Viva la Vida Travel with Carmen Schaffer

The real truth.  I got a message late last night from a woman saying this, " I desperately need one of your trips, I'm so fucking lost." This came from a woman who has been tirelessly battling her own personal demons and has gotten to a point of being "fucking lost." I got to thinking about the messages I send while traveling, the perceived notion that travel helps people find themselves, and all of a sudden, I felt a huge amount of guilt for seemingly showing the pretty side of how travel transforms without laying the foundation of HOW it changed me and WHAT in me needed to change. No one ever wants to put the ugly side of their life out for the public to see but the truth is, no matter how pretty the picture, or no matter how inspiring the quote is, there's always a side of the story that few get to hear; the hard part. I think to some degree, we've all been "there". We've gotten so caught up in our lifes choices, both good and ba

It's all about teamwork. Once upon a time our wanderlust was piqued by National Geographic magazines that would roll out monthly editions showcasing magnificent and far away lands, exotic cultures and places one could never imagine visiting. I, myself, would pour my day dreams into those well crafted photos and imagine  that some day I would walk that walk of the traveler. Fast forward to today, when the internet has literally brought the world into our hands. Instagram, blogs, Twitter, you name it,  the world wide web has brought us closer together and has made the world of travel that much more attainable.  Millennial's are blazing the trail in travel; globe trotting and backpacking all over the place. They design their trips based on others experiences and suggestions, they want complete autonomy over their travel experience and for good reason. In this day and age of everyone wanting to be different and stand out amongst the masses, creating a travel experience f

The Salt Flats That Stole My Heart Once upon a time, I saw a social media post on Salar de Uyuni ~ the salt flats of Uyuni, in Bolivia and I knew that this magical place where surrealism and the skies reflections in the salt flats were every day occurrences, I knew I had to go there. Lucky for me, on my trip to Bolivia, Salar de Uyuni was on the itinerary and I was more than stoked to finally see myself there. We hopped an airplane and headed to Uyuni and as we flew into Uyuni, I could see salt flats for as far as the eye could see. After arriving into the town of Uyuni,  we went for lunch at Tika restaurant for a delicious lunch of volcanic rock soup ( I can't recall the name of it but it had a piping hot lava stone in the soup that made the soup bubble and boil) followed by a myriad of other delicious dishes that left us all feeling full and happy.  The salty, dusty town of Uyuni. The town of Uyuni is like an old western town. The dusty roads, expansive desert and

I wasn't always this way. Once upon a time, I was a cynical, somewhat judgmental, extremely self-conscious and insecure young woman. My insecurities ran deep leaving me with a guarded sense of self. I was a nurturer to my core which lead me down the path of being a social worker. I gave my everything to helping those in need with the exception of giving back to myself. I walked the walk that our society said I ought to walk and every once in a while, I'd hear the calling of my soul to listen and act accordingly, but I would quickly silence the calls. I became very edgy in my essence; I felt like the insides of my being were as sharp as shards of glass. Something was missing in my life despite the apparent married with two kids American dream I was living, yet I didn't know what it was. Enter: Viva la Vida Travel I started my business with the idea that I wanted to help transform people's lives through enriching travel experiences. I had no idea how to do that

Where the clouds meet the earth. Day one in Bolivia began with a cross country drive out of La Paz and into the expanse of the mountainous countryside en route to Copacabana, on the shores of the sacred Lake Titicaca. I had traveled to Peru before and spent time on Lake Titicaca and  it is nothing short of a magical place where the bluest of skies touch the mountainous back drop of a meandering lake that seems to leave the traveler quiet and pensive. We arrived in Copacabana, a busy little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It is here where Bolivians and Peruvians from across the lake make the trek to have their vehicles blessed by a local priest. They drive for miles and miles to receive a ceremonial blessing of their vehicle both inside and out in order to protect them in their journeys. People decorate their cars with all kinds of bling and are ready with beer in hand to have the priest bless it with his words as well as with his spritzing of alcohol on the car.  The line u

Many moons ago, when I was in college and  crushed hard on a Bolivian singer in a reggae band, I became instantly intrigued with a country so exotic and so far away. My love and intrigue for this far off land  started with meeting someone from Bolivia and from then on, my interest was piqued. Time passed and Bolivia would come and go in my conversations yet my curiosity maintained omnipresent. As I  began my travel agency and started studying more about South America, it quickly became a destination that I desired to experience, mostly because everything I'd read had said it was such an intriguing destination but not always the  most tourist friendly ~ which was precisely why I wanted to go there! A few months ago, I was invited to explore Bolivia with Magri Tours  and I quickly jumped at the opportunity. The itinerary included the city of La Paz, Salar de Uyuni, Lake Titicaca and beyond. I was going to explore every last place that was on my bucket list and to say the least,