After an incredible three months in France and a month back stateside, it is time for me to head back out of the country. The destination? Central America!

I’ve designated this Central America Part One since I will be returning to a couple more countries later in the year. It wasn’t intentional to visit Central America twice, but things just worked out.

In any event, this trip will take me to two new countries: Guatemala and Nicaragua. I will be spending roughly two weeks in each, with my time split among a couple of cities within that. So unlike France, where I had a month in each place, this will be a bit more fast-paced.

Why these two countries? I’ve wanted to go to Guatemala for a long time now. It seems to have the perfect balance of amazing natural beauty and fascinating history, both colonial and pre-Colonial. I find Nicaragua interesting for some of the same reasons, with the added bonus of the United States’ involvement in their internal politics and the results of the revolution.

There are said to be safety concerns with both countries, but I feel these are overblown. The same was said about Mexico, and I had an incredible experience there. While obviously only time will tell what I actually observe, I am not worried about my safety at this juncture. (It should be noted that I am skipping Honduras and El Salvador temporarily due to the issues in those countries, which I hope will be resolved soon so I can visit.)

This trip will also be a bit different due to my accommodations. In some places, I will be home-hosted (through Airbnb) and in no cases will I have my own apartment as I did in France. This was intentional, as a means of comparison. If I enjoy this style, it will make travel cheaper moving forward. If not, I will have to go back to the other method.

I will be doing separate itinerary posts for each country with more details, so make sure to check back. In the meantime, here is the map of the trip. The places I’m staying are labeled.