Mavvie Travels

I decided to go on a solo trip for my birthday (again, big surprise!) and wanted to go back to Colombia. It became a second home to me after my first time there and I was so excited to see the families I met in the surrounding islands and make new life long friends like how I did back in 2025. Cartagena is the kind of place where you can't stay a stranger for long, and I wanted to spend my birthday somewhere that already felt like mine.

Wanted to take a hike so I booked the cheapest one way flight from NYC with a mountain.

Everyone skips Coban on the way to Semuc Champey. I gave it two nights instead, walked into a 450-year-old procession by accident, and did the whole route on local buses for a quarter of what the shuttles charge.

Everyone treats Antigua as the place you sleep before you climb something. I gave it seven days, watched Fuego erupt over the rooftops before breakfast, and got my first earthquake in a three-story bar at midnight.

Everyone tells you to skip Panajachel and stay in San Marcos or San Pedro instead. I based myself in Pana for three days, took the boat out every morning, and got the painted houses, the art galleries and the best view on the lake without packing up once.

One tunnel under the Alps and Switzerland turns Italian - palm trees, lasagna by the lake and river water so green it looks fake. Everyone does Zurich and the mountains and never goes south, which is exactly why you should.