Independencia

It is 9:05 p.m. The Sox are up 3 to 1 in the bottom of the 4th. I just parked my car in my new neighbor-friends' driveway two doors down. The taxi is coming at 4 a.m. I have traveller's checks, a full pack ready to go, reservations at a dive operator for a week, and no plans for my second week. I'm off!

I haven't been on a true travelling trip in a few years. Actually, I haven't just gone and figured it out when I got there since I came home from Asia in 2002. In early '04 I went on a Caribbean cruise. In Fall '04, Alaska. In Summer '05, Bolivia, and that was 2 weeks of homestay and Spanish school, totally organized. In early '06, Barcelona (didn't have solid plans for that one, but no plans to go anywhere other than that one city). Then Paraguay, which since it was Peace Corps, was obviously organized. Finally, Puerto Rico in January '06 for only 4 nights, one town, with a friend.

So the nervousness I felt this morning as I was getting all the last minute details ready to go is normal. Even though everyone thinks I'm all adventurous and risk-taking and bestows upon me all the bravery that goes with that, I'm not really.

I'm pretty psyched, though. I can't wait to dive and am holding my breath while still on land that I will get to dive! (Weather may still, in the end, work against me and everyone knows that you should never hold your breath while diving!) I am still up in the air about whether I'm going to Guatemala or not. It depends what the traveller so'o (gossip line) tells me about the election activity there. No matter what, though, I'll foray across the border to Tikal on a tour from San Ignacio in Belize. Then I can at least say I went. (BTW, San Ignacio was the name of the biggest town close to my site in Paraguay. Interesante, no?)

I also just read in my Lonely Planet and saw again in my National Geographic Traveller magazine about this cool ecotourism company in Belize where you go to a town, wait for the bus to a series of villages and then go stay in a small Mayan village for a night or two. 80% of the money goes directly to the village and only 20% to the overhead costs of the company. Very cool. I might be VERY up for that.

I will purchase the prize for the winner of the pool in my office regarding how many emails I will have on my work email when I return. After 10 work days, 6 weekend days and one holiday day away, the guesses range from 397 to 540 and one savvy person went with "1" since the rule is "closest without going over." I will take care to choose a very good prize for the winner.

I love to travel. The signature quote on my email is from Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. It says:

"I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been loyal and constant in my other loves. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless newborn baby - I just don't care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it's mine. Because it looks exactly like me. It can barf all over me if it wants to - I just don't care."

Yup. And that's why I go. There is nothing like independent travel. Nothing.