Vicarious Travels

Its getting cold here in the interior of the United States. Its times like this that I begin to vicariously live through my old pics and memories, and make new plans (because lets admit it, its a lot more interesting than 4000-level Econ courses). As much as I love this college town, my soul is too restless and uncontainable to be tied down here.

Beautiful

Yesterday I went on a much needed, long motorcycle ride through the back country. I absolutely love my motorcycle and there is nothing quite like sitting on top of 602 cubic-centimeters of pure power, feeling the awesome acceleration and leaning into turns so low you could lean over and kiss the blacktop. I had an amazing time despite the cold. I was reminded of last fall, when I was traveling across the jungles of southern Mexico on a moped with a Mexican friend. I was navigating the impassible dirt roads of the Yucatan peninsula while a tropical depression made landfall and dropped 12 inches of rain, flooding everything out. We laughed continually about how we must have looked, us both crammed onto a 50cc moped in the sideways rain, backpacks on, leaning into the wind and screaming. We had spent a week in the Caribbean, snorkeling, diving, and island-hopping before catching a ferry to the mainland on our adventure before the storm came.

Not your ideal Playa del Carmen vacation

Hiking through the rainforest wilderness

The next 4 days was non-stop torrential rain and all we had to live on was in our backpacks. Seeing that we could no longer enjoy the beaches, we explored the jungles in the interior of the Yucatan on a moped because being on a shoestring budget, we couldn't afford any other way. After the fourth day, the clouds cleared and the heat became unbearable. It was the most amazing adventure, looking back. When we wanted to eat or rest, we would hike a little ways into the thick jungle off the road and find a clearing (provided there was a clearing, as the swamps are rather thick). We ate fruit right off the tree, made our own paths, avoided the enormous spiders and snakes, and enjoyed life as poor men do. Apart from the Yucatan adventure, I had countless others- hiking for days through the jungles, through the mountains, through the desert; backpacking through small, out-of-the-way villages, stopping where I pleased, moving where I wanted, free as the wind, loving the sun, feeling not the hardship and stress of life.

Silao, Guanajuato

My whole purpose in Mexico was humanitarian. I worked as a volunteer with HOPE México for the entire time I was there, located in Iztapalapa (arguably the poorest and most dangerous borough of Mexico City) and all throughout rural central México including Guanajuato, Puebla, Querétaro, and other places when we loaded up a truck and went there. I have never felt quite so fulfilled and at ease with life as observing life in places where there exist almost no electricity, no paved roads, no sewage/running water, and no money. The simplest things bring the biggest smiles- kids are so elated to receive a second-hand soccer ball or a toothbrush. I spent 20-30 hours a week and weekends living with these people, and it was the most amazing experience. One trip in particular I spent on a roof in Guanajuato all day in the 90 degree heat, and at night bathed by pouring well water over my head and then slept on a floor with a bunch of other men. These people, bogged down by generations of marginalization, oppression, government corruption and lack of resources are so grateful for the most seemingly small gifts and were so kind, feeding us what they could with that little they had.

Perfectly normal scene in Mexico City

I avoided staying in touristy areas at all costs. The facade constructed by the government is of wealth, prosperity, and happiness. A few blocks out of the touristy areas reveals a much different reality. I went to the tourist areas out of curiosity, but never stayed long. I felt much better outside of the lie the Mexican government feeds to foreigners, sweeping the streets clean and forbidding poor people entry into the rich areas. It was such a beautiful part of my life, and I cherished traveling across the country in the back of a Volkswagen, eating in food stands on the side of the road and getting food poisoning, feeding stray dogs, cruising through museums, swimming 40 feet down at the bottom of the ocean, going down inside a dormant volcano, and wandering through the 20-plus million-people megatropolis that is Mexico City and observing the richest people on earth coexisting beside the poorest people on earth while the military rolls between the two in armored vehicles and carrying machine guns. Whenever the city became too much, I'd hop a bus to the 10,000ft elevation mountains an hour away and escape to serenity, above the smog that chokes your life. I love Mexico- its extremes, its surprises, its charm, and its magic. I cannot wait to get back.
I love traveling and observing life as it is lived by others. I've roadtripped most of the US, slept everywhere, met tons of people, roadtripped across Canada, camped out in open fields in the far north, been snowed on in July, learned a ton, and been stranded in the wilderness while a 30-man search team and a helicopter circle above looking for me. A roadtrip to me is few buddies packed into one of our old and janky cars, windows down, music loud, conversation louder, bathing in gas stations, piling into Waffle House, being threatened to get kicked out of Waffle House, and making memories while we're young and dreaming.
Being bogged down while the semester is in full-swing makes me miss my random explosions of adventure in life. I've too many times "taken a semester off" to travel and I cannot afford anymore lost semesters, although its difficult to wait to graduate while preemptively planning post-graduation travels. Right now South America and Europe are at the top of the list. Also toying with the idea of the (cliché) Peace Corp. Lifes an adventure- who knows what the future holds?