Author Mark Johnston

Outfitting oneself for a round-the-world trip can be rather daunting and expensive, as you guess what might be needed throughout a whole year of travel. Then, trying to smash it all in a single pack...

“Reverse culture shock,” a complex we heard so much about while traveling this past year that we assumed it would be inevitable upon our return home. How it would manifest itself we weren’t sure, but one...

Giveaway winners are Di and Rhenn who were randomly selected with the help of random.org. Congrats to Di and Rhenn! Thanks to everyone who entered!  Happy Fourth of July to all our American readers -- and...

A visit to Machu Picchu was the icing on our year-long travel cake. While we would have loved to trek one of the beautiful routes to the ruins, at that point in our journey we lacked the energy and money to do...

Many times throughout the previous year we met travelers who were making an effort to avoid crowded destinations. It's understandable, as who wants to deal with obnoxious tourists, souvenir hawkers,...

We had just begun our bus ride to Peru from Bolivia when the in-trip entertainment began. The young woman in front of me — a tourist — tried to lean her seat back. Only, given the limited leg room,...

We departed Bolivia and entered Peru in the town of Yunguyo. From there it was a short bus ride to Puno, where we spent a few days resting and exploring Lake Titicaca. On to Cusco to witness the colorful...

The crowd seemed bored, sitting through three bouts of sub-par lucha libre wrestling that spilled awkwardly in and out of the ring. Locals filled concrete bleachers on one side of the expansive Coliseo 12 de...

From San Pedro de Atacama in Chile we crossed into Bolivia by jeep, taking three days to explore magnificent landscapes on the way to Salar de Uyuni. With seven of us packed into at Toyota Land Cruiser, we...

A 4:30 a.m. alarm after little sleep made our drive onto the Salar de Uyuni, (Uyuni Salt Flats), feel like a dream. Off to our right, color crept into the clear sky, first grey then a muted yellow. To our...

After getting cold in Patagonia, we were back in shorts and flip flops in the Atacama Desert during our stay in San Pedro de Atacama. We felt right at home visiting the surrounding red-rock landscapes that...

It was quite a detour to get to the "end of the world" but it was worth it. We made the long journey to Punta Arenas with plans of visiting Torres del Paine and were rewarded with a window of wonderful weather...

Many cities tend to have one historical figure they celebrate, usually with statues, street names and exhibits in their honor. Back home in Salt Lake City it’s the Mormons Joseph Smith or Brigham Young we...