Where do I go now?

Why do I feel so antsy lately? There are approximately 196 reasons, depending on how you count, but one stands out, and it's time it came out of the closet. Nope, no discussion of sexuality here, I'm still depressingly heterosexual, I mean the closet in a much more literal sense.

Lunchtime in Leon

It felt like dropping a beloved friend off at prison when I put my backpack on the shelf in my closet. I mitigated the pain by whispering “Don't worry baby, it may not be long...”

To my surprise I am committed to living in a fixed place for a while, and the pack is getting juuust a bit dusty.

So why so antsy? Because I am human, ergo I want both sides of every coin. Of course I want to have this cake and eat it too, can there be a more appropriately ridiculous expression? I want to have this home and leave it too.

I seem to have misplaced my pics from
Mexico and Guatemala at the moment,
so these are all Leon, Nicaragua

“But no!” I scolded myself without deliberation or articulation, “you need to settle down and stay put.” As with most arguments, this was needlessly fixed in its opposing positions, and it wasn't until this cup of chai that I realized I CAN have both, just with a little adaptation. I can't follow my beloved tact of buying a one-way ticket to a continent of Tantalus dreams, packed to go until I stop, but I can still travel. I'm thinking...two weeks?

The thought of pulling that bag off the shelf is erecting my bloodstream and stiffening my anticipation. My pupils are dilated in preparation of visions and vistas. So where do I go? There are approximately 196 options, depending on how you count.

It's gotta speak another language, and I don't want to forget my Spanish, so I'm thinking Latin America, which is una coincidencia muy buena for physical proximity.

I'd LOVE to go to Honduras or El Salvador, but trips there without an organization-endorsed purpose are purportedly a matter of hiding in one's hotel room the bulk of the time.

If I go all the way to South America I won't want to leave after only two weeks, and I fairly recently traversed Central Nicaragua down through Costa Rica and Panama. I've spent some time in Mexico's Yucatan, but have not yet been to Oaxaca, a land of colors, textures, and culture that has long called to me. (And has enough rumors of danger to keep me pleasantly on edge.)

I did a solid loop through Guatemala a few years back, but much has changed since then, within the country (for the worse) and within myself (for the better).

And finally Nicaragua, where I missed the northern section, which includes the “recently discovered” Somoto Canyon, where Jerry hurt his knee and you deal with locals more than tour companies as you swim through slot canyons and rappel into ravines.

Where do I go?

Mexico – Oaxaca

Mexico – elsewhere

Honduras/El Salvador

Guatemala

Nicaragua – north of Leon (with the option to cross the border into Honduras/El Salvador if the vibe and local reports condone.

Again, vote on the wordpress version of this blog.