Folium: Do You Speak Touriste? via NBCNews

Folium: Do You Speak Touriste? via NBCNews Tourism is big business. Attracting, entertaining and ensuring a steady flow of tourists is a world-wide industry.  France is currently the world’s top destination for foreign tourists; the city of Paris was visited by 29 million people in 2011.  By comparison, London attracted approximately 15.3 million international visitors […]

Folium: Why It Pays To Be Bilingual via Voxy

Folium: Why It Pays To Be Bilingual via Voxy Check out CareerBuilder.com to find more than 6,000 job postings seeking bilingual applicants.  Employees bilingual in English and Spanish are particularly in demand.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos are now the nation’s largest minority group, accounting for half of the nation’s population growth since […]

Folium: A Tourist’s Global Guide to Tipping via DailyInfographic

Folium: A Tourist’s Global Guide to Tipping via DailyInfographic Most people, if asked, will tell you a tip is designed to reward good service.  But a number of those same people will tip the same amount, without regard for the level of service they receive.  I know I have.  As steamed as I can be […]

Terra: Sarchí, Costa Rica

Coffee pulses through the veins of every Tico, whether they choose to imbibe or not. It is the lifeblood of Costa Rica. Sarchí is a small town nestled among coffee plantations, a development center once focused on the singular task of processing and shipping red ripe beans to various mills along both coastlines. … … […]

Terra: Río Sucio – Parque Braulio Carrillo, Costa Rica

On our way through Braulio Carrillo, our bus driver asks if we can make a quick stop. He asks if we have ever been this way before, and when we reply that this is our first time through the national park he smiles and says that the stop will be worth it. Río Sucio runs […]

Terra: Doka Estate Coffee Plantation, Costa Rica

The roads to Doka Estate are lined with verdant curtains of coffee plants, with red ripe jewels dangling from the branches. Black shears diffuse the sunlight and shelters one of Costa Rica’s most vital exports. The plantation isn’t located too far off the beaten path, which makes it a large draw for tour groups. However, […]

Folium: Home Is Where The Food Is via HomeFood.it

Folium: Home Is Where the Food Is via HomeFood.it There is no cooking like Momma’s cooking, right? There is also nothing like eating Momma’s cooking at home. My memories of Mom’s home-cooking vary from the not-so-great home-grown green beans and over-done pork chops to the delicious homemade breads and cookies. There are families with Dads, […]

Terra: Santa Elena, Costa Rica

Monteverde represents Costa Rica’s modern progressive paradox. The balance between preservation of the cloud forests and the willingness to share it with the rest of the world is the subject of no small debate. Monteverde is also far from a day trip, and the excursion to get there is worthy of its own narrative. The […]

Terra: The Road To Monteverde, Costa Rica

Getting to Monteverde is as great of an adventure as the reserve itself. Costa Rica boasts diverse extremes, and the journey from San Jose to the cloud forest is no exception. Language should not be taken for granted, for one man’s molehill is another’s mountain. The “road” to Monteverde can barely be classified as such, […]

Terra: Fútbol in Alajuela, Costa Rica

Soccer is not a sport, it’s an experience. The game pervades every aspect of daily life, making it less of a sport and more of a cultural phenomenon. It is a spectacle on par with weddings and festivals, an opportunity to participate should never be missed. Alajuela, Costa Rica is not a major city, more […]