http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog "Walker, there is no path. The path is made by walking." --Antonio Machado Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:04:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The last golden rays of 2011 slipped away gloriously yesterday, lingering across the chalky face of the Pinnacles, an ancient towering limestone formation in the north of Boone County, Missouri - one of the places on this planet I will always call home. The unseasonable warmth had us removing layers ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2012/01/01/from-caterpillars-to-butterflies-mayan-dreams-for-2012/ PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Quintana Roo - A light breeze moves in the jungle beyond our patio at the Grand Velas resort; birds call to each other with liquid notes, and my mother reads her Bible beside me as my father sleeps. We're winding to the close of our action-packed ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/12/27/three-perfect-days-for-dad-on-the-riviera-maya/ MERIDA, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico - Finally, I can relax. The sound of running spring water and the night noises of the jungle surround me, the toil and trouble of the city far behind. This long-anticipated journey with my parents - their first to Mexico, and the first stamp on their brand-new ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/12/22/hacienda-petac-a-little-piece-of-eden/ By Tracy L. Barnett Magis Magazine October 2011 “Fierce winds ripped huge branches off the thousand-year-old redwood, sending them crashing to the ground two hundred feet below. The upper platform, where I lived, rested in branches about 180 feet in the air … As the tree branches whipped around, they shredded the tarp ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/10/20/the-butterfly-effect-julia-butterfly-hill-in-magis/ On Day Two of our Panama adventure, we climbed 1,800 feet to the Valle de Anton to see the world's second-largest volcanic crater - second only to the Ngorogoro in Tanzania. We were met by Ivan Hoyos of Ancon Expeditions, Panama's only Virtuoso tour provider and a conservation-oriented company ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/10/05/panamas-ngorongoro-el-valle-de-anton/ It's been a long commute from the time my alarm rang at 4 am until my taxi driver deposited me at the glistening lobby of the Bristol Buenaventura at 9 pm. There were times when I asked myself if I was crazy to take this assignment. Now that I'm ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/09/21/a-piece-of-paradise-well-worth-the-wait/ Meet Dave and Anna, the Permacyclists. She was a corporate lawyer from Brussels; he was a sociologist from New York. Neither of them was happy with their chosen profession, and after a great deal of soul searching, they decided to do what many dream of but few actually do: They ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/07/14/meet-anna-and-dave-the-permacyclists/ The planning had taken a long time, and the date had been postponed three days in a row - rain, problems with the tractor, but Friday night, the word went out: The next morning would be the Siembra de Mujeres. There had been collective plantings before, but it was the ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/06/27/womens-planting-day/ So happy to see this piece finally out on the newsstands - Colombia in general, and Cali in particular, deserve all the publicity they can get as a fantastic travel destination. Colombia's unspoiled forests, mountains and and beaches, vibrant cultural diversity and warm and welcoming people combined to make it ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/06/17/cali-makes-nat-geo-traveler-along-with-yours-truly/ Story and photos by Melissa Gaskill This blog frequently covers travel that makes a difference - trips that incorporate volunteering, are culturally sensitive, support local businesses, and respect the human and natural environment - or all of the above. I wrote a guest post about such a trip about a year ... http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2011/05/10/tourists-and-turtles/