When I was a child, I was mad at my parents for buying a family van instead of a horse. I refused to understand why using a horse to get around the suburbs of Toronto was not a practical choice and that a van would be much more suitable for our family. As you can […]

Integral to the grandiose setting, the alluring mist and immensity of sound that comes from getting close to the Iguazú Falls is the often overlooked, culturally and naturally diverse province of Misiones. Political borders aside, this area is the heart of Argentina’s Atlantic Rainforest. Misiones province was named after the Jesuit missions that formed there […]

The first stanza of Federico Garcia Lorca’s poem ‘Romance Sonámbulo‘  (‘Sleepwalking Romance’) translates: Green, how I want you green Green wind, green branches The boat out on the sea The horse on the mountain Written by the 20th century Spanish poet, the poem was arguably inspired by a European landscape and context, an azure Mediterranean sea and […]

You are called papa not ‘patata’, you were not born Castillian: you are dark like our skin, we are Americans, potato, we are Indians. – Pablo Neruda, Ode to the Potato Similar to other fuels on a grand scale, the quest to harness sources of consumable energy has been the cause of migrations, the root of […]

Let this be an ode to the non-tactile senses. To the joy of looking and seeing, the richness of listening and hearing. To being still long enough and staying put long enough to enjoy some of the world’s subtleties. About 15 years ago, I had burrowed my way into the professional world of travel. In […]

We’ve been out on the road this year…. a lot. At half-time on 2019, our trotters are worn smooth, and it’s time to take stock. The pictures above flooded my inbox when I naively wrote to our planning team to ask for a few shots from recent research trips. I was struck by the awesome […]

My first tag was in Bangkok (I write that as if I did more, but there was only one lame attempt). It was premeditated, illegal, and fun as hell.  It was lame because I couldn’t even come up with my own tag idea, I bought a book of pre fab stencil tags in the Hong Kong airport and […]

For 10 years I lived out of a bag.  It was a good bag, cordura Patagonia roller, that did me well, and it was the same size as a small NYC apt and held all the stuff I needed at that point in my life so I was happy.  I started on the road without […]

Mendoza, Argentina: yes, we know, there’s a lot of wine there. The Aconcagua and Uco valleys are some of the most well known areas in the world for wine production. Wherever you turn you’ll see wineries… red, white, rose… it’s a sommelier’s paradise. But it’s also an active traveller’s paradise, if you look a little closer. Let’s […]

There are some images that simply stop you in your tracks. You gaze, mouth agape, head cocked to one side and perhaps squinting, with an “eh?” emerging from your dry mouth. This happens a lot in the weird and wonderful northwest corner of Argentina. In this particular instance, I found myself dumbstruck by the volcano […]

Want to visit the moon? Yup, it is a little far, and kinda pricey. We have a compromise, however, in the remote, seldom-visited, northwest corner of Argentina. The kick-off point is Salta, but this area could easily be accessed from Chile or Bolivia. Or by space-ship, for that matter, such is the landscape. This land […]

Mendoza’s wondrous wine region has much to recommend it: gorgeous towns with lovely, leafy plazas, marvellous Malbecs, delectable dining, and terrific places to stay. All this and we haven’t even mentioned the Andes, which stretch dramatically in the distance, an impressive backdrop and a useful orientation device. The Uco Valley in the Mendoza region has […]

There’s probably something you look for immediately on your first day exploring a new destination. Maybe it’s the most interesting museums, delicious street food, local markets; everyone has their go-to travel highlights. As for me, after a long journey to a new city, I often steer myself toward the places where people rest—eternally, that is. […]

Sometimes when I’m feeling stressed out, or it snows in the middle of April (ahem, mother nature), I think about Estancia La Margarita. There are few places in the world where I’ve felt as relaxed as I did at this Argentinian haven. La Margarita’s sprawling property is set far enough away from the city to […]

Brazil seems to be hogging the limelight lately, with the FIFA World Cup this summer and the Olympics in 2016. While we love it as a destination, there is plenty more in this area of the world to be excited about. Our Latin American enthusiasts here at Trufflepig feel we shouldn’t neglect the rest of […]

This is not a post for complaining about spelling (although I wouldn’t be opposed to writing one of those). This is the ultimate South American showdown: Argentina vs. Brazil, who will win it all? It’s a tough match, of course. How can you choose a winner in a battle of Buenos Aires vs. Rio de […]