Hi! I read your bio and it was (almost) as if it were me talking!! I lived in Columbus Ohio when I was a kid and it's probably the closest to Home I've ever gotten! AND I'm currently in Mexico (so isn't that a bit funny) anyway there's other things, but for now...just wanted to say hi! :)

Hi Sarah,
Just a quick note to give you this link. It's written by a woman on Oaxaca. Everytime i hear about Oaxaca (which is not very often!) I remember you're there. Nothing big, but just another person's perspective. I always wonder what other expats I see on the street are up to, don't you? http://www.expatwomen.com/stories.php?idhist=507

Marie

Hi Sarah! You can check out mapmyrun.com for route advice, but I also use google earth to check out a potential run - it can give you the mileage, too :)

Sarah,

I was checking out your work and saw you're quite in-the-know with Mexico. I am heading to the West Coast on a Mexican Riviera Princess cruise (don't judge, it was a free trip ;), and I'm looking for ways to bust free of the cruise culture and see/do something authentic or different in Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. Didn't know if you'd be willing and able to assist me. I'm hoping to come back with enough material to write some pieces for Matador or other publications. Thanks for your time!

Lindsay

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed your last two articles. Right on the money.

hi there sara,
just wanna inform you that there's no job vacancy for teaching english in my univ, for now. i'm so sorry, i asked the lecturers but found out that there's a new lecturer already. hope you'll find ways to teach here, or anywhere you want :D

Wow. A bomb threat. That's crazy but I see you take it in stride. I would too. My mom, not so much. Lol.

Anyway. I'm not sure what I want to know exactly. I guess, do you have trouble finding work at all?

Right now, I'm an anthropology major but if I were to take up teaching it'd be as second major. And it'd be to teach English, I think, or maybe History.

Hi Sara,
Thanks for your message.
I got into guiding completely by accident when I got a summer job meeting people at the airport in New York! I only guide in English, but may start looking at French tours soon- not many tourists about now so I'll need to be creative.
Coach and overland companies are always looking for people though and it's fairly easy to find some kind of work in this area. You looking for a job?
Hope you're doing well, wherever you may be:)

hi sarah!
thanks for dropping few lines :D
yes indeed, my university employs a number of native english teacher, especially in my department. so there must be a way or two to apply here.
about the job vacancy, i should ask some of my lecturer first cuz i dont really know about the situation now. but i'll send you info asap. how's that sound? :D

cheers from bandung :)

Batopillas is in Chihuahua, Mexico along the southern part of Copper Canyon. I got there by donkey, but I think there was a road through the main part o town... not sure, worth the ride though, the people were something out of a story and the food was crazy good.

Thanks a lot Sarah, it makes each day exciting anticipating how different my life's going to be a year from now. When are you going to Japan, and for how long? That's on my list but probably won't happen for a while.

Hi and thanks for the friend request. I'm new here and just trying to poke around and figure Matador out. Not traveling at the moment. Involved in moving myself to Portland, OR right now. Used to be a lot more of a vagabond and wish I could be again... I'll keep getting inspiration from this site and the people on it maybe?
Take care.

thanks so much for the warm welcome. I am super jealous that you headed to japan. It's really awesome.

I was just wondering what you teach. I've been thinking about how I can fit in my agenda to explore with workng and earning a living. And my mom suggested I teach. But I don't know if I want to do that.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm new to this world of Matador and trying to figure it out. It seems much more suited for me rather than Facebook, as the topic is travel and more life reflective than "I'm happy my dog sat up today!"

Hopefully I can write something that will mean more to others here!

Can't wait to hear about your travels to Mexico and then to Japan! Totally cool!!

Ted

Hey Sarah,
Thanks for friending me! The photos of your journeys are quite awesome- I hope your enjoying your stay in Mexico. :) Let's keep in touch if you're interested - maybe one of these days we will meet each other on the road.

For now, goodluck, have fun, and be safe!

-Lina

Hello
My
name is Sophia,i saw your profile today and became intrested in you,i will also like to know you the more,and i want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my
picture for you to know whom i am.Here is my email address( ) I believe we can move from here I am waiting.
(Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
Thanks
Sophia

my dearest new friend,
it give me a great honor to contact you after viewing your profile which interest me in having communication with you so that we can get to know each other and see what happened if you will have the desire with me,i will be very happy if you can write me back for easiest communication.i will be waiting to hear from you so i can tell you more about my self and send you some of my recent photos for you to see who you are dealing with.
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Pls dont for to email me here.[kellywilliams1923@yahoo.com]

lol, I am from Oaxaca currently in Columbus Ohio.
I embrace the quirkiness of the phrase "small world"

Thanks for the message, although we unfortunately we won't be making it down that way on this leg of our journey. We're going to start the long road back to Canada in a couple week. However, we are leaning toward spending a few months in Guatemala next winter in which case Oaxaca could be on the list. I'll keep an eye out to see if you're still there. Enjoy Japan!

Hello there! I'm a word nerd (I study Spanish and linguistics), and was told by Julie Schwietert that you were working on a piece about idioms. I'd love to contribute to this article, so let me know if you would like some input.

Looking forward to your piece,

Cassandra

My advice is to enjoy every waking minute of it! Nagoya hmmm! Not that familiar with it, drove past in one time going from Gifu prefecture to Yokohama. I've heard its bad for Yakuza, the so called Japanese Mafia. But it's not supposed to be as bad as Osaka.

Try all the different foods you can. Sometimes its better to ask after you've tried it and decided you like it. The Japanese pallet is much more subtle than the American. Seasoning for many things is very light and they don't put ketchup on everything.

If you love baseball, take in a game. It (Japanese Baseball) is an experience like no other. The cheering and bands start well before the game and continue non-stop throughout. Nagoya is home to the Chunichi Dragons. If you saw the Tom Selleck movie Mr. Baseball, that is the local team and I believe they have a pretty good shot at a pennant this year.

If you get a chance to travel, try to visit Takayama and shirakago. The former is one of the most beautiful mountain vistas you'll ever get the chance to see and the latter is picture postcard perfect village with the old style thatched roof houses. Note, Mt. Fuji is considered a must see but IMHO better from a distance. Having climbed it, I feel safe in telling you you're much better off visiting the Hakone Onsen district to the south and viewing it from afar.

I currently live down in Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture. Here it is a subtropical paradise but a two and a half hour flight to Tokyo. We don't visit mainland often but might try to get up that way for a few days this year. Only time will tell.

Enjoy your visit and if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Keith

I ALWAYS take running stuff with me! When I was living on a ship for two months, I alternated between laps around the main deck and the treadmill (I would have gone crazy without it!)
I'm moving to Korea for a year, and I'm definitely going to try and run the Seoul marathon next March. It will be my first race outside the US and I can't wait!

Hi Sarah - Thanks for your message and apologies for the delayed reply (i'm just getting the hang of Matador). Yes, I'll start thinking about a piece on Argentine food...Saludos!

Yea, Beijing is outta control. Seoul's air pollution doesn't top that at all. It's actually tolerable.

Thanks Sarah, your book recommendation is up - http://matadorgoods.com/in-patagonia-by-bruce-chatwin/

Thanks for the forum! The piece looks great. I hope we can get some good discussions going.

Great suggestions for Matador, Sarah! I hope you've had a chance to check out the piece.

I also created a forum post based on the travel myths idea you had (no worries, I gave you credit!!)

Check it out here
Travel Myths debunked!
http://matadortravel.com/forum/2681