I’m super excited to announce that I’m the next (and second) Road Warrior for the Belize Tourism Board and the Matador Travel Network. For the next three months, I will be based in Belize, working as a travel writer and photographer.

The Road Warrior Program was launched in March 2011 and it’s a first initiative of its kind between the Belize Tourism Board and a major online travel magazine and blog such as the Matador Network.

The goal: to showcase a unique destination such as Belize through the eyes of a long-term travel blogger.

It’s an amazing opportunity offered to those of us who graduate from the Matador Network’s travel writing or travel photography course (“MatadorU“) to do what we love full-time: write and/or shoot. And for readers, it’s a chance to learn about Belize from the perspective of a traveler who is on the ground immersing in all things Belizean.

I’m also the Road Warrior Program’s first photographer (so excited!). Through both words and images, I’ll be sharing my next 90 days in Belize with you as I go all around the country. My main theme: adventure travel. Stay tuned to find out what I get into (read: everything from repelling to diving). And when I’m not hanging upside down from a rope or floating through caves, I’ll be capturing portraits for a “Faces of Belize” project.

My articles and photography will be published every week on the Matador Network, and my blog will be updated regularly with images and lots of stories and tidbits on Belize.

Joining the Road Warrior program is one of the most positive steps forward for my travel photography and writing since I embarked on pursuing my passion 2.5 years ago and since completing MatadorU’s travel photography course. It’s literally, my dream job.

So if you’ve always wanted to visit Belize or want to learn more about it, this is your chance to watch it all unfold!

I arrived in Belize late Friday, and it’s been an amazing start so far: from waking up to birds chirping at the beautiful Belize River Lodge, to learning about medicinal plants, to spotting howler monkeys and sampling my hosts’ traditional Belizean cooking.

I’m sitting on the porch at the lodge right now, taking in the night breeze and listening to nature all around me as I write this first post.

Three months to go, and it’s going to be one un-Belize-able ride!

To follow along my Belize adventure and not skip a beat, subscribe to my blog feed or join me on Facebook or Twitter.

Lebawit Lily Girma

Travel writer, Photographer, Guidebook author and Blogger Lily Girma has lived and studied in Africa, Europe and the Americas. In 2008, she left behind a prestigious law career to follow her passion. Her work has been published in various outlets, including CNN Travel, BBC Travel and New York Times Magazine, and her photography commissioned by tourism boards. Her first edition of "MOON BELIZE" travel guidebook is due for publication this Fall 2013 (10th edition, Moon Handbooks by Avalon Travel/Perseus Books). Lily's work reflects a deep love for culture and adventure in all its forms.

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