If you visit the Caribbean area of Colombia, an absolutely mandatory side trip from Santa Marta is the Tayrona National park (Parque Nacional Tayrona). This is a protected coastal tropical forest, most of which you can only access by foot, donkey, or boat, thus guaranteeing an adventure away from civilization.

In what seems like an event from another lifetime, I decided, after staring too long at the ubiquitous railings that are so synonymous with New York’s fire escapes, to take an urban hike through that city. Donning my well-worn boots, I laced up and headed out of my tenement in Washington Heights and struck out south down the entire length of Broadway. It was 11 miles in total all the way to the Ferry Terminal and took me about 5 hours given the inevitable delays at street crossings, construction, stopping to take photos and well, soaking up all of what New York has in profundity, character.