Breaking Routines

graduacion de Ecela en Santiago

One reason I had a desire to take a career/life break and travel abroad was that I felt like my life had become too much of a routine, not quite a rut, but things felt very planned, very structured and maybe I kind of freaked out that I wasnt ready to call that my life as I know it.....yet here I am again, having lived in a city for nearly 1 month and feeling sad about moving on to the next phase of my adventure. Old habits die hard and I´ve most certainly developed my own sort of routine here, albeit an awesome one, it still is a routine and I need to break it. I´m not sorry I stayed in Santiago for this amount of time as it was really important to get a good basic grasp on Spanish and it was nice to have a more grounded start to this ambiguous trip. It´s certainly bittersweet to say goodbye to new friends and a comfortable life here, but I know it´s time to move on and I´m really excited for the upcoming itinerary! First, a few weeks in Buenos Aires (via bus through Mendoza) to practice more Spanish and return to a city I loved so much the first time, then on to a Peruvian adventure, followed by beach partying in Brazil and then....it´s still undecided. I think I´ll plan to keep the undecided part open for a while to see if I can truly break my old type-A shell and go where the mood takes me, after all, that´s what backpacking in foreign land seems to be all about. Chao Chile, encontramos otra vez pronto....Ahora vamos a Buenos Aires!!!

Fear…and overcoming it

For those of you that know my mother, you might know she is apt to experiencing what many of us would refer to as your typical set of fears and/or neuroses including, but not limited to heights, claustrophobia, large bodies of water….you get the point. I was thinking a lot about this after getting back from our recent trip to Belize because I realized the power fear can have over us and how powerful it is when we overcome it.  During this trip, we, and I mean all of us, flew in puddle jumper planes, climbed rocks through dark enclosed caves, tubed down strong currents and swam among sharks in the middle of the ocean.  The fact that my mom participated, and even enjoyed, almost all of the adventures proved how strong we can be if we don't let fears inhibit our mind and bodies. Sure, it's not always easy, but it can open you up to so many new experiences and discoveries about yourself. Proud of you mom!