I feel like my favorite country of this trip is always the one I am in. Seriously, I get so wowed by the moment that the previous countries start to meld together into a pretty cool memory, but not as great as the place where we are. Well almost, Belize and Panama felt pretty miss-able to me. Right now, Peru is my favorite country. Time will tell how long it can retain that status. Continue reading “Northern Peru”
We stayed in a hotel the night prior to crossing the border into Nicaragua. We did this so that we wouldn’t have a bunch of life maintenance to deal with in the morning and could get to the border nice and early. Best laid plans… We hadn’t counted on finding a channel on the television that had movies in English. We were faced with the choice of arriving at the border early in the morning, beating the afternoon heat or watching Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Since one bad choice usually leads to another, we opted to stick around for The Terminator as well. As the Terminator was doing his damnedest to wipe out the human race, I was becoming more and more caffeinated and anxious about our border crossing. I finally asked Scott to just tell me how it ended so we could get on the road. Continue reading “Nicaragua”
Before we cross any border, I read up on what it is going to take to get ourselves and our truck across with as little hassle as possible. Was it G.I. Joe who always touted, “Knowledge is Power?” Or was it, “Knowing is half the battle?” I don’t remember. It’s not important. What is important is that the other half of the battle is actually using that knowledge. Continue reading “Honduras”
Full disclosure, we did not give Belize the attention it deserved. There were a couple of factors at play here. I have visited Belize. And it is really expensive. Last time I visited, I was fairly thorough in my discovery so if Scott wasn’t super jazzed to do something we just skipped it. Mostly due to the expense involved. I have linked my self-worth with our ability to stay on budget and most things in Belize cost more than they did in Mexico so it was a difficult time for me. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we have to get to Belize before we can discuss Belize!
Mexico keeps getting better. With every new destination and experience, we fall more deeply in love with this country. When we first crossed the border in Baja, we figured we would spend a couple of months getting to the bottom of Mexico. Now it is looking like we will be lucky to make it out before our six-month tourist permit runs out! Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico, is full of beautiful sights and we could probably have spent our whole six months in this one state if we wanted to visit each one. Instead, we just had a really spectacular two weeks.
Scott and I had been bouncing around Mexico like a pinball for a while. We were enjoying ourselves but looking forward to when the pinball that is us bounces off the beach again. We hit that beach in a tiny town called Las Casitas. It is located on the Gulf of Mexico just a smidge north of the city of Veracruz.
A trip of this scale is not easy. It challenges me daily. Scott and I are a study in intimacy, tolerance, and growth these days. I have been forced to let go of the iron fist of control over my life. Or at least loosen my grip a bit. As humans, we are, by nature, selfish creatures. Even those of us who would be described as having generous dispositions have their limits. We like it when things go our way. When two people live in close quarters (like a truck) they rub up against each other a lot. And not always in a good way. We both like to have our way. The biggest fight we have had on this trip was Continue reading “Concrete Jungle to a Lazy River”
This is a continuation of a longer story that will make so much more sense if begun by reading Part 1!
The very best way to end an epic vacation, in my opinion, is to lounge about in crystal clear sea water. We found that water on Ko Phangan. Continue reading “That One Time We went to Thailand with My Mom and Dad (Part 4)”
This is a continuation of a story that will make much more sense if read from the beginning… Start with Part 1!
So there we were, standing around looking lost at the canal boat terminal. I may have had a guidebook in my hand. We may have all been pointing in different directions. We may have looked like we needed some help. Continue reading “That One Time We Went to Thailand with My Mom and Dad (Part 2)”
