Girl About the World

My bathroom in San Jose, Belize

I’ve gotten pretty spoiled being a travel writer. In the past year, I’ve stayed at the historic Fairmont in San Francisco, with a breathtaking view of the city; the adorable Tucker House Inn on San Juan Island, with fresh-baked cookies so big it took me two days to finish one; the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida, with poolside cabanas that I kicked back in for hours; and La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, where I curled up by my fireplace and enjoyed views of the Cathedral from the hot tub.

And while I loved all those experiences, I’ve never been one to travel only one way. So when I went to Belize last year, I traded in creature comforts for something a little more authentic. Forget drinks with umbrellas poolside and bathrooms bigger than my apartment — when I ventured into the Mayan village of San Jose, there were no flushing toilets or electricity. What they did have was an opportunity to unplug from it all and delve into the way of life of someone else. So I did just that. And I couldn’t wait to leave … and yet wanted to stay.

Read all about my fickleness in an essay I wrote for Away.com called “Why I Loved My Terrible Vacation in Belize.”

While in Belize recently, I participated in a program called the Toledo Ecotourism Association (TEA), which was founded in 1990 to encourage visitors to make it to the Maya, Garifuna, and Kekchi villages of southern Belize, well off the typical beaten path for travelers.

I plan to write more on my experience later (which was definitely worthwhile), but for now, I’ll give you a little tour into the village guesthouses, which is something I couldn’t find any information on before I left. I’m told that all the villages have the same guesthouse, and there are currently six villages participating in the program for overnight stays: San Jose, Santa Elena, San Antonio, Laguna, Medina Bank, and San Miguel. I was in San Jose. (Fair warning that I’m apparently a horrible videographer — this was my first attempt at it. I’ll work on it for the future!)

Inside a TEA Guesthouse from Haley Shapley on Vimeo.