Sometimes, I call myself a “slow traveler.”
Other times, I wonder if I’m the worst, most lazy traveler ever.
I might be the only person in history who has traveled in Guatemala without seeing Tikal. I was in Guatemala for six weeks summer, and I “just didn’t feel like it.” I was having a great time in Xela, and when I had a few days at the end to travel around, I opted to go back to Lake Atitlan, a place where I felt amazing and refreshed.
A lot of people thought I was nuts. They’d say “how can you not go to Tikal? It’s the biggest ‘must-see’ in Guatemala!”
Again: I just didn’t feel like it. As well, I’m not extremely into ruins – they just don’t “move me” like other places do. I travel to feel a certain energy, and whenever I visit famous ruins I often feel underwhelmed. Maybe this summer I will visit Tikal, but only if I am excited about the prospect.
Today is my first full day in Guatemala. I am exhausted. Last week was one of the most hectic of my life: I had to finish the last project for my Masters, organize and execute a fundraiser for Nuevos Horizontes women’s shelter in Quetzaltenango, say goodbye to all my friends in Ottawa, move out of my apartment and pack for Guatemala. Phew.
So what am I going to do today? Be a lazy asshole. I’m hanging around Guatemala City until tomorrow, when I will pick up two of my friends at the airport. (One is visiting for a week , another will be in Xela for a month too.) Today, I just want to unwind. I need to re-energize myself before setting off. So I’m lounging around, doing some writing, ordering Pollo Campero and relaxing in my guesthouse’s garden.
My inner critic says: “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you out there, seeing 84598723 new things?”
I guess when it comes down to it, though, I have to remind myself about one of the reasons I love to travel: I only have to listen to myself. Don’t want to go to Tikal? No problem. Want to have a lazy day? Go for it! Want to eat 4 chocolate bananas a day? Why not? Hang out in small rural town instead of see the main tourist sites? Sure!
I don’t like the idea that you have to travel a certain way, or that there’s a checkbox of itinerary items that you have to fulfill.
Last summer, I went to San Marcos on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala with a bunch of girls from my Spanish school. Our second day on the lake was perfect – warm but not too hot, sunny, and the water was the most brilliant blue imaginable. Most of the girls wanted to take a boat around the lake, so that they could see San Pedro, Santiago and Panajachel. One said that she wanted to make sure to see every lakeside village just so she could say that she did. I adore these friends of mine and still talk to a lot of them, but I take a different view: when you are in a great, beautiful spot and still enjoy it, why move on so soon?
I stayed in San Marcos that day with one friend. We went swimming for hours, jumped off a cliff into the crystal-blue waters, and ate a slow, leisurely meal at the spectacular Aaculaax restaurant. Somehow, I think I got the better day.
Don’t get me wrong: sometimes I have an almost obnoxious amount of energy. I love to explore for hours. Just two days ago, I walked from midtown Manhattan to the lower east side, and the crossed the Williamsburg bridge to Brooklyn. My feet were dying in my ratty old Chucks, but I liked seeing the city change character as I moved from place to place.
But I only have to be true to myself, and do what makes me happy or engaged at any given time.
Comments 1
Tourist attractions are, as the name implies, an attraction for tourists.
Meaning, if you want to go and meet tourists, get to know tourist culture, and maybe explore even more tourist attractions togather, these are the places you should be at. You should also wear special tourist outfits, available at the local gift shops, which will make any local you might come across know immediately that you are in no way interested to know anything about his culture, except that which is written in a travel guide.
Sociable!
I hung around with a friend who introduced me to some of her friends in Ottawa. They were very nice people, completely different than most of my friends here, and they thought me that instead of cheers one can say – Sociable!
And I say, it sounds like you’re doing the right thing. How can anything random happen when the schedule is as tight as, pardon my English-as-a-second-language, a used tampon? How can a trip be truly exciting if you don’t stop for a second and really get to know this patch of land you happen to sit on?
Why not? I say why not?
That friend I had, I was a tourist at their pub. Never saw any of them again.
Sociable!
Have a lazzzzzzzy day.
Posted 18 Jun 2009 at 5:57 pm ¶Post a Comment