Rick's 2010 Journal — Happy Holidays in Nicaragua and El Salvador

I’ve always said, "Hedonism has its place. But choosing Managua over Mazatlán the next time you head south of the border can create a more fulfilling travel experience." For the holiday season of 2010, I decided to put this ideal into practice. While I could have just sunned myself on a tropical beach for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, instead I decided to split that time between Nicaragua and El Salvador, before ringing in 2011 in Mexico City.

This was a gloomy time in our history, as the Great Recession was reaching its lowest point, with no end in sight. Traveling south of the border with this mindset of austerity gave me a whole new take on Latin  America. And the trip also let me check in on underdog countries whose evolution I’ve been tracking since the Reagan years. Here are my blog entries from that trip — complete with photos — organized chronologically.