In case you are, for example, the parents of a child and you are taking a trip I have created a handy website to help you determine if you need a passport for that child.

It's called: Do I need a passport for my baby.

I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed making it. I didn't enjoy learning about this new policy while in line to get on a flight because it meant I missed the flight and had to stay home in Denver instead. Denver is nice, but not as nice as being on a trip.

In 2006 we went on a trip to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. On that trip we "hiked" El Pital, which is mostly about taking a bus to a mountain pass on the side of the mountain and then maybe a 2 hour walk up the road to the top of the mountain.

Bus to El Pital

I don't remember the exact name of the town where we found the bus, but it should be relatively easy to figure out. We started in La Palma and took the early early morning bus to another town. Then we had a little food from a pretty nasty pupuseria while waiting for the bus up the hill. The mountain pass had a tiny shop where we bought some potato chips and similar things.

The Salar De Uyuni, one of our favorite parts of our 2008 trip in Bolivia, is now at risk of serious changes. It seems that 70% of the world's known reserves of lithium which is of course an important element for all of the lithium-ion batteries in the cellphones, ipods, cameras, and laptops that people take on their trips to the salt flats to document their trip.

We've posted a ton of photos of our trip to the Salar De Uyuni, here are some of the best. I post these at the request of the site Save the Salar who are also on twitter. They want the world to know about the beauty of the salar and the risks it faces.

I frequently am asked "when going abroad, do I need a converter or an adapter or both?"

What is a power converter?

A converter takes energy from the wall in one format and turns it into another. So, in Argentina the power is 220-240v, 50 Hz, AC. That means the voltage is 220 to 240 and it comes in 50 alternating cycles per second. For comparison the United States of America is 120 volts at 60hz. You can see different standard power measure from around the world at http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

Now, will that work for you? Most electrical products should say in tiny little writing something like

Input: 100-240v, 50-60hz.
Output: 6.5-18.5v, 4.6A max.

For me, maps are little gold mines of information. I love to pour over them imagining what the place is like, or letting them remind me of my favorite parts of a trip to a specific area. As we spent our 9 months in the Spanish Speaking world the one souvenir we kept from every location was the local maps. I'm sure that in years to come these will be great for kickstarting our memories.

Historical Maps of Latin American Locations