The Americas –It’s All Here

Two continents. Two oceans. One sea. Multiple worlds. Endless possibilities for the curious, open-minded traveler.

Mention “America” and most automatically envision the United States, but there’s a lot more to America than the US. In fact, there’s more than one America.

There’s North America — Canada, the US and Mexico. Yes…Mexico. There are the seven nations of Central America — Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama — with their ancient civilizations and thriving ecology.

There are the dozen island nations that dot the Caribbean Sea. If you’re looking for that beach life, that island life, that all-inclusive resort life, look no further.

Keep going south and you reach South America. The Andes. The Amazon. Its blend of bustling cities that make you feel you’re in Europe without ever crossing the Atlantic. Its towering mountains, green, steaming jungles, searing deserts and seemingly endless plains.

All the way down to the southernmost tip of the world.

Within all this vast territory, you’ll hear English Spanish, Portuguese, French and indigenous tongues. You’ll find the descendants of European settlers and enslaved Africans who both maintain their cultural ties to their motherlands.

Canada has cosmopolitan Toronto and Montreal to the east and Vancouver in “beautiful British Columbia” to the west. Mexico is such a wealth of cultural, cuisine and warm hospitality that more Americans live in Mexico than anywhere else outside of the United States.

Brazil is where the world comes to celebrate Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro and revel in the country’s African heritage in Salvador, Bahia. Argentina is the birthplace of tango and home to some of the world’s best wines — as is neighboring Chile.

In short, the Americas allow you a panoply of vastly different experiences without ever having to cross an ocean.

Then again, there’s also the Panama Canal, which lets you cross between two oceans in the comfort and luxury of a cruise ship, while experiencing a lot of those countries on either side.

Packing yet?