Part 5.a: Retreat to the Mountains

After spending a couple of weeks in the US visiting friends and family for Christmas, I was itching to get back on the road and explore. I wish I could say that something profound brought me to my next stop, but it was really just the price of tickets! My cheapest way to Latin America was through Guatemala City, so that's where I went.

After a very short and less than thorough search, I decided to spend my next two and a half weeks in Antigua, Guatemala, waiting for Mama to be done with her trip to Panama so that we could meet back up in...we'll get to that later.

Antigua was amazing, and I was completely dumbfounded, if not a little nervous, to be living so close to such a giant volcano. Every day, I wandered through the streets of the colonial town, taking in the beautiful architecture and amazing natural wonders.

The food was all so new and different and totally delicious. Best of all, I learned that eating local saved me a ridiculous amount of money. Besides, what's the fun in traveling if you aren't going to try all the new foods?!

Everybody I talked to there was surprised that I was staying in Antigua for my entire Guatemala trip. I kept hearing about this lake that was supposed to be really great, but I was happy in this beautiful little colonial town. Little did I know that I couldn't avoid it - the lake would one day call me to it!

Antigua was a really excellent place to decompress from the hectic Christmas I had spent in PA, but it also became very clear to me in this moment that I was running from some pretty heavy feelings related to my dad that I was not ready to face.

Travel is a top-notch distraction. All day, every day you're faced with something new, and it takes up all of your brain space. I thought that if I just shoved everything I didn't want to deal with to the side and focused on my adventures, my problems would eventually disappear. Apparently that's not how it works, but I wasn't ready to give up just yet.

I was on a high. I realized that I was becoming somebody new when I travelled. When I went home, I was just me again. Here in Guatemala, I could be anybody I wanted to be. When I travelled, nobody knew me or my past. I could leave whenever I wanted to, and nobody would question it or even remember me. I was enjoying the feeling of flying under the radar - of being a ghost.

What I didn't like was being away from Mama, so after my two and a half weeks, it was time to meet back up with her in my favorite place...