|
No more views of Caribbean beaches, no more signs in Spanish, no more bans against flushing toilet paper down the toilet, and free water at every meal. We are home.  As our plane lifted off the runway in Bogota, Colombia a few weeks ago, I looked out my window and watched the giant peaks of the Andes that had become such a familiar sight over the last year turn into nothing but tiny anthills. The clouds eventually enveloped the plane and I knew that the next time I touched down, it would be on American soil.
My heart felt heavy, excited, torn, melancholy, scared, happy, and blessed all at the same time. To be honest, I don't know what I was feeling because I had never felt it before.
3 Comments
It has been nearly a year now since Tom and I left our jobs to travel. It has been a whirlwind of an adventure that has included 14 countries, 2 continents, and 3 broken Apple products. And here I sit on a fairly secluded beach on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. One friend described this spot as a slice of paradise, but I have to disagree. 
I mean, if spending all day laying in a hammock, cooling off in the turquoise-blue ocean, and sipping mojitos is paradise, then yes, this is the place. But if paradise is supposed to be our ideal existence, something we can live out and enjoy eternally, then a place of total rest just won't do.
Now, don't get me wrong. Rest is good. It feels good, but I would venture to say that it is actually impossible to enjoy rest, maybe even impossible to have any rest at all without actually having work. Medellín was named the most dangerous city in the world (even more so than Beirut) in the 1990's due to the Colombian armed conflict and the rule of the drug lord's. The city maintained its dangerous reputation into the 21st century. But in less than ten years, it has experienced an impressive and radical transformation. In 2013 it was named the world's most innovative city.  Botero sculpture. One has been bombed and the remnants left behind. It represents Medellín's violent past. The other is new and restored, demonstrating the renewed Medellín of today. The US still warns US tourists about visiting Colombia, but for us, the country's marketing slogan rings true: "the only risk is wanting to stay."
|
AuthorI'm Jaime. My husband is Tom. Suburbanites, backpackers, and expats...we've been them all! Categories
All
Archives
July 2016
|
RSS Feed
Subscribe today for updates and discount Alerts! |
|