2020 Gold Lowell Thomas for Best Radio Broadcast. 2018 Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas Award Winner for Broadcast/Audio. Gold, bronze and finalist winner for Broadcast/Audio at the 2017 North American Travel Journalists Association Awards.

A Literary Guide to Mexico City, Mexico

There are few things as comforting as a good book and a hot drink. 

When I travel, one of my favourite methods of settling into a new city is to grab my e-reader and head to the most eclectic neighbourhood cafe I can find for several blissful hours of reading, sipping, and people-watching. It seems that Nicole of Eat This Poem has similar opinions on the way literature and local fare can connect you to a place regardless of whether you're there for a few days or a few years—the "literary city guides" on her website are brimming with the kind of slow travel vibes we love here at Native Traveler.

Check out writer and Mexico City resident Lydia Carey's Literary City Guide to Mexico City and brace yourself for the wanderlust to hit.

The Smells That Let Me Know I Am Home in Mexico

Of all our senses, smell is the one most intimately linked to our memory and emotions. Studies have shown that even a subtle whiff of a certain scent can lift our mood, send a shiver of fear up our spine, or trigger a wave of nostalgia.

It’s no surprise, then, that we as individuals tend to associate specific smells with specific places—particularly places to which we feel a strong attachment. In this article for Matador Network, British expat Susannah Rigg describes the scents that remind her she’s home in Mexico.

10 Foods Introduced to Us by the Ancient Maya

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALDO PAVAN, GRAND TOUR/CORBIS

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALDO PAVAN, GRAND TOUR/CORBIS

The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica, its population spanning modern-day Guatemala, the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, western Honduras and El Salvador, and parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas.

Reaching their cultural peak around the sixth century A.D., the ancient Maya are remembered as a powerful civilization who excelled in agriculture, mathematics, calendar-making, pottery, and architecture. But their lofty accomplishments often eclipse a much humbler legacy that lives on in kitchens around the world today—food.

That guacamole you love to add to every burger, burrito, and bowl originated centuries ago in the Maya cities of southern Mexico and Guatemala. Savoury, steamed tamales were enjoyed by the Maya long before the Spanish invasion as a staple of holiday celebrations and festivals. Even chocolate—probably one of the most universally-loved foods of all time—was invented by the Maya, who were the first to take the seeds of the cacao fruit and roast them to make hot chocolate.

Check out National Geographic’s article on the Top 10 Foods of the Maya World to discover what other culinary delights were introduced to us by this ancient culture.

Ruth's Window to Tim, Liz, James and Mack

 

Tim’s Headwaters Hospital Video — Touch the arrow on the picture below to play

Basset Hound Fitness Secrets Episode One

This is a video Tim made as Chair of our local hospital. He volunteers about one day a week. A lot while all this COVID stuff is going on. In true Tim style, he does these funny videos to keep up the spirits of doctors, nurses, cleaners and such.

 

Liz Singing a All My Lovin’ with friends in Erin — Touch the white arrow below to listen.

Amy Whinehouse arrangement of All My Loving
Beatles song. Liz Singing.
 

Some pictures of James, Mack and you to chat about — Touch the photo to make it bigger

 

My story in National Geographic —Mom touch the picture to go to my story in National Geographic

Riding in Argentina last year.

Riding in Argentina last year.

 

Mom! See the comment box below. You can touch the box mom to put the cursor there, then type us a message. We’d love to hear from you! xoxoxo

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Native Traveler's Show on Embedding in Northern Sonoma

In this episode, Native Traveler hits the backroads of Northern Sonoma, a couple of hours north of San Francisco. California’s laid-back wine country traditions thrive here in the refined chill of Healdsburg, and in more sleepy winetowns like Geyserville and Cloverdale.  We find the quirkiest, most entertaining tasting room in the region. Yes, wine lovers have two-wheeled between vineyards here for decades, but today we take a look at Sonoma's new brand of cyclist — among other things.  Listen in...

Embedding in Northern Sonoma
Hosted and produced by Liz Beatty

(Feature: Ride Hard, Play Well 01:16; Erik Jensen of Cube Bikes on ebiking 9:20; Mike Little of The Healdsburg Experience 16:24; Chef Dustin Valette of Valette in Healdsburg 34:27; Patrick of Locals Tasting Room in Geyserville 43:34)

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       The Art of Northern Sonoma Living

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Vintage and Vintages at Locals in Geyserville

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By a wine country mile, the most entertaining tasting of our time in Northern Sonoma.  They fundraise for local homeless.  Amazing vintage clothing.  Thanks Patrick!

 

Cube Bikes and Ebikes

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Awesome road bikes, state-of-the-art ebikes.  Erik Jensen of Cube Canada on the Pine Flat route. 

 

Ride Hard, Play Well — Wine Country Bikes in Healdsburg

Tac, Heather and John of Wine Country Bikes. Superb bikes, great regional knowledge, awesome guides. Tac, you're a gem.

Tac, Heather and John of Wine Country Bikes.  Superb bikes, great regional knowledge, awesome guides. Tac, you're a gem.

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Valette — One of Healdsburg's Hottest Tables

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Healdsburg native son, owner and chef, Dustin Valette, is a character.   His vision — local haute cuisine with a casual flair. 

 

Scenes of Living Local in Northern Sonoma

 

Coppola Winery

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Known well on the shelves of Canadian liquor stores, Coppola is the antithesis of an intimate Sonoma winery experience — in all the best ways.  A don't-miss for movie fans.

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Native Traveler Blog

Manifesto of a Traveling Homebody:

Go far.  Slow Down.  

Experience the World More Deeply.

Dunfanaghy, Donegal

Dunfanaghy, Donegal

“For me, wanderlust is a paradox — I am a traveling homebody. I crave the transformation that begins inside every airport town car, but equally, and deeply, I love home. It’s a seeming contradiction that’s taken me far and wide, and inspired this travel credo, of sorts:
go far, slow down, experience the world more deeply.”

It's the rhythms and rituals of home I love, wherever, whatever they may be.   In Brimstone, my hamlet northwest of Toronto, it might be summer river swims with a Zenned-out fly fishermen casting nearby, or dinners at the 200-year-old Cellar Pub where host Brian bear hugs each patron like an old friend, startling those who aren't. In Saint-Julien-de-Lampon, in southwest France, it might be collecting walnuts mid-October with some elderly villagers who've harvested the same forest floor most of their lives.  In Goondiwindi, Australia, I think of gulping a frosty XXXX at the Victoria Hotel, our day’s work on a 15,000-acre sheep station done.

Insights, habits, and simple pleasures; where people eat, work, shop, ponder, court, and celebrate — I love these details that connect locals (and me) to where they live.  Their issues and crusades too.  It's the heroic and everyday stuff that propels local life.  Deeper than attractions (which one needn’t miss), all these are the heartbeats that define “home”.  And whenever I slow down long enough to hear them and slip into their simple rhythms (even briefly) something magical happens — I transform from traveler to denizen, from stranger to neighbor, from tourist to global citizen. 

In a world where one can explore travel bucket lists with the click of a mouse, live-local travel to me focuses on the most important and memorable part of actually being there — the human connections.  And what better way to find the common bits of our humanity, from Pittsburg to Peru, from Toronto to Takayama, than to grasp our many notions of home.   Like a famous Dorothy once said, “There’s no place like home.” To which I’d add just this — wherever you are.