What I Learned Part II

Continuing on...well I guess I'll just share the changes I have noticed. It's difficult to notice one's own growth I think. It's like age. It's creeps up on you each day and you don't notice the small changes. However, when I realize my 20th high school reunion is only a couple of years away...yea, things have changed.

I think in general the positive thing that the sabbatical created for me is a new sense of personal peace. I am a much more centered and calmer person, on the inside. I don't worry or fret or do things a million miles an hour. I was a super-achiever before and there was a high cost for getting so many projects and tasks completed. I thought that I liked living at that pace, and possibily I really did, but not anymore.

Traveling internationally, alone affords one the chance to detach. Especially when you have no plans. I really made very little day to day plans. I just slowed up on a continent or in a country and figured it out from there. I made a few hotel reservations ahead of time, but usually no more than a few days ahead. I figured it out as I went and this freedom really allowed me a great amount of flexibility. I was able to take the opportunities as they came to me and really stay in the moment. The idea of being present, staying in the moment and not in the future or the past is something that is frequently talked about, especially in Christian circles. However, how are we taught to live this idea? It's hard to do or be something new when you are the same person in the same circumstances. So for me everything about my sabbatical was radically new and different. It was not business as usual.

It was good for me to figure out how to get from one place to the next or stay longer if I wanted to or move on when I felt it was time. It forced me to talk to people and to really use my Spanish. I talked to everyone. The hostel owners, the taxi drivers just about anyone. I also met some other interesting travelers along the way from all over the world. It is a fascinating thing. However, I soon found out that I was not a typical foreign traveler. The world sabbatical...yea no one has any idea. There are all types of travelers: partiers, surfers, couples or groups of friends. The main S. America travelers are from Germany, France, Israel, Australia and the depending on the season Argentina and other S. Americans. There are some from the USA, but not as much as europe and other countries. However, more and more are coming. From my time in Central America, that is where the American go. Mexico and then Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala (if they like ruins), Nicaragua, El Salvador in that order. Honduras and Belize for the scuba diving. It amazes me how much progress has really been made. Most of those places were not a safe place to tour even 20 years ago.

Anyway, traveling alone and as a woman has advantage and disadvantages. People were mostly fantastic to me. I feel that I was able to experience the best of people and to find that most if treated the same are helpful, respectful and kind in every country. It was also awesome to find out that I really could do it. No one to help me day to day. Decisions on my own as to how to get from one place to the next, where to eat, where to stay. Transportation, housing and food issue take up a lot of time.

The other great thing about traveling alone is that you have a lot of time to just..be. That really helped me be in the present. Time almost stood still. Each day felt like a week compared to before. Each day felt like I appreciated each part of it and it was worthwhile. I was able to do what I wanted when I wanted, not in a selfish way but in a way of discovering myself. How do I want to spend my time. What interests me etc. Sometimes it was just taking a walk or laying in a hammock. I did some touristic, siteseeing but not really that much. I really just took in the places and the people and walked around. Just trying to find food helps you get to know a place. Lots of alone time, but not lonley. It was a very calm state of being. It's hard to express. The fact that there are a million demands on you at every moment and a project impending. Getting enough sleep, taking naps. I was healthier than I had been in years by living better. Yea not a surprise. It did take a while to let it all settle in and become a part of me. Workaholic tendencies don't change over night. It happens slowly, bit by bit. That's why I think it never worked before. I would have periods of calm and balance only to let myself get sucked back into things again. So that is the beauty of being able to take a whole year. It takes that long to make deep, permanent changes to the way I see myself and life. It makes sense it would take significant time to change because, it didn't happen overnight to get that way.

Well. Those are the thoughts of the day. Maybe a Part III?? Cheers.