I am just a small town girl, that has has not traveled much beyond the confines of the small town of where I grew up in Central Minnesota. Yes, a few trips to the West Coast, the Desert Southwest, the East Coast, and Mexico, but never in a million years did I know that my trip, my vacation, that would change my life forever, would be to another small town in Latin America, the country of Guatemala, in the city of Solola, that I would “Become Mommy” to a special child named Julio.

continue reading "Become Mommy"

Characters:

Future Roy (FR) / Past Roy (PR)
Future Tiff (FT) / Past Tiff (PT)

Setting: Los Angeles, CA 2008

ACT I

continue reading "Livin the Dream"

The sound of Rogelio’s thick, callused knuckles wrapping on my cabin door jerked me from sleep. What time was it? Thick sunlight was pouring through the cracks in my wooden cabin, the air was intensely hot and I had a bad hangover.

continue reading "Land grab in Guatemala"

I had forgotten what true happiness was until I went to Costa Rica. My visit there this past April turned out to be a major turning point in my life. I had just come out of a divorce a year earlier and was celebrating my first year of independence. It hadn’t been an easy time, but around April I felt the tides within me turning toward a brighter future.

continue reading "Back to Bliss"

Before I left for South America, my little sister reminded me of our favorite Disney movie, “The Emperor’s New Groove,” and asked me to bring her back a llama (or at least some quality llama products). So from the beginning, while salsaing and singing in Spanish and adventuring in the Andes, I was looking for llamas.

continue reading "That One Time I Ate Llama"

The Pink Flamingo’s Web site lured me here with a promise of “something out of the ordinary”. As I lay in bed, surrounded by plush pillows and cozy, soft sheets with birds chirping outside my villa, I know that it keeps its word.

The clock reads seven-something, then eight-something, then nine-something. The quirky manager told me the maid comes around 11. So I figure nine-ish is a good time to start my first full day in Port Douglas. Situated just north of Cairns, Port Douglas is a slow-pace, seaside city that has yet to become touristy like the Gold Coast. Many divers and snorkelers base themselves here for access to the Great Barrier Reef. Celebrities escape in its tropical hills. I’m here to relax in a hammock.

continue reading "Sophisticated Travel"

In August of 2007, I embarked on a trip to Zimbabwe to help film a documentary on the Girl Child Network, an organization that empowers thousands of girls who are raped and abused every year. At 23, I had no idea what Zimbabwe was like; it was just another country in the vast land of Africa. However, after a week of incredible interviews, eye-opening road trips, and encountering the tremendous warmth of the people, I came to realize Zimbabwe was much more.

continue reading "Not the Way we Planned in Zimbabwe"

I’d befriended another American on the train ride to Nice, France, and we’d decided to split my hotel room. Aaron stood with the bags while I checked in. The owner, who spoke only French, took me to the room. All was going fine until I caught something he said that sounded like “no friends in the room.”

continue reading "The Complete Misadventures"

I‘ve traveled to a number of extravagant places in my life, but the most eye-opening experience I ever had while on vacation was in the town of La Follette, Tennessee. Yes, that’s right, La Follette. I wasn’t actually vacationing there; it was pure fate that brought my family to the tiny town as we traveled along Interstate Highway 75 en route to Savannah, Georgia.

continue reading "An unexpected moment in an unexpected place"

She opened the door proudly to her new home and gestured for us to follow her. We hesitated, looking down at our muddy boots. “Oh don’t you even worry about it”, she told us in her Southern drawl. We glanced at each other still uneasy, but her eager hospitality and the weight of the couch we carried won out and we entered, gingerly stepping on her new Pergo wood floors. The living room was bare except for a Christmas tree in the bay window. “I know the house is empty but we just had to celebrate Christmas here”, she said after noticing us staring at the tree. Once inside her own house, she took charge and directed where to put the couch, the dresser and the “new” bureau she had picked out that morning at the donation center.

continue reading "Heart Breaking and Soul Mending in Lousiana"