Travel, that’s what.

Anna Kramer, a Masters student at the University of Washington, was awarded the Bonderman Travel Fellowship. What does this mean for Anna? Well, she was awarded $20K to travel alone to at least six different countries in two regions of the world over a minimum of eight months. A few requirements, but hey, they’re giving her money and momentum to get going.

While traveling, fellowship recipients can work or loaf, they just need to immerse themselves in the local culture. Apparently, most tend to work and use resources available for inexpensive travel as the airline budget eats a lot of the $20k. But really, being away in a foreign land and working your way through it only enlightens your experience.

Anna is focusing her travels along the Pacific Ocean, with stops along various Asian islands, New Zealand and then up the Central American coast. Kind of a ’round the Pacific tour. Her only hesitation is traveling alone, but a young woman as resourceful as Anna should be fine. Now, we just need her to submit stories to Hipster Travel Guide.

Fellowships and scholarships for travel abroad are out there. It’s up to you to find out how you can apply to pack your bags. If you’re currently in college, check out what is available through your college and any of the organizations of which you’re a member. For those of you not currently enrolled, this is another reason for continuing that education. There’s plenty of on line resources that will tell you what is out there and how to apply.

It’s up to you – either buy the crystal world globe pictured above and let it collect dust or use it to plan your next trip.

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First, there was a volcano Pacaya erupting a mere 20 miles outside of the capital of Guatemala City. (Easy Destination Blog noted that no one was hurt during the eruption, though a number of facilities, including the country’s main airport were shut down briefly.)

Then over the weekend, a deadly tropical storm swept across the country dumping tons of water on it, killing more than 100 people, according to the Associated Press.

This, of course calmed all of the remaining ash still floating but helped create sink holes around the nation, giving it more more pockmarks than Edward James Olmos.

Now, there’s even a 330-foot deep one in Guatemala City that looks almost fake.

No one seems too sure what to do. There is a possibility the country could round up GC’s virgins and toss them into the growing sink hole — a method used years ago by the Mayan Indians.

While we wish everyone well, and hope the giant hole gets filled and everything returns to normal — we kind of doubt that’s going to happen. Now, if only Guatemala could find a Silicon Valley or a movie industry — then everything might turn out even better for this little nation.

Photos by horslips5 @ flickr via Creative Commons

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Costa Rica, which used to be the hipster hot spot because no one knew about all of its treasures, has lost some of its favor because retiring baby boomers started to fill the beaches with polyester pant suits and tour buses.

But then HGTV started showing House Hunters International shows about that little island off the coast of Honduras and Panama City. The new Central American vogue had moved north and south of Costa Rica.

Boomers, who make all of their important life decisions based on basic cable television shows quickly started looking to other places and Costa Rica has, once again, become cool to go to. (Thank you Suzanne Wong!)

And if you’re going to enjoy a little Pura Vida! you might want to try out the Sibö Rainforest Spa & Retreat at the Los Sueños Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort or the Kuö Spa at the Costa Rica Marriott Hotel.

Here’s why:

They’ll scrub you down with coffee and volcanic ash, then wrap up your body in seaweed and eucalyptus and then massage you until you evaporate. Ah, the spa life. Really, all of the facilities at Kuo Spa in San Jose sound wonderful — and while this may not fit a budget traveler’s pocket book, not every trip has to include a backpack. These spas appreciate the finer things — at least from what we can see from reading about them.

See, look at how this is described:

“The Sibö Rainforest Spa & Retreat at the Los Sueños Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort immerses guests in a sensual and vibrant journey where natural, yet exotic rainforest elements are combined to deliver unparalleled spa services. Sibö is named for the ancient indigenous peoples’ “creator of nature,” and the entire design is fashioned to be a holistic body and spiritual transformation.”

Yowza. Who doesn’t want a holistic body and spiritual transformation in Costa Rica?

If you’re never enjoyed a spa vacation, this sounds nearly perfect. It could only be better if there is no Wifi, no cell service and nothing to do but relax. Sounds simple and alluring, but we realize that most people’s heads would explode if that were the case, so we’re pretty sure you’ll still be able to update your Facebook page to make sure all of your friends are quickly reminded how much better your life is over theirs.

For more information on these spas check this website. To find out more about Marriott in Costa Rica, go here.

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It’s a shame, really, because there’s plenty in this Central American capital to keep even the most wanderlust traveler busy for a few days. My friends and I landed here on a whim after finding cheap airfare ($340 round trip from Detroit at the time) and we weren’t disappointed.

We knew two things about Panama: Manuel Noriega and the Panama Canal.

Bad boy Noriega is long gone (he’s holed up in Florida somewhere) and the canal still runs through this isthmus, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The canal, one of the engineering marvels of the 20th century, is the country’s No. 1 tourist attraction. Visiting Panama and not seeing the canal is akin to traveling to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower.

Casco Viejo, the city’s oldest neighborhood, is an up-and-coming area not to be missed. It’s a blend of architectural styles, everything from Caribbean to Art Deco to French, and not yet gentrified. It’s part Havana, part French Quarter New Orleans. Small cafes and bars are tucked along its narrow streets.

Native Peruvians sell beaded jewelry, baskets and trinkets in plazas and courtyard. The neighborhood hugs the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean, offering panoramic views of Panama City’s skyline.

Outside Casco Viejo, Panama City is a city of contradictions. Its skyline is crowded with contemporary residential towers and more are rising – dozens of cranes dot the cityscape. The streets are thick with traffic, but it’s easy to maneuver on foot. Just watch out for random crevices and uncovered manholes. Spanish is the native tongue, but English is common. The currency is American; it doesn’t get much easier to travel in a foreign country.

And the beer is cheap (about $2 a bottle in most places) and the food is inexpensive, damn good and you’ll find just about any kind of fare imaginable. It’s not all burritos and quesadillas in Central America.

Sipping rum drinks at an outdoor café in Casco Viejo, we met Eric, an ex-pat from New York who has opened a bar, Mojitos Sin Mojitos, here.

“Every day someone asks me, ’why Panama?’” he said, explaining his decision to run a bar here. “During my vacations I realized the opportunity for businesses in Casco Viejo and the amazing community that was already in-place. The Casco Viejo community is the most diverse, ingenious, eclectic, and fun group of people I have ever been surrounded by. There really aren’t any places in the world like Casco.”

Or Panama City, for that matter.

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He’s currently on a boat moving from Costa Rica to Panama (OK, so it’s not just buses he’s on), but in his latest blog entry, he brings up the versatility of “pura vida.” It’s the Costa Rican phrase that could mean “Pure life” but really means so much more.

Evans writes:

•    A greeting followed by the same response. Just like the French will inquire, “Ça va?” (with the expected reply of “Ça va?”), Costa Ricans frequently ask, “¿Pura Vida?” and expect the same response to show that all is well.
•    Goodbye–a casual way of saying, “See you later.”
•    An expression of carefree disregard, similar to the Jamaican, “No Problem!”
•    ”Whatever,” and used just as frequently as the English, “Whatever.”
•    ”That’s cool” or “groovy”
•    ”OK” meaning, “Yeah, I like that.”
•    A rousing cheer to show optimism in the face of difficulty.

Evans missed a few obvious meanings pura vida as well –

The response to “would you like another beer?”

The answer to “would you like to dance?”

The way to reply to “Did you read HTG today?”

You can follow Andrew on Twitter @Bus2Antarctica

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