With more and more people on Roatan having to do visa runs, finding affordable options to get off the island for a few days is a hot topic of conversation these days on my rock. Just getting out of here takes either a lot of time (by boat and bus) or a lot of money (by plane), so the idea is to go as close as possible to places that can be enjoyed cheaply for a few days. I've taken two trips so far this year that could work well for visa runs - you can read full rundowns of my Miami Beach, ...
Traveling
Roatan Visa Runs: Ambergris Caye, Belize
[See the rundown of Visa Run #1: Miami Beach here.]On the long list of things I say and then never do, 'leave Roatan permanently before being forced into visa runs' was close to the top. I have my Honduran residency - so these are trips that could be used as visa runs. One day I'll write a post about it. Today is not that day, so please don't ask. Short version: you need an immigration lawyer and lots of time + money.I've spoken quite a bit on the blog about visa runs/residency/etc. and ...
What To Do On Roatan: 1-Day Itinerary
Whether you're on the island on a cruise ship call, or simply using it as a jumping-off point for further travel (full disclosure: when I first came here, I was supposed to fly into Roatan for a day and then move on to Utila to do my dive courses... it took me TWO YEARS to make it to Utila!), you can still experience a lot in a day on Roatan. Read on to see my recommendations if you have just a little time on this beautiful island...(Have a few days to spend here? Check out my 3-Day Itinerary ...
Roatan Visa Runs: Miami Beach
I have written at length both on the blog and responding to tons emails asking me about the 'new' visa regulations on Roatan. Unfortunately unless you go for your residency, it has come down to doing visa runs, which are not cheap around here. I said I would do one and if they hadn't figured anything out by then I was leaving, but we all know how many times I've said I was going to leave the island and never did it! So as I'm gearing up for visa run #2, let me tell you about the first one I did. ...
A Daytrip to Cayos Cochinos
Once in awhile you just need a vacation. (Even if you live at the beach.) This was one of those days!Cayos Cochinos (Hog Islands) are a chain of islands and little cays located between the Bay Islands (Roatan, Utila and Guanaja) and the mainland of Honduras. These tiny islands are sparsely inhabited (the last census had the population pegged at 108), and drop-dead gorgeous. Only about an hour and a half by boat from Roatan, it makes for an easy day trip and a great way to get off the ...
The Definitive Guide to an Incredible Weekend in Ucluelet, BC
I have mentioned a few times here on the blog that I am an island girl at heart - yes, I love my little rock in the Caribbean that I live on, but I was actually born on an island! Vancouver Island, to be exact. I'm currently in Canada for a 5-week break from Roatan, and when one of my best friends offered to have me come out to Vancouver Island and stay for a long weekend in Ucluelet, one of my fave little towns in Canada, I jumped at the chance.Ucluelet (you-kloo-let), or more ...
5 Places I Could Visit Again and Again
For me, there have been some places where I've traveled that just got under my skin in the best possible way. Places where I could see myself living, or visiting over and over (or both, in the case of my current situation!) Here are 5 places I've been that I absolutely loved, and could travel there again and again:1. Roatan, HondurasDuhhhh :) Not only is Roatan now my personal "Cheers" (where everybody knows your name), I visited this little Caribbean island a few times before moving here, ...
5 Days In The Bahamas (and That Time I Averted an Underwater Disaster)
(I don't know what happened to this post from last year, but it never went live! I figured better late than never, right... I often get put into the 'travel' blog category even though I'm more of an expat than a traveler. So here's a post from my travels!)What can you do with just five days in the Bahamas? Actually, a lot!I made a quick trip to Nassau in the Bahamas last year when I was in Florida to try and get a visitor B1/B2 visa for the US so that I could work on foreign yachts that ...
How Being an Expat Has Changed Me (or, I Never Knew I Could Drink This Much)
I'm almost coming up on a year in living on Roatan. Moving to this tiny island in the Caribbean has made me a different person. Slowly but surely, Roatan has pushed me, pulled me, stretched me and gotten under my skin and I'm changing. I think it's amazing how transplanting yourself into a foreign country can make you see yourself so differently.Since becoming an expat here...I've learned to cling less to others and rely on myself.People come and go, and come and go here. It's a ...
Going home.
I have a ton of stuff to post about my recent trip to the Bahamas, but I am back in Ft. Lauderdale, sick with a kidney infection (ONE DAY after my travel health insurance ran out) and running around with a million things to do before heading home to Roatan on Sunday morning. And now I'm sitting here stuck in the house waiting for the weather to clear up, because I can't ride my scooter in the rain and today is the one day it's decided to rain during my 6 weeks in Florida. Gahhhhhhhhh!In the ...