This heart of mine was made to travel this world.

 

I have an insane calling to be where I’m not. Wanderlust Is an understatement of the accurate description of how my heart depicts my life goals to travel. Am I content with my life and in my very own setting? Of course I am, but I want to see more and experience the life outside of each moment even deeper. I want to live; I don’t want to just exist. I want to meet people from all around the world and expand my knowledge of the lives and ways of others. I want to watch the sunset and sunrise at different locations on this earth. I want to watch in awestruck wonder at how different the amber colors of the morning look and how vivid the reds of the night fall. I want to eat the foods of the cultures and live just as I would if I had my very own little shack on the wide ocean there. I want to ride cross country and see every bit of landscape from the richest areas to the poverty stricken. I want feel as if it was my land. I want to get back to the very simplicity of our lives that chaotic and mundane schedules seem to overwhelm us with. To forget about time for a short moment. To not care about the materialistic wants of the world but to learn to appreciate what is real, worthy, and waiting at the soles of my feet. I want to see it all, feel it all, and appreciate it all. One of my favorite quotes says “I travel not to find myself but to discover who I’ve been all along.” Traveling takes you back to the very depths of your soul. There is nothing more satisfying, it’s like coming home.

For my 28th birthday we decided a trip to Belize would be a fantastic idea. This magical place is located on the Northern side of Central America on the Caribbean coast. I have never been a resort person with 5 stars and all inclusive, and this trip was everything but that! We flew into Belize City, rented a stick shift Mitsubishi and hit the road to drive the country side stopping in the little villages along the way and riding along through the jungles in complete amazement at what my eyes saw. It was breath taking! It felt like the landscape of Jurassic Park! The palm trees were the biggest palms I’ve ever laid my eyes on and the little villages were so quaint and simple. We stopped and bought fresh coconuts on the roadside and quite possibly added a fresh splash of the local coconut rum and continued down the Belize countryside. Our first destination was a little town called Hopkins. It was filled with 90% locals and 10% tourist. Just my kind of place! This was our 1 night at a resort simply because of the yearn to see the Bioluminescent lights. Now if you have never experienced, and if you want to change your life from the sight of bioluminescent lights forward, make this a bucket list goal. I have never experienced such a magical sight in all of my 28 years on earth. Part of me questioned if this would be little tiny lights beneath the water that you could barely see, but to my amazement it was a perfect fairy tale. Unlike the regulated boats here in America that are required to be lit after sunset on the front and back, Belize requires no such thing. Which in my opinion made it even better. The night shined like a famous Van Gough painting. I never realized how much light noise we have here in the US until being on a boat in the middle of a quiet lagoon in Belize where the stars shown as bright as ever. A famous quote “only in the darkness do the stars shine brightest” began to make complete sense to me. As the boat crept through this little tiny waterway through the tightly woven mangroves, we opened up to this vast lagoon and the boat picked up speed, faster and faster, with the sound of the engine roaring through this quiet and dark night. And my eyes began to see magic. These little bioluminescent lights began to glow everywhere behind us where the water was agitated by the movement of the night. As we came to a stop whoever wanted to could jump in if they please. Some did, some didn’t. I would have been the first one in but did not wear swim conducive clothing (next time!). Instead, I “played.” As I waved my hands slowly and gently and watched my hands light up, I was in my own little fairylike world. Fish would swim by with a quick flash of light behind them. As everyone swam, their bodies glowed like creatures in the dark night. The saddest yet most captivating part about this event is it cannot be captured nor explained to its full potential. We tried go-pro, a cell phone, and my professional Nikon camera, and the pictures all came out pitch black with no proof of the enchanting sight that we had seen before our eyes on this unforgettable night.  That’s the part I love. To be forever embedded in our hearts and memories, but with no real proof or words to be explained.

February 4^th, 2015 is a birthday to never be forgotten. It’s a first for my birthday on foreign soil. I woke up to a warm amber sunrise over the raked sandy shores of Hopkins Village. After our first Belizean breakfast and a massage on the dock over the water, we made our trek back to Belize City to hop on the ferry to travel by boat to Caye Caulker (pronounced Key Caulker). Funny part of this trip which almost became a change in accommodations, we took our sweet time making it to Belize City in expectation that the last ferry ran at 6:00pm. To my error and reading skills, the last ferry was to leave at 5:30. Pulling into the car rental place and realizing after talking to the attendant, they themselves rushed us there by 5:27 and we dashed to the ferry line and made it just in time! After a 45-minute ferry ride, we made it to Caye Caulker! It was dark by that time but the island at night was just as thrilling as in the day light. It came alive! We immediately got a taxi golf cart since that is all that is allowed on the island and made it to our quaint little inn called Costa Maya Belize. Nothing extraordinary or fancy and that’s what made it so special. We threw our bags in the room and rushed out to explore the island and have a special birthday dinner for our first night on the island. Island punch and whole lobster fresh off the shores, it was perfect to say the least! The next morning, we were so excited to see the island during the daylight that we were early risers to curiosity and excitement. We unchained the bicycles and rode our little hearts away. First treasure… a huge and heavily calcified starfish that was bright orange in color. You know, not all stars are in the sky. The water was clear and the bright coral color shined brightly! The next day we did our one excursion of going snorkeling out to some of the best reefs in the world. I have snorkeled and dove around many parts of this world, and I must say even under the cloudy skies, these reefs were breathtaking. As soon as we tied the boat up, the boat was swarmed with stings rays the size of a bath tub and nurse sharks that looked extremely intimidating to the eye. I could not lie to you and tell you I wasn’t a little scared as I jumped with my flippers on into the water. Would I be the next Steve Irwin? One of the guys was holding a huge one in his arms, and I just happened to be standing in front of him when he let it go. Did I scream? Of course I did! But once I composed myself, it was quite extraordinary at what swam beneath me in the middle of the vast ocean floor. I could feel the bodies of the sting ray brush my leg and the sharks lurking beneath me. It was inconceivable and quite enlivening. Over the next few days we partook in local cuisine consisting of too much fresh lobster, a deep water fish called Hog fish which is extremely tasty to the palette, tried the many specialty cocktails of the island, met lots of noteworthy people, and enjoyed life for what laid at our lives for the next few days.  It rained for the duration of our trip, but that was perfectly ok. I’ve always been a lover of rain, especially on a quiet little island. Like a captivating love story. It was vacation, and I was with the people I love most, experiencing life and sights unseen to me thus far.

By the end of the trip I remembered what it felt like to feel myself again, and I remember what relaxing felt like, when you get that shiver in your body because life is simple and restful.  With each place I travel to, both old and new I am reminded of what life is truly all about. I am reminded that the inconsequential things to life aren’t important. It takes me back to the roots of importance and genuineness.  And with every new encounter with this reoccurring epiphany that life’s travels induce, I am reminded to loose sight of the mundane chaos of importance that life can sometimes cover us with. Life is delightful and ever changing, it’s up to us to never forget how beautiful and special it truly is to experience this world with our eyes and hearts wide open. Embrace these moments that we are blessed with and let them change you, forever and always. It’s time to remember what it’s like to feel alive.