Travel

In May 2011, the Knuffingen Airport at the Miniatur Wunderland (German for Miniature Wonderland) was completed and is currently the world’s largest model airport. But the airport is only part of the Wonderland attraction. The exhibit started as a model railway attraction in Hamburg, Germany and is the largest of its kind in the world.

The model railway consists of seven sections: Harz (fictitious city of Knuffingen), Hamburg, Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Alps and Austria, and America. The model railway takes up approximately 1,150 m² of floor space. Each section has unique landscapes and the railway exhibit showcases details that the specific regions are known for in the real world.­ For example, the ‘America’ section has highlights such as Las Vegas with over 30,000 lights, the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Area 51, Miami, the Everglades, and so on. When you watch the promotional video below, you will also find funny interactive scenes such as people having sex in a van or a not so funny scene such the police investigating a crime scene.

Mexico is not getting the best press right now. We all know this. As a result, fewer of us Americans are going there, outside of the college kids and honeymooners heading straight for the American colony of Cancun. But the truth is that the bad news out of Mexico is close to the border and in isolated cities. That’s why I headed to Mexico, one, because there is a whole other Mexico that is beautiful and safe and a great setting for adventure, and two, because Mexico tourist bureaus are willing to send “journalists” like me on trips to prove it.

I arrived in Veracruz, Mexico, after a short connection in Dallas where I tried airport Texas barbecue, which turns out, is

The Embera Indian Village outside of Panama City is not a historical recreation. It’s not Panama’s answer to Jamestown or Plymouth Colony. There is no modern visitor center or actors dressed in traditional garb and refusing to break character for eight bucks an hour. Despite the fact that there are tours, and the Embera people are friendly, hospitable, and happy to share their traditions and culture with outsiders, the Embera Indian Village is a real village, and a real home to the Embera people that live there.

I started writing this post as I was cruising at some 20,000 ft above the Caribbean Sea, away from Belize, a country I had just spent two weeks exploring. I figured that if I started taking notes right after the trip, that my adventures would be fresh in my mind. What I’ve written are notes highlighting my experiences in Belize, and a series of practical tips on traveling around the country, not getting scammed, and enjoying the best that the country has to offer. If you’re debating visiting Belize over fears of the alleged high levels of violence, I address that too. Before that, though, let’s start with a very brief overview of the country.

Belize, formally known as British Honduras, is an ex-British colony in the northernmost region of Central America. The country was renamed Belize in 1973, and reached full independence in 1981. Belize shares a border to the North with Mexico, and to the South and West by Guatemala. Belize was essentially a large slavers haven, and when the British finally pulled out, the place “went downhill”, literally in fact.  Belize City is

About a year ago we wrote a post on the very awesome tree house community of Finca Bellavista located in Costa Rica.  If taking a trip all the way down to Costa Rica is out of your budget, there is an alternative; Michael Grainer has built a small village of tree houses in Oregon, just like the Ewoks in the Star Wars movie.

Michael Grainer runs the tree house village as a bed and breakfast at very affordable prices; he also sells equipment needed to build tree houses.  Fair Companies took a trip to the tree house village showcasing some of some of the cool rooms you can stay in, in the video below.  The videos also showcase Grainer’s own house, which is, of course a tree house and according to him, is the world’s biggest tree house.  It measures 1,800 square feet and is supported by