VOLVER

Playing with these coffee farm dogs was perhaps the happiest that I have been in a decade. I have just returned from approximately 52 days of travel through Central America and nibbled on South America a bit spending a good chunk of time in Colombia (with two travel team mates). Now just three weeks away from returning to New York, folks keep saying "it's a good thing you're not there right now" but I am a bit sad I am not. I have affinity for the city now and it seems wrong not to be there helping in some way but rather spending my hours for the most part lounging in Florida. Currently I am hanging out in Lake Worth, Florida, where you get to see random weird things at sea level. Much to discuss on hanging out through the epic journey and will get to it little by little. While staying at a hostel at previosuly mentioned coffee farm in Salento,Quindío,Colombia, I griped once again about staying at backpacker hostels to an 18 yr old Mexican girl whose post-high school graduation involved traveling for a few months through Latin America. She says, "I like it because you get to meet like minded people". And perhaps this was the source of my disgruntledness, I was not with like minded people. Meeting world travelers I at first would be slightly intimidated by what they had seen and the multiple languages they could speak. And in general they were fairly impressive and kind people. But after awhile what I saw in them mostly were folks getting away from something and instead of an empowered wander lust I just saw wafting lonliness. My interpersonal solace came mostly from my team mates and from interacting with local folks at every level who seemed stable, clear eyed and generous. My fellow hostel bunking travelers were driftwood and I was looking for a rock. Picture courtesy of Denise H.