One week in - reflections

A bit more settled and less emotional. More confident and less fearful. Asking less questions of myself. If you told me last week this was going to be my mindset right now I wouldn't have believed you. A good reminder that feelings/emotions are temporary and to not try to convince yourself you made a huge mistake on day one of a six month long trip.

What changed? We found ourselves in the Cotopaxi Volcano region with no WiFi. We met so many people from around the world… An Irish couple who just quit their jobs and are traveling for 6 months, a traveling OT from Florida (who summited Cotopaxi with a bad cold and a poor weather window), a German man who simultaneously got robbed and food posioning on New Year's Eve, an English couple who we simply laughed with. Perhaps the coolest connection was meeting a forester couple who lives in Lake Tahoe and are currently applying to jobs in Olympia.

I think what I'm saying is we made connections. Got outside. Got a little muddy. A little uncomfortable. Tried new things (Sam: cuy pizza, Me: definitely not that). Cuy is guinea pig, a delicacy in South America. Maybe by the time we leave I will try it. Baby steps?

Speed bump… I did leave two key pieces of gear in Cotopaxi - my rain coat and my hiking shoes. We do in fact leave for a 4 day trek tomorrow. Obviously I'm sending stock photos of these items to the hostel (that doesn't have wifi mind you) but miraculously someone did get back to me and said they are en route on the next bus to where we are staying now. I'll find out shortly if they made it or if I need to go shoe shopping here in Latacunga - didn't I say something about not questioning the miracles?

There was a slight miscommunication on whose responsibility it was to make sure I had my jacket and shoes (it was definitely mine). Sam reminded me this situation was similiar to a few years ago when a dear friend asked a car full of people while we were pulling into White Pass (ski area in Washington): “Did we pack my ski boots?”. It also reminds me of the (few) times I forgot my bathing suit for a swim meet or my clarinet for a band concert. Some things don't change.

That's kind of it for now - as I said we head out on a trek tomorrow, the Quilotoa Loop. We'll be travelling through small villages, some of which only speak the native Incan language. The time spent outside and together continues to be the highlight for us. Getting back to it tomorrow! (Here's to hoping I'm not going shoe shopping tonight).