Former Thorn Tree posters?
 

What has become of all the very informative posters of the defunct Lonely Planet Thorntree? I really miss the info and sharing by that great bunch of independent travelers. Are there other fora to which they migrated?

As previously mentioned, myself & Chris Daniel are here. Now you. I think I recall recognizing a couple of names on a Reddit subforum, but it wasn't very active. Friendlycheckingirl was one, I think. I only went there a couple of times. I think on TA there's a Peter something that primarily was a photographer and was on TT. I'm guessing Stewbear is dead. I forget other names. Fodor's however, is not devoid of informed, experienced Mexico travelers. There of course are those that have never ventured out of resort areas such as PV, Cabo or Cancun.
Fwiw, in the past, I posted a few trip reports here under the screen name 'baldone' until for some unknown reason quit working.

Chris O"Daniel?
 

Yes, I do recall his name, didn't he post about hot springs? Many others, whose names have vanished from memory, are on my old computer, which crashed a while back. It would be great if some could be lured back to posting here. Think I'll try teasing a bit on TA.

Ola Pelon,
A shout-out below to former Thorn Tree members whose inclusion over on Thorn Tree remains to this day in that re-incarnated version now on reddit. The first three are the mods:

1) LucaPal--an ESL teacher/refugee advocate based in Palermo who once lived in London (an ex-pat?); mega-experienced globetrotter; lives up to his handle name--a friendlier, more experienced, more willing to share, non-self promoter you'll never meet.
2) NutraxforNerves: retired pharmacist based in I believe, the Bay area; she too offers more useful advice and less ego; once sent me a rare Cali honey after SF Customs officials cruelly confiscated my personal 'emotional support' jar; *just returned from Iraq
3) Giora: a proud gay man formerly of Toronto; long-based in Japan with his partner; been around; unshort of opinions.

4) DaveElliot: a car fanatic based in Melbun, near our CounterClifton and others; a SE Asia specialist; corresponds with a certain Fodorite about matters Hendrix.
5) FriendlyCheckinGirl: retired Lufthansa employee based in Chermoony; winner of 'Best Handle Ever on a Travel forum'; been around; just returned from Japan; similarly unshort of opinions.
6) 'Kathy' is the same person who was a fixture on Lonely Planet's 'Thorn Tree'. If memory serves, from Minnesota. A very friendly and experienced traveler who adds to any forum experience.
7) 'CoalCliffe is the Aussie 'Ian', he also of Melbun-fame and again, not short of frank opinions.
8) 'MenacingWig' still posts on occasion.
9) 'KaziinEssex' is a regular--have forgotten their former handle.
10) 'ErmineStreet' the Brit who lives in Orvieto, was once known as 'Mike9'.
11) 'Landes' was once 'BJD', former Canuck now with family in Bayonne area.
12) 'Zebec' is now 'zebectraveler'; would steer clear of him; met him in a bar once---complete asshole.

I am done. the Interwank

I don't have a lot to add, but I couldn't help responding, for the "Thorn Tree" is where I had my original travel-forum experience, and nothing since has been as good. I'm not a backpacker myself, but that forum, and its members' commentary, tended to conform to my own travel priorities, which lean towards curious, independent travel for the sake of a country's own natural, historical, or cultural qualities. (Of course there were exceptions, but not enough to worry about.) I really don't have anything to say to those tourists on this forum, or on others like TripAdvisor's, who ask about cars and villas to rent for a three-month stay in France, or who want to know whether a city's Sheraton or Intercontinental is a nicer place to stay.

Sure I posted on The Thorn Tree back in the day.

I check in here occasionally to see if anyone asks about Puerto Vallarta. But I get tired of the insults since I haven't "ventured out". Even though I know from experience, that Vallarta is not only a "resort" town it's a living breathing Mexican city of a 1/4 million people. But my 30+ vacation trips of a couple weeks up to a month don't count as credible for some reason. So I've given up posting for the most part on Fodor's. I am active on Trip Advisor which gets a wide range of travel types on the various forums I am on there.

"There of course are those that have never ventured out of resort areas such as PV . . . "

My 2-pesos worth . . . I think that can be a definite plus when someone like suze knows that 1 place better than anyone else. For those heading there, what better resource than someone who knows the area so well? She'd be my go-to expert in that case rather than someone who has experience traveling all over the country and knows a number of cities a little. I'd think that would be obvious.

You'd think (it would be obvious). Thanks for the kind post. Thing is I never lie, I never even exaggerate, even a little bit, so what I know I know first-hand from three decades of fantastic PV vacations. Yes I am a visitor, tourist, not a resident. I know about what many people are seeking, in the Zona Romantica, maybe not a mansion for 3 months, but solid advice about where to rent, and what going on around town... should that be someone's chosen destination region (Bay of Banderas) by request.

I'm still here as chris0daniel (Chris Daniel with the digit zero between my first and last name). I also post now, with the same name, on Trip Advisor's Mexico forum. Occasionally something interesting appears there that is not simply an inquiry about selecting a coastal all -inclusive resort.

Yes, I've often posted about the Tolantongo hot springs. I am retired and have spent much of the past decade here at home caring for an ill family member. But I am now able to travel again. I'm looking forward to flying to Mexico City in late October and remaining there, moving around quite a bit, before returning home in early March of 2024. I anticipate eventually posting some trip reports about some of my experiences.

I spent A LOT of time on the Thorntree Central America forum back in the day - it was my favorite, too. I travel a lot in Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras - pre-covid and since travel opened up again I'm generally at least once or twice/year in Guatemala and often end up in Belize or Honduras, partly for diving and flyfishing. I don't come here to Fodor's very often because I rarely visit México (first trip since 2010 was in 2021 for diving around Isla Mujeres, heading back to Akumal in October) and have limited interest in Costa Rica; this is the first time I've checked here in 3 or 4 months and there were only 2 threads of interest to me. I check the Trip Advisor pages for Guatemala and Belize (and Uganda - I'm a fan of that place, too) every day.
Happy trails!

@hopefulist: This is a bit off the main topic, but as you are a known Guatemala expert, I thought I might take this chance to ask whether in your experience a US citizen needs only a valid passport to get into Guatemala. All the information I have gleaned from the internet (for I've done my research) indicates this is so; but I don't want to be surprised at the last minute by some form -- probably an on-line immigration form -- that I knew nothing about. (I ask because in the case of an earlier trip, to another country, the airline clerk at my home US airport asked to see a copy of an online immigration form that I had known nothing about, despite my prior internet searches.) Thank you in advance.

F: since hopefulist admittedly doesn't frequent Fodor's much, a US passport is sufficient to enter Guatemala.

Truth - at this time it's just a valid US passport and the form (or forms, it varies) they either give you on the plane or (in case they run out) at the airport before immigration. I say 'at this time' because when flights opened up after covid shut-downs, vaccination proof and test results were required and could possibly be again.

@bald0ne & hopefulist: thank you much for your responses; I appreciate your answering what was a sort of "off-topic" matter. Each of you is one of the more informative and helpful of the regular forum participants, and indeed you're correct -- as far as Guatemala is concerned, all I need is a valid passport. However, as a matter of interest, I'll add that since posting my query I telephoned my airline and actually got hold of a real person (I didn't know that was still possible!) who informed me that in order to board my flight at my home airport (Pittsburgh International, PIT), I would need a copy of a second form, a Guatemalan immigration form, to be completed on line. Now it's possible that no official in Guatemala will want to see that form; I will just have to present it to the check-out person at PIT in order to get my boarding pass.
Not to be overly verbose, but I suspected this might be the case, for on each of my two recent trips to neighboring Honduras, I had to do the same thing -- complete a form on-line, receive an official form by e-mail and then present it to the check-in person at PIT. My recollection is that no one in Honduras asked to see that form. And since the Central American countries tend to follow each other in certain administrative matters, I suspected that the same procedure might apply in the case of Guatemala.
Anyway, I have completed the on-line Guatemala form, and received the official version by e-mail, so I believe I'm all set. I admit that this may all seem rather puzzling; I have no idea how the airlines came to function as immigration agents, or how anyone is even supposed to know about those on-line immigration forms. The US state dept. site doesn't mention them, nor did the Guatemalan consular sites I checked on the internet. Anyway, for anyone reading this who might be flying from the US into Central America -- check with your airline about these things. (I should add that for each country, the on-line form was very easy to complete.)

The airlines are responsible for making sure you’re allowed to enter the county they deliver you to, or otherwise bear the expense of returning you to your starting country. So wanting to avoid those unpaid return flights they check. I learned that in 1966 when I was nearly returned to France from where I’d flown to London & got stuck overnight in limbo, not having the amount of money required to enter. I was saved by a friend of a friend at the last hour, a colorful way to learn the rules.

That makes sense. What puzzled me was that Guatemala requires only a valid passport from US citizens -- seeing only my passport, the airline agent would know that I had all I needed.

Faedus - Could you share the link to the form? It's only been a few months since I flew to Guatemala without needing it and friends are there now, also not needing it. Is it specific to your airline, maybe?

hopefulist: Here is the web-site: farm2.sat.gob.gt
Recall that this web-site was provided to me a few days ago over the telephone by an agent at American Airlines.

Hi again -
I did a little online detective work. The website you pasted isn't working for me but when I google it, this is one of the options:
https://farm2.sat.gob.gt/declaDelVia...elViajero.html

When I google "is it required" plus THAT link, one of the options was a facebook page for attorneys in Chimaltenango, a transport hub near Antigua on the Pan Am Highway.
https://www.facebook.com/abogadoschimaltenango

They posted the link on July 27th with a statement saying SAT (Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria) approved its use by declaration on July 17th.

I also found this travel agency page with a brief explanation:
https://travelisimo.com/news/guatema...al-declaration

So there we are. Thanks for the heads up and happy trails!

I checked the websites you referred to; the first of them does appear to be the one I used.

moving to Costa Rica
 

I’m planning to move to Costa Rica soon, and I’ve been using Empleo.cr to help me find local job opportunities. It’s been the most helpful platform I’ve come across so far.

If anyone has suggestions for other reliable places to find local jobs in Costa Rica, I’d really appreciate the advice.

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Estoy planeando mudarme a Costa Rica pronto y he estado usando Empleo.cr para buscar oportunidades laborales locales. Hasta ahora ha sido la plataforma más útil que he encontrado.

Si alguien tiene recomendaciones de otros lugares confiables para encontrar empleos en Costa Rica, agradecería mucho sus consejos.

Topping cos just learned from Terry&Yudith (Cuba branch) that former TT poster from Holland 'DonTomas' was murdered several years ago whilst on holiday in Medellin. He was apparently there with a group of buddies, including CheersTerry also of TT fame. The latter is now based in Laos.
I am done. the bygone