To whomever actually reads the introduction, in many ways this is a list of places I want to travel to in the near future (a few of which I’ve already been to). But this is mostly an article for you, the reader, who visits this site for insight into how the research I’ve done has …

The Dominican Republic is a beautiful and culturally-rich place, as most are. But my experience there was made markedly less fun by the other tourists around me. I had the same experience in Mexico, and later on in Cuba. I may have had a better time if I’d taken a Yucatan road trip or headed …