The Austin Visit

As I sit here contemplating the events of the last week and what lies ahead I'm overcome with many thoughts, some pleasant and some rather agitating. I was able to attend Tata and Sam's birthday party on Saturday, which was a great time and gave me a chance to see Shannon & Jeff, Lindsey, Michelle, and many other people I've met a few times before, but I was also able to meet a new client that same day and was able to assist her in preparing her home for sale. It was indeed a blessing to be able to work and earn some needed money for my adventures, but the best part is that I was able to meet a very nice lady. My friend Rebecca was the reason for Saturday's work, the birthday party invite, and another assignment I have on Wednesday. Rebecca and I will be spending part of Monday and a good portion of Tuesday together so I can see the results of her new backyard landscaping, which I designed before I left.

There are feelings of remorse for how I left Austin, however, I couldn't help my mental breakdown. Rebecca has been a good client and a great friend over the last few years and has grown to mean a lot to me. I look forward to being able to spend some time with her.

My friend Thumper is allowing me to stay at his house and has been driving me around town, serving as my assistant for the two appointments, and been a pleasure to get to know more. Tonight I was able to book my flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and I will be departing Austin on March 4th. It will be good to see my best friend and spend some time with him there. Although there are many questions racing through my mind about why Momma Gretchen didn't answer my E-mail about coming into Austin to visit me while I am here. I'm sure it's because she's busy, but my thoughts are worried ones that maybe she doesn't hold such high opinions of me any more.

I've been able to meet people I had lost contact with, even from years ago, which has been good for me. However, some of these people have such changed lives that I wonder how they get along now. I've been being pulled back into a desire to hang out with some old friends, but I know it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to do so. Thus, I will allow the universe to guide me and trust that the angels will guard my path.

I was able to purchase a new backpack, some new hiking sandels, and get a dufflebag ready for shipping to my sister's home for storage. The new backpack is very nice and can be zipped up for travel on a plane, train, or bus or it can be unzipped and used as a backpack. It came with a detachable smaller backpack which I can use to store the laptop and other valuables that I want to keep close to me. I've decided to travel again with the laptop even though I might be going through some countries that are currently fighting. It has been very valuable for me to have the laptop with me because I can make phone calls from my Skype account, I can search the internet for useful travel information, and keep up with my E-mails.

Now I'm sitting here wondering why I cannot sleep, as I've been writing about the things that are on my mind, but I suppose there is a lot more. I'm not sure what the next many months will hold in store, but, even though I'm a bit afraid this time, I'm ready to go. It was good to be back in Austin and I know I will always have some great friends here.

Delay in Atlanta

An UPDATE: Well, after I wrote the first part of this I had hopes of being on a flight, even several times delayed, to Austin, however, the universe had other ideas in mind. Now I'm sitting in the main area of the Atlanta airport waiting for a flight in the morning at 6:30 AM, because after several delays, boarding and sitting on the plane for an hour, the flight was canceled. Now, it wasn't only I put out by all of this, you should have seen the chaos as what seemed liked thousands of people hurried to get to a Delta agent to get a new flight and find out if they were going to get accommodations for the night, which much to my dismay, I didn't, nor did anyone else. If an airline cancels a flight, they should provide some sort of accommodations if they cannot book another flight that day. But alas, I'm now trying to sort out what type of sleeping arrangements I can find here, as most of the chairs, benches, and floors are taken up with various sorts probably asking themselves the same questions I'm asking about tonight.

Now here is the original Post:

It’s raining here in Atlanta as I watch the slow moving line of planes make their way along the tarmac for their turn to take off into that dark, gray, wet, and foreboding sky. There’s a woman with a small child, probably around 2, playing in front of me, with others around doing various things from drinking coffee to taking naps. The gray skies match my mood of sadness on this day. Although I’ve been able to utilize clean toilets (where you actually get to put the toilet paper in the toilet and not in the trash can), to eat a great Checker’s burger, and been able to sit in a clean space I find myself missing something that was left behind. Or is it, I presume, is a part of me that was left behind, that part of me that longs for travel and adventure, to be free from the restraints of society, of family and obligations?

Yes, I’ll freely admit that I’ve never liked having restraints of any kind placed upon me, perhaps that is why I do not have a boyfriend and why I struggle with relationships of any kind. Is it this fear of being trapped, restricted, or what I perceive as limited in some way that is keeping me from finding a meaningful relationship? Yes, it could be, and so much more.

What amusements, what sundry ridicules, what pains, and what pleasures lie ahead in Austin I can only speculate, but I’m here watching the tiny rain droplets gather force along the large windows, slowly gathering force to create a small stream of water, and thinking of things to come. The planes move slowly further along their path and the little boy is still playing joyfully with his mother, while I sit here typing and awaiting the call over the speakers to board the flight for Austin.

Still waiting, waiting, longing, ready to go, but alas, due to the weather here there has been a delay. There might be yet another delay because we were supposed to board a few minutes ago, but they haven’t said anything about boarding. I keep an ever-watchful eye on the attendant and an open ear to hear the announcements over the speakers.

I’ve called Thumper, my friend that has offered his place as a refuge, and my friend Rebecca, who I will be spending all day Monday with to catch up. Now I’m sitting on the tile floor because that is the only place where a power-point station is for the laptop and I’m posting this message, checking emails, and making use of the now free time. What awaits me upon my return only time will tell, however, I return a changed man with new beliefs about what I can accomplish.

The Eve of a Return

As I sit here in the TV room at the Hostel Pangea, where I have enjoyed many a conversation and movie, thoughts run through my mind about my return to the states. What will it be like to be back in Austin after my lengthy absence? How will I find my friends doing? But I know that no matter what, for now, the return is just temporary as I have a strong desire to keep traveling.

I returned here to the Hostel Pangea because that was were my bags were stored over the last few months, however, upon my return I found huge price increases. Thus, I doubt I shall return to the Hostel Pangea because it's not really affordable now. I am sure in time they will learn that increasing prices so much will only hurt the good reputation that they developed amongst the backpackers because the backpackers will start talking about another location instead. Granted, it's a nice place, but it has the feel of a prison these days with all of the new controls. There isn't a place to have quiet because there is music playing every where, including outside where the guard stands, which gets to be annoying in the TV room because we have to keep turning the volume up just to hear the TV. It would be nice if they could make some changes and only play music in certain areas, have the guard turn down his radio, and create some nice sitting areas where people could just relax. But I'm sure what happens with their business will only be determined by time, but as for me, I doubt I shall return.

I like to find new places, and as such, will look to find a new place in San Jose to stay when I need to be here. But, for now, I have to think of what I shall be doing back in Texas and planning my trip through Mexico. A trip that I'm excited about doing, mostly because of being able to visit with my best friend in Puerto Vallarta. I've decided after Mexico to go see the Northern parts of Guatemala that I missed, like Tikal and Sumuc Champey, and hopefully go to see more of El Salvador.

I've packed my bags, taken a shower, shaved, and prepared myself for the trip at 6 AM for the airport. It's going to be a long day as I don't get into Austin until almost 7 PM. I'll admit I'm nervous about returning, but am excited about seeing my friends there like Rebecca, Brink, Thumper, Patricia, and maybe some of my adopted family. If any of you are reading this, just remember this Thursday will be margaritas at El Arroyo on Far West Blvd. from 2 till 6 PM. See you then.

Thoughts about Things

Over the last 3 and a half months I've been traveling throughout Central America and haven't had much chance of being by myself, mostly because of sleeping in Hostel dorm rooms, traveling in over-crowded local transports, and in general just because the nature of backpacking doesn't really allow one to be alone. Although I have found a few times to be alone, they have been few and far between. My best friend recently asked how my mental health was doing and I replied that it was doing good because I haven't been able to be alone so that my mind could wonder off into those wilds of the imagination of which I am accustomed to doing. But, there is one thing. It seems I'm always in my own fantasy world, even amongst a group of people.

Over the last few days, while I've been relaxing before my return to Texas, I've been able to be truly alone. I've noticed my energy level drop, a slight depression return, and a sense of forlorn developing. Even though I'm learning to travel on very little money, I'm always a bit nervous about how far the money will stretch and what will happen if I get stuck somewhere along the way without funds. Thus this very thought keeps me active in my control of money and doesn't allow for over spending. Even how I have set my intentions to travel again are based upon the cheapest possible travel through Mexico.

The one thing I've realized over the last while is that even though I may feel alone, I'm not really. I have some great friends and family who care a lot about me and when I get a chance I've been trying to connect with them as best as possible. Maybe venturing into the unknown back in Austin has me a bit nervous because I left there in an almost mental breakdown, which I know caused great stress upon all of my relationships. I cannot ever even try to explain what happened to me before I left, but even when I tried I couldn't find a way to communicate with anyone. It was as if I was locked inside my own head, not able to feel, to talk, to do anything.

Traveling has helped bring me out of that breakdown, but now the nervousness of a return has come about. The best thing about returning now is that I hope to get to see my best friend when I start traveling through Mexico for a bit. I've learned a lot along the way down here, the most important is the value of friendships, which aren't easily gained and even harder to maintain, but I'm assured are worth the trouble of maintaining. For true friends are those that don't have to fully understand, but still stick by you when things might not be going so well.

I know I haven't always been a good friend to people, but these days I'm trying and I hope that counts for something. Here's a special Valentine's Day note to all of my friends:

Thank you for being my friends, even my family, as I count you all my family, whether born to it or by becoming part of it by choice. I hope that at best I've been able to add some color into your lives, along with warmth, intelligent or youthful conversations, and a love of which I really do have for each of you. Thus, I send you all blessings of great love in relationships, in your families, and in your friendships! Happy Valentine's Day!

Returning to Austin in February

Wow, what a whorl wind of adventures of late. Sometimes traveling with a nice laptop isn’t very comfortable because of the fear of something happening to it. Such has been the case lately, until my arrival here in San Jose, Costa Rica; thus, I haven’t been able to write much. I now have one week here before I fly back to Austin to see my doctor, return the laptop to a safe location, buy a nice backpack (because I need one to travel such as I am now), and determine what limited clothing I’ll be taking with me as I begin traveling again through Mexico, back down through Central America and down into South America. My current intentions are to travel to Puerta Vallarta to see Jorge and Rick in March and then continue South until I get to Panama before finding a way through the Panama Canal to Cartagena, Columbia, where I’ll begin my South America travels.

For now I’m going to try to recall some of the adventures of the past month and write about them. I’ve already posted the photos from the adventures so you’ll have to scroll down to find the various photos.

Isle de Ometepe and San Juan del Sur

After arriving in San Jorge (the name brought fond memories of my best friend after the same name) we quickly boarded the ferry to the island. The trip took about 45 minutes and surprisingly a lot of people were sea-sick, but I enjoyed the ride with the breeze and waves. Arriving in Moyagalpa you realized how small the town was and it’s the largest town on the island. We quickly found a place to stay called the Hospedaje Ali, checked in and got comfortable in the room. It was late so we just relaxed that evening.

The next morning we walked around town enjoyed breakfast at the American Café and Hotel. We had met Simone and her husband, Robert, the day before while walking into town. They have only been open for 7 weeks, but it’s a great place with great food. After sending her a lot of business for breakfast and lunch she offered us a room at a reduced rate, which we took that night. It was the first time in some while that I enjoyed a nice long hot shower. You see most places in Central America don’t have hot water.

The next day we rented a local jeep to tour the island, but it was made fun because I arranged for 9 others to go in with me to rent it. Thus we had 10 people and 5 backpacks in the jeep. We visited El Ojo de Aqua (the eye of the water), a natural mineral spring with crystal clear, cool, and refreshing water. We drove on to other parts of the island including doing some four wheeling to get up to Mirador del Diablo, a look out point that allowed for incredible views of the island. We wanted to go see Isle de Congo where the monkeys are, but soon found out that there were only 5 monkeys on the island, not native but imported by a local hostel to attract business; thus we didn’t kayak out but continued on after eating lunch at a local establishment.

The next bit of travel was down some very rough roads to get to various beaches, such as Charco Verde and Santo Domingo, some other locations and finally to Finca Magdelana. We left 5 of the people there so the return trip to town was very comfortable. We spent the night again at the American Café and Hotel but were on the ferry the next morning to catch a bus to San Juan del Sur. Robert, the husband of Simone, was also on the ferry and offered to take us in his taxi to Rivas so we could catch our bus. We caught the bus and were off to San Juan del Sur.

My first impression of San Juan del Sur was that of new developments which were driving up local real estate prices. The town is small and is set on a beautiful beach, however, we decided to stay up the beach a bit in Maderas. The trip to Maderas was via 4-wheel drive trucks with seats in the back and it was a rough trip where I bounced most of the way. Playa Maderas was incredible and one of the places I enjoyed the most and will consider returning to at some point. The contrast between the two towns was remarkable in that Maderas only had two places to stay and one restaurant. Thus in the evenings we enjoyed a bonfire on the beach while drinking Flor de Cana, the official rum of Nicaragua.

Although the place was incredible there seemed to be some drama amongst the many campers because things were being stolen so I decided to cut my stay short and head to San Jose via a Tica Bus. After 4 days in Maderas I managed to get quickly and smoothly into Costa Rica and San Jose. This is where I am now. I’m resting and preparing myself to return to Austin for a bit to take care of things.

Granada, Nicaragua

After some weeks traveling via chicken buses I decided to take a shuttle from Leon to Granada at a cost of $15 US. Upon arrival in Granada I checked into the Bearded Monkey, a nice local hostel set in the historic part of Granada. I relaxed for the day in the hostel enjoying the artwork and the company of others from all over the world. The following day Moran and I decided to rent bicycles for the day at a cost of $5 US. We toured the city all day stopping along the way at various places to try the local food, see the market, walk along the lake, and rest in parks.

The bicycles aren’t new and my seat wasn’t very comfortable because it kept moving on me, but still the fun was had and we saw parts of town we wouldn’t have gone through would we have walked. Each night was spent listening to Salsa music at Café Nuit, which was just around the corner from the hostel.

The people in Granada were very friendly and I enjoyed my stay there a lot. It’s one of those places you could enjoy staying for a bit and maybe even living there. However, I wanted to see other things so I went to the Monkey Hut (owned by the Bearded Monkey) on Lago de Apoyo. I had been spending time on various beaches without sun block but here I managed to get the worse burn I’ve had in years. Now weeks later and the peeling has almost stopped, but I now wear sun block. Some of the people there didn’t know they had to bring their own food so we managed to prepare a nice spaghetti dinner and a great breakfast for 7 people with the food we brought, which we all enjoyed eating on the balcony of the Monkey Hut. The highlight was getting to kayak around the lake for a bit, which left my arms a bit stronger but sore. Then, of course, there was the night we swam out to the raft and laid under the stars just talking and enjoying the quiet night.

Next it was onto Isle de Ometepe, which is a volcanic island in Lago de Nicaragua (the big lake in Nicaragua). We had to catch a local bus to take us to Masaya and then walk a bit to catch another bus to take us down to Rivas and San Jorge.

Here is the link to the Google Map of Nicaragua.

Leon, Nicaragua

My arrival in Leon was via a short chicken bus ride from the orphanage, where I had been doing volunteer work (and where I learned some valuable lessons about people, religion, and maybe why I have such a dislike for people who call themselves something they really aren’t – because I always present a picture of who I am which I’ve colored to reflect a different person, not myself – and where I did meet some wonderful people.). My arrival was early in the morning and I didn’t sleep well the night before so I caught a local taxi to the Big Foot Hostel, where I had to wait until 11 for check-in.

After checking in I laid down for a nap before venturing around the town. Although the town is large it seemed like a very small village. There was a mix of types of travel in the city, everything from horse-drawn carts to motorcycles. I found the little trucks that ran through the town picking up people very interesting because it’s not something you would find in the States, and it was cheaper than a taxi. I had a take one of these trucks to catch a chicken bus to Las Playitas (the beach about 45 minutes from Leon).

While I was in Leon I met a group from Norway (70 of them in all – 62 girls and 8 guys) who were there to study Spanish as part of their University programs. Of these people I enjoyed hanging out with Mari, Sofie, Mia, and Trinnie. Mia had a birthday while we were there and we all celebrated it on the beach in a private home owned by Edwardo’s family as a weekend house. It was nice to hang out with some local people (all men), the four girls, and Ben from London. We spent the day playing in the pool, walking along the beach, swimming in the ocean, and enjoying a great meal towards sunset (prepared by the local men). Las Playitas is one of these up and coming spots and the tourism is now being developed. However, the big draw for Leon is Volcan Cerro Negro.

Volcan Cerro Negro is Nicaragua’s newest volcano. It’s only a 45-minute hike to the top and another 5-minute hike to the crater. It’s an active volcano and has been erupting every 7 years, but hasn’t since 1999. This fact only led to the excitement about going on the trip up. Our trip was led by Kim from Australia and girlfriend of the owner of the Big Foot Hostel. After hiking up to the top we dropped off our bags and boards and went walking to the crater and to enjoy the surrounding views before returning to get ready to board down the volcano. Kim instructed each of us about how to stay on the slender boards, how to keep our balance, and some other useful information. We all dressed up in our orange jump suits, put on our goggles and prepared for the trip down. The women all went first and did very well. The men followed based upon whether they wanted to go slow or fast, with the faster ones going last. I was next to last, but the man after me went much slower than I did. You can see the video in my Blog about my crash, which was caused by me leaning a bit too much and losing my balance.

Although I was very sore the following day, the adventure was fun and provided some excitement, not to mention some interesting conversations for others and myself. The time in Leon was short because I wanted to see other parts of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua Beaches, Islands and Me

Here are photos of Playa Maderas, San Juan del Sur, Isle de Ometepe, people I've met, places I've stayed, and photos of me.

Nicaragua Photos

Photos of Nicaragua include the border, a monument in Managua, the orphanage, new friends in Leon from Norway, the Big Foot Hostel, and some more churches.

Cerro Negro in Nicaragua

Photos from my adventures in Leon, Nicaragua, at Volcan Cerro Negro.