Travel

Travel. It's funny sometimes. You show up in a place with all these expectations, and a place can either blow you away or bore you to tears. Sometimes you get somewhere and there's no tourist attractions per say, nothing to see but people living their lives, as that is what people do. And that is when the real travel happens. In the dinky towns with nothing to see but smiling faces and curious children. That is when you see the true spirit of a nation and its' people. After all, two women with white skin is somewhat of an anomaly in some places. You get offered crazy foods, invited into personal studios, use a bathroom inside of an old indigenous ladies home without one word being passed, get your photo taken, get asked to take the photos of strangers on your camera. And sometimes the real travel is on the road, and I do believe many will attest to this. Whether it is live goats traveling on the roof of a bus, sharing a seat with way too many people, babies being passed off to neighbors for more room on the mother's lap, music blaring so damn loudly, bus karaoke, chickens in bags on passengers' laps, anything, and I do mean anything being sold through the windows, etc., the road is always bound to be a memorable journey. Of course you could opt for the tourist buses which will arrive at your destination in shorter time with little excitement. But why would you choose that option really?

Then there are other times when travel is out of this world- blow your mind--does this really exist-where the hell am I-what the hell is going on- fantastic. And that's when the fun begins. Speaking with locals in Ecuador, hiking in Peru, sun bathing in Chile, tango in Argentina, being among the Japanese, haggling in Thailand, wildlife spotting in Malaysia, discovering hidden nooks in Indonesia, finding Nirvana in Cambodia, praying to survive moto rides in Vietnam. That's the real fun. Those are the things that make us never want to come home. (don't worry M&G). All the craziness and all of these experiences make us realize this is the best thing we could possibly be doing with our lives right now and we are so, so grateful that we have this opportunity.