2013 - Lili on the Loose

17 10, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Dia De Los Muertos Skull

By Lili|October 17th, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2013, Central America, Dia De Los Muertos, Latin America, magnet, Mayan Encounter 2013, Mexico, Playa Del Carmen, purple, Skull|0 Comments

I use to have a list of items I collected from each vacation, postcards, shot glasses, art, music, snow globes, and finally magnets. I've since paired down my collections, but one of my favorite items I got in Mexico is a Dia De Los Muertos style Skull magnet. Its purple (my favorite color) and made of clay or ceramic and is pretty hefty for a magnet. On one side a Male rests. On the other a woman dances. And the top has a scene of birds, cactuses, and the sun. Souvenir Saturday is an

13 08, 2015

Cave Tubing in Belize

By Lili|August 13th, 2015|Categories: Activities, Travel|Tags: 2013, Belize, Cave, Cave Tubing, Caves, Caves Branch River, Caye Caulker, Central America, dark, Mayan Encounter 2013, Nohoch Che'en Archaeological Reserve, San Ignacio, Travel Thursday, Tubing|0 Comments

Coming from Boulder, CO I’m no stranger to tubing down a river, but Belize offered a new twist on that activity: Cave Tubing! Belize is known for having the largest cave systems in all of Central America, but the most popular cave tubing is found at a small part of the Caves Branch River at Nohoch Che'en Archaeological Reserve near Belmopan. Here you will goes through 5 different caves, weaving between sunlight and darkness for almost 5 miles! Coming to the end of a cave! Our plan was to stop for cave tubing while on the drive from

18 06, 2015

Making Chocolate in Antigua, Guatemala

By Lili|June 18th, 2015|Categories: Activities, Museums, Travel|Tags: 2013, Antigua, Bean to Bar, Beans, Cacao, Cacao Beans, Cacao Butter, Cacao Powder, Cacao Shells, Cacao Tea, Central America, Choco Museo, chocolate, Chocolate Museum, Chocolate Tea, class, Cocoa, Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Powwder, Cocoa Shells, Cocoa Tea, dark chocolate, European Hot Chocolate, Guatemala, hot chocolate, Hucks, Kakawa, Mayan Encounter 2013, Mayan Hot Chocolate, milk chocolate, Nibs, Shells, Travel Thursday, workshop|0 Comments

One of my favorite activities in Guatemala was making chocolate! On my first day in Antigua, I visited the Choco Museo and did their “Bean to Bar” Workshop. This is a 2 hour class that is offered at various times throughout the day and is a lot of fun for all ages! A traditional Mayan grinding stand, with actual chocolate being ground into Cacao Liquor. They first walk you through the museum. While the museum is free, I got a lot more out of it and the hands on displays while the teacher explained things in more detail.

11 05, 2015

Museum Monday: Choco Museo / Chocolate Museum

By Lili|May 11th, 2015|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: 2013, Antigua, Beans, Cacao, Cacao Beans, Cacao Butter, Cacao Powder, Cacao Shells, Central America, Choco Museo, chocolate, Chocolate Museum, Cocoa, Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Powwder, Cocoa Shells, Guatemala, Hucks, Mayan Encounter 2013, Nibs, Shells|0 Comments

As an American, we eat so much chocolate, but rarely think of where it comes from or how it is made. That is why I decided to visit the Choco Museo in Antigua, Guatemala. Beyond learning about the history of chocolate and its uses over time I was more fascinated to simply learn about where chocolate comes from! Chocolate is from the cacao tree. This tree is very picky on where it lives, and only grows in certain parts of Central & South America, the Caribbean, West Africa, and a few plantations in Asia. There are also different types of

8 03, 2015

The Sounds that Travel with Us

By Lili|March 8th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Asia, at the heart of it Ireland 2009, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Belize, BuzzFeed, California, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Christmas in Germany, christmas music, Costa Rica, drinking song, England, Europe, Germany, Good Food in San Francisco, Guatemala, House of Cards, Ireland, Italy, Japan, ke$ha, kesha, Las Vegas, Linkin Park, Mattafix, Mayan Encounter 2013, memories, Mexico, Nevada, North America, paradise, Robert Post, Sailor Moon, San Diego, San Francisco, Scotland, Sister Cities Japan 2004, song, songs, sound, sounds, St. John, St. John 2010, Toronto, USA, USVI, wild rover, Yea! Sports|0 Comments

BuzzFeed recently had an article about the sounds from Italy that will fill you with Wanderlust. And it reminded me of all the sounds I associate with certain trips. Here are some of my top highlights that will instantly take me back in time: Toronto: Theme from House of Cards Google Play and Amazon had the first episode of House of Cars for free. I figured, sure why not, lets see what the hype is all about. I watched the first episode on my flights out...and got hooked. At night I'd watch House of Card before falling asleep. San Diego:

21 02, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Bismuth

By Lili|February 21st, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2013, Bismuth, collection, DC, fossil, mineral, Museum Madness, North America, rock, USA, Washington DC|0 Comments

When I was little I had a rock and fossil collection. I was obsessed with dinosaurs that my mother would hide rocks, small fossils, and minerals in the dirt and then allow me to dig and find them. At some point I lost the collection in a move. So when I went to the National Museum of Natural History I decided to add to that lost collection. It took me ages to decide what type of rock or fossil was I going to get in the gift shop. I had seen photos of Bismuth on reddit and found its geometric

2 02, 2015

Travel Missteps: 1 Thing Not To Do In Washington DC

By Lili|February 2nd, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, DC, feet, metro, museum, Museum Madness, North America, pain, USA, walking, Washington DC|0 Comments

When I travel I do a lot of research. I particularly enjoy articles like “10 Things Not To Do In...” as they can provide a nice overview of common traveler mistakes. But on my short trip to Washington DC, I ignored one of common pieces of advice: Don’t Over Do It! But I only had 4 days in DC, and I wanted to see all the free museums! Protesters in front of the Jefferson Memorial at night. So I pushed myself hard. On the first day I went on a guided tour of to the National Archives, then

24 01, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Guatemalan Jade

By Lili|January 24th, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2013, Antigua, Aztec, buying guide, Central America, Guatemala, Jade, jadeite, Mayan, Mayan Encounter 2013, necklace, nephrite, Olmec, shopping|0 Comments

When traveling to Guatemala, I knew I wanted to get a piece of Jade jewelry. There are two stones that are considered “Jade”: nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite is more common and is often used for carvings, while jadeite is harder and denser and so is often used for jewelry. Guatemalan jade is of the jadeite variety and comes in a variety of green colors as well as more unique finds like lavender or black. Jade was precious to the ancient Mayan, Olmec, and Aztec civilizations as it was a status symbol of wealth, power, and life itself. Thus, jade makes

19 01, 2015

Travel Missteps: Groped in Guatemala or am I just bad at Charades?

By Lili|January 19th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, Antigua, camera, Central America, Charades, church, groped, Guatemala, Mayan Encounter 2013, ruins, Safety, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

I had an eventful first day in Antigua, Guatemala. I made chocolate, I shopped a bit, sprained an ankle, and I also had the largest scare I’ve ever had while traveling. The ruins of Santa Clara Before dinner I decided to squeeze in one last site. I was excited to see the many ruined churches of Antigua and there was one I could see from my hotel, a ruin called Convento de Santa Clara. Camera ready, I paid the Q40 to the bored man at the dark entrance. As you enter to the left the ruined church juts

31 12, 2014

2014 The Year of Changes – Part 1: Work

By Lili|December 31st, 2014|Categories: Year in Review|Tags: 2013, 2014, changes, Denver, St. John, USA, USVI, Wayin, work, year in review|0 Comments

When I wrote 2013’s Year in Review my only plans for 2014 included another trip to St. John, USVI and work more on the blog. As you can surmised from the blog - neither of those plans happened because I had no idea how different my life would be this year. So instead of doing my favorite travel memories of 2014 I’ll share the big changes that happened this year. And as I started writing, I realized that there were so many changes that I needed to break the 2014 Year in Review into multiple posts. So here is Part