Free at last!

---

Tip: if you want to feel 10 pounds lighter instantly, quit your job. The feeling of napping in the middle of the day, of NOT checking voicemail and calling all my stores 4 times a day, of not dreading hearing my phone ring for fear of my hovering boss ... these are all PRICELESS. I feel like I just got my life back, and oh, how beautiful life seems when I own it instead of a corporation! Despite the fact that all my travel plans have just run amok, that I am now unemployed and without a car, and the fact that winter has arrived and the snow is falling, I am able to finally breathe again and actually appreciate the beauty of the snowflakes falling so peacefully and decorating all the barren trees with icing.

Now I can really hone in and focus on my travel plans and pack up my apartment (not to mention actually getting Christmas shopping done BEFORE December 24th this year!) I came to find out yesterday that it is going to be darn near impossible to go to southeast Asia because I picked the absolute most expensive and busy time to fly to this part of the world and they have no seats available until a month after I'd like to leave. Not to mention that the price is way jacked up. Well, i can't just waste a month of precious travel time, and if I even procured a seat on one of these overbooked and overpriced flights to Asia right now I would be paying as much for it as I would for an around-the-world ticket, so I will have to postpone this Asia adventure until after Pam's wedding.

Soooooooo.... it looks like I'll be posting some Central America/Mexico posts a lot sooner! Conveniently, I've already researched and read about the whole area, so I'm either going overland all the way to Panama or I'm going to take whatever offers come up along the way (it's so nice to be informed but not have a plan). I found a couple job postings for short-term work and/or exchange for Spanish lessons, so I'll see if any of them write me back. If not, I think I'll do a couple shorter term volunteer projects, go to Spanish school back in Guatemala, learn to surf, and learn to scuba dive.

The ever-changing adventures of travel....

I'll keep you posted on what I decide!

---

Photos

Winter Wonderland
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....