both simple and complex. Of all the towns we visited, Merida is the most ‘normal’ in purpose and atmosphere.

Playa del Carmen is a beautiful coastal town located in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Situated on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, Playa del Carmen boasts stunning beaches, crystal clear waters, and a vibrant nightlife scene. The town is a popular destination for tourists from around the world, offering a range of activities such as snorkeling, scuba diving, and exploring the nearby Mayan ruins.

I’ve visited LA twice. Once in 2010 on a road trip from San Diego to San Francisco (via Yosemite) and once in 2019 to visit family. Both trips were very different experiences for me, but between them, I’ve seen a lot of what LA has to offer.

I spent an evening in Dallas thanks to delays in taking off from Costa Rica.

We then had a 3 hour drive to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, where we checked into rooms with mosquito netting on the beds before all meeting at an open bar space with wood tables by the small pool.

The alarm at 4:30am signalled the start of one of the main adventure elements of the trip. We would white water raft down the Pacuare river to a lodge in the middle of the jungles of Costa Rica.

We climbed aboard a flat bottomed boat and sailed along the lake toward La Fortuna and the volcano. The lake is dammed at one end and used as a hydroelectric plant which provide 50% of Cost Rica’s power.

After refreshments, it was direct to Montverde, through some incredible terrain, Costa Rica is stunningly verdant and even at higher altitudes there are tall trees and lush grass. The town of Monteverde itself is quite small but well served by shops and restaurants aimed at tourists.

Sunday was an early start though easy to manage as we had all had an early night the night before. Breakfast was very local, and something we all later found out we’d need to get very used to, Gallo Pinto, Costa Rican Rice & Beans, a staple of breakfast and several other meals. Once we were full of rice and beans it was then on to the bus for the 4.5h drive to Montverde.

The flight Miami to Costa Rica had some lovely views as we traveled south, although we were nearly redirected to Liberia due to bad weather which would have been a bad start to the trip.

In 2016 I had to go to New York for work. It was something of a flying visit, landing on Monday and heading off Thursday afternoon, so there was not much time for exploring photography.

We walked into town. The main street was a recreation, much like Old Town in San Diego. Full of tourist trap stores, more Disney than anything else. Once we went through this area however and got into the center everything changed.

It is very hard to convey the sense of scale of the trees. In a picture they often look like regular trees because there are no context clues, it is only if you see them with a person, or see a car driving through the gap in the Clothespin that you really understand how large these trees actually are.

We arrived in Sonoma and checked into the hotel, which was really nice. Old for America, having been built in the eighteen hundreds. It had a rooftop pool that we used after dark and ancient style lift, with brass grates and everything.

We briefly stopped in Stockton and were harassed about voting until we made it clear that we were tourists and so helping us vote would be a felony.