Getting Away From It All

I lie to myself about why I travel. I say I want to (as the cliché would have it) “get away from it all.”

- Bonnar Spring

There is a kernel of truth—I like taking a break from daily workouts, love escaping long, frigid New England winters. Still, I book involved vacations, not two weeks at the beach with a stack of novels. That always sounds scrumptious, but somehow it never happens . . .

Is Machu Picchu on your bucket list? It was on mine. And as a recent significant birthday approached, I decided it was now-or-never. The trek to Machu Picchu is, of course, the ultimate guided glamping experience. (That’s glamour camping, if the word hasn’t already insinuated itself into your vocabulary.) Because of its protected status, the only way to trek there is with guides...and porters and cooks and piscos sours before bed in tents that someone else set up.

Since we were traveling that far, though, I wanted a good look around. So, while the focus of our trip was the unforgettable Inca citadel, we spent the rest of our month in Peru wandering on our own. We hiked solo into canyons twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, took a boat into the Amazon basin. Really getting away from it all.