Consider duration of your trip. Plan on eating about as much while you’re camping as you eat when you’re at home. If you’re car camping and you have extra space, it might not hurt to take a little extra food; but if you’re packing it in, every ounce counts, especially on long hikes. Be sure not to under pack your camping food – only thing longer than a 20-miler is a 20-miler when you’re hungry. Starving your body while doing rigorous exercise, like hiking, could have adverse affects on your health.

Plan a camping food menu that you’re willing to eat. Camping food for many people has come to mean granola, oatmeal, and granola. I like them as much as next guy, but I’m not willing to ruin my week in woods by packing food I don’t like. There are many companies now offering a huge selection of dishes, most of them very tasty, which just require water – everything from roast beef and potatoes to tuna casserole. Don’t discount instant oatmeal and granola as tasty options. Just remember, just because you’re leaving civilization behind doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat what you like.

Joshua is an expert on traveling in Belize, and recently chose this tiny Central American country for his own honeymoon; he has also lived in and written extensively about Nicaragua and Honduras.

NORM:

Please tell our readers something about yourself and your expertise pertaining to Belize. Joshua:

I have been living, working, teaching, and traveling in Central America since U.S. Peace Corps sent me to Nicaragua in 1998. I have been returning to region ever since to write guidebooks, lead service trips, and visit friends and adopted families. Last year, I was asked by Avalon Travel Publishing to take over Chicki Mallan's Moon Handbooks Belize, which, when it first appeared 15 years ago, was first and most acclaimed guidebook to country. I gladly accepted and proceeded to research and write sixth edition, which was released in early 2005. NORM: Where is Belize? Joshua: Belize is tucked into northeast corner of Central America, bordering Mexico's Yucatan peninsula to north, Guatemala's Petén wilderness to west, and Caribbean Ocean to east. Culturally however, Belize and its hundreds of cayes (islands, pronounced keys ) is more Caribbean than Latin. English is spoken everywhere (along with seven other languages). The diversity is astounding, especially considering there are only 260,000 people in entire country. NORM:

Would you consider Belize a good choice for a romantic getaway or wedding and honeymoon destination? Why? Joshua:

·They can rent their very own waterfall for day at Hidden Valley Inn. ·Couples can get Mood Mud Massages at Maruba Resort Jungle Spa. · They can rappel into a vertical cave shaft together, at bottom of which they'll find a flower strewn bed next to a subterranean spring at Ian Anderson's Caves Branch. The list goes on and on.