walkforthandsee

Kine was gone, and so were all the other Scandinavians. The amazing dancing Seattle kid was gone also, to the Earth Lodge which I'd made a day trip to, prior. Again, the theme of my travels had become: Empty. To top it off, I was mortally ill. I thought to myself that this trip was far more nauseating than I was content with, and at this point, I needed to seek out a remedy, whether natural, or otherwise. That is when my Taiwanese friend dutifully climbed up the stairs and told me we were going to her place so she could feed me sour prunes and do reiki treatments on me (which, actually worked!). This is exactly what we did, right after stopping at the store to stock up on more Pedialyte (I grew quite fond ... read more

The next few days in Antigua were a bit of a blur, to be entirely honest. I really didn't know what the hell I was doing there or where I was going. I could have spent six months waking up to the crispy cool air and a view of the mountains right out the front door of my hostel. I could have sat in Cafe 2000 watching subtitled American films every Saturday afternoon. Antigua was the kind of place you went slow, a place where the days could fade into one another, and you could lose yourself. I hadn't done anything meritorious as a “traveler” since my arrival. I kind of lazed around drinking and soaking everything in. I eventually ended up meeting some of the other girls in my hostel. They were all Swedish and ... read more

The bus ended up being late and empty. Empty. Empty was becoming a reoccurring theme for me. But, the bus driver told me that we were going to collect someone from the airport. So, we drove twenty minutes back to the airport and waited. I wasn't getting my hopes up that it would be someone I could talk to, but when she climbed on the bus, I immediately struck up a conversation. I don't think I had ever craved a conversation so much in my life. We picked up one more person, a Mexican man in his 40's who sold “Muebles”. After seven years of Spanish, I still had no fucking idea what a mueble was. The Taiwanese girl who I had determined was going to be my friend eventually sorted out that it was furniture. ... read more

It was less than three hours until the little plane came whirring up to the vast Central American landscape, and began making long, lazy circles above the runway. The mountainous terrain gave way to sharp winds that rocked us up and down as we circled. I still cannot recall ever having been so nauseated in my entire life. It seemed like an eternity before we landed. I crossed myself at the crunch of the landing gears making a connection with the pavement, and found myself mesmerized with the blur of dilapidated single engine Cessnas and rusting plane hangars whizzing by my little plane window. The wanderlust began to take over my senses. And, that was it. Something in me had snapped; I was somehow broken and forever changed. My heart died a little and I, like ... read more

The city had ceased to move. All was silent as the little silver sedan buzzed down the lamppost lit road. I looked upon my mother in law. A single gray strand stood out against her silky black hair as the street lights danced across us. She said nothing. There wasn't much to say at two am, and it was a simple silence, interrupted only by the switching of gears. She turned into the gas station. The little gray car would need to be filled in order to make the trip to the Orlando airport. My heart was beating rapidly as I got out of the car to do the job. A thick cloud of mosquitoes hung over my head, buzzing in sync with the droning hum of the yellowish halogen lights. I cringed and smacked and ... read more