Gaining a new perspective

From Antigua, we headed to Quetzeltenango by way of some proper chicken buses. If you think it's a mouthful to say the name of Guatemala's second largest city, rest assured, most people call it Xela (pronounced Shay-la) for short. Our first few nights in town, we had the opportunity to meet up with our buddies Dave and Julie from Colorado who were a month into a year-long trip similar to what we did a few years ago. The conversations we enjoyed with them over a few beers reminded us just how much we learned in the year we were away from home.

When we think back on that trip, it's easy for us to only remember what things were like by the end of the year - the personal growth we had both made and our ability to communicate in Spanish. We realized in talking to Dave and Julie, that if we can stretch our memories and remember back to the beginning of that year, there were some real challenges too. In hindsight, these difficult and confronting events were absolutely necessary. They were the catalyst that made us realize we even wanted to create change.

One of the most obvious shifts was in our ability to roll with life's surprises and disappointments. During our month of travel this April, there were a few things we tried to plan out ahead of time in an attempt to control the outcome. It's funny how we have the illusion of being in control - but in reality, we can only do so much and then life just kind of happens around that. We have learned in the last few years that every situation provides us with the choice to fight what is, attempt to change it, or accept it. Instead of holding on more tightly to the things that are out of our control, it seems that loosening our grip helps create a more fluid experience.

I think these ideas continued to sink in as we headed into the wilderness and up to the summit of Tajumulco - the highest point in Central America. Accompanied by our Spanish-speaking guide, we hiked up steep paths though pine forests to a base camp of about 13,000 feet where we spent the night. The next morning we woke up at 4am, left the warmth of our sleeping bags and hiked to Tajumulco's 13,845 foot summit to watch a most spectacular sunrise. It was incredible to know that on a particular day in history, we were the first people at highest point in Central America. The sunrise was amazing to watch as little by little more light crept into view. The clouds that seemed so far below continued to change shape and color. It was a magical hour to watch the transformation of night to day.

First stop: Antigua

As soon as we landed in Guatemala we welcomed the sensation of exercising our traveling legs and spanish skills once again. Our first stop was Antigua - a gorgeous colonial city that seamlessly combines beautifully colored houses and flower-filled balconies with cathedral ruins that allude to what the city must have been like hundreds of years ago. Our first order of business was lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Rainbow Cafe, immediately followed by a visit to Yogen Fruiz, which offers a perfect combination of frozen yogurt and fruit. I think we had a cone in our hands at least once a day trying to get our fill for the next few years.

Our first few relatively calm days were a sharp contrast to the time we spent in Antigua during semana santa (holy week), just a week and a half later. In many Central American cities, the entire week before Easter is filled with festivals, parades, floats, and beautifully created alfombras (decorative carpets made of flower petals and colored wood chips). Antigua is at the heart of it all which made for some great parades, people watching and exploring, but a small dose of the crowded streets was about all we could take before moving on.

From Antigua, we were able to hike nearby Pacaya, an active volcano that still has smoke rising from its summit and some sauna-like caves a little further down. Unfortunately it's not currently as active as it was three years ago, so we'll have to save seeing hot lava for another time.

Settling in

Megan:
Well, five months ago we were on our way to Chile getting ready to head back to the States, and that's kind of the last most of you have heard from us. Let me apologize for the lack of follow-up. I suppose sleeping late and reveling in just hanging out at home hasn't made for very inspirational subject matter. Although it has typically been our exotic physical experiences that have inspired many of our blog writings, it's often the internal journeys that end up being more rewarding to share. While these past five months have not been as action-packed as the journey that preceded it, the experience has been rich with new challenges, and new learning.

Because of the economic state we walked into when we came home, we did not end up seamlessly returning to our previous jobs a month after our return as we had originally anticipated. Instead we were blessed with several months to settle back in, to focus on retaining many of the valuable lessons we learned on the trip, and to blend some of our new found perspective with our old ways of thinking. One of the most important skills we learned during our year abroad was how to roll with whatever situation presented itself, no matter how different it was from what we were expecting. These past five months have been a wonderful opportunity to continue practicing that.

Instead of frantically searching for jobs in one of the most grim economies either of us has ever seen, we have found ourselves reveling in the unexpected free time, and basking in the warmth of family, close friends, and home. Jon has immensely enjoyed getting back on his bike including a 200 mile, 4-day trip through western Colorado with his dad. We also had a wonderful visit with my mom at the beginning of July when she was in Boulder and helped to celebrate my 30th birthday.

Even with our heightened appreciation of free time, we have both stumbled into work opportunities that we feel pretty excited about. Jon has recently accepted a design position with an international firm, and I have decided to take a different route than the traditional graphic design positions I've had in the past - I have been designing and producing handmade greeting cards. Although this endeavor is still in it's early stages, it has been quite rewarding to watch the process evolve, knowing that whatever it becomes will be determined almost completely by my own actions and decisions. If you are interested in seeing what I've been working on, feel free to check out my website (mhellerdesigns.com).

To celebrate one of our last weeks of uninterrupted free time before Jon started work last week, we recently took a trip to western Colorado for a little backpacking, and a taste of the wine culture on the western slope. For three days and two nights we enjoyed exploring the tranquil flowered valleys of the West Elk Wilderness area. We were shocked that over our entire time in the backcountry we did not see a single other person - only a few elk, some massive cows, lots of birds and a bunch of mosquitos that we could have done without. It felt wonderful to be outside again, carrying everything we needed on our backs. As we were hiking over mountain passes and through aspen groves I found myself thinking about what moments I would like to capture to be included in the blog - something I hadn't thought about since we had been home. It felt great to be inspired again in that way.

Once we were finished exploring the backcountry we indulged in a lovely bed & breakfast in the town of Paonia where we enjoyed a much needed shower and a delicious dinner that was not prepared over a camping stove. The next morning we were treated to an amazing community brunch around large tables in the perfectly shaded garden at the B&B (which doubles as an organic farm). Jon and I really enjoyed getting to know the other young couples at our table as we shared a sensational meal made completely of ingredients from the B&B and a handful of other local farms. Later that afternoon we rode our bikes between several different wineries and enjoyed some very low-key tastings. None of the wineries in this region are more than 15 years old, which probably accounted for the very comfortable small-scale charm that we encountered with each visit. Aside from the fact that everyone we met spoke English, the whole week bore a striking resemblance to many of our experiences in Central and South America.

We feel so grateful to have experienced all that we have over the past 18 months. Thank you all for the support you have given - it has meant the world to us.

Coming home

Megan:
Since leaving the fantastic city of Buenos Aires, Jon and I have been experiencing some amazing places and letting the reality of our new homeward-bound situation sink in. It really feels like we have been making the most of our last month.

Our first stop after leaving the capital of Argentina was Córdoba where we found some charming pedestrian streets and continued enjoying the tango culture despite the city's noise and grit. From there we headed north to the small flower-lined town of La Cumbre where we checked into a quaint little bed and breakfast and quickly became friends with three other travelers, Robyn, Ryan, and Pieter. This small town's claim to fame is that it was home to the 1994 World Paragliding Cup. We decided that we wanted to get in on the action, and extended our stay here by several days to wait out the strong winds in hopes of giving this exhilarating sport a try. After passing a few lazy afternoons getting to know our new friends, we finally got a call the third morning informing us that the winds were perfect and it was time.

What an incredible feeling to run as fast as you can toward the edge of a cliff until the wind fills your glider and you are swept upward. Jon and I both really enjoyed the experience, and with our instructors doing all the work we could sit back, relax, enjoy the dropping stomach sensation and watch a rainbow that seemed to have appeared just for us. After about 30 minutes, we landed next to a beautiful river and spent the rest of the day swimming, basking in the sun and drinking a few too many beers with our buddies.

Our next and last destination in Argentina was the famous wine region around Mendoza. In this delightful city, we enjoyed the numerous plazas, wide streets filled to the brim with shady outdoor cafe tables, fabulous gourmet food and of course, vino. We rented bikes one afternoon, to cruise around and visit a number of wineries, a liquor and chocolate manufacturer, a specialty organic food farm, and an olive orchard. This provided us with a fun, but surface level sampling of many of the region's offerings. Something Jon and I had never done before our time in Menzoda was pay for a flight of wine at a high-end tasting room. This was a really fun and informative experience - we were each given 6 generous tastings (for a total of 12 wines between the two of us), and we had our own personal guide throughout the evening who facilitated an incredibly detailed explanation and discussion of each wine.

Despite all of these amazing experiences that still fill the majority of our time abroad, as the end of a year long journey creeps closer, our heads seem to be filled more and more with thoughts of home. I think when we were planning this trip, we naively thought that we could leave the country for a year and then slip right back into the lives that we had grown to love once we were finished traveling. We knew that our mind-sets would have shifted slightly, but I think we forgot to take into consideration that all of the people and things at home would also have an entire year to change and evolve.

In about a week, we will reenter a reality that has gone through a number of obvious changes. We'll be coming home to a depressed economy, fragile job market and a new president, not to mention the multitude of more subtle shifts that have occurred since we've been away. Instead of picking back up where we left off, Jon and I are facing the very real possibility of having to drastically change our jobs and as a result, our living situation, our routine and our lifestyle. We do not know how long it will take to sort out the next phase of our careers, when we will begin searching for our next home, or how we are going to ground ourselves in the meantime.

I never thought that coming home could feel more scary and unknown than traveling through a foreign country. Over the past year, exploring unknown lands, speaking a foreign language and switching beds every few nights have become our way of life - that's what has become familiar. I have come to know what to expect from this. In contrast, I no longer know what to expect from home. For whatever reason though, we have decided that although going home brings with it an infinite number of uncertainties and will probably bring up an equal number of insecurities and personal confrontations, it is time. I suppose it is a combination of the desire to settle down, to reconnect with the wonderful friends and family who are waiting with open arms, and on some level we feel ready to take on these new challenges.

The textures of Buenos Aires

Jonathan:
It wasn't long after we got used to the idea of being on our own again that it occurred to us, somewhere in all the excitement of family time we had forgotten to notice that the last leg of our trip had somehow crept up on us. It was silently waiting for us in the same place it had always been, but suddenly the end of February seemed a little too close to be comfortable.

My initial reaction was to panic and try to somehow quantify our experiences. I felt my head spin into a frenzy of doubt about whether we would have anything to show for this year once the next six weeks had passed. Had we really changed at all or would we just go back to our lives, slip back into our routines, and helplessly watch our year's experiences fade into a collection of paper-thin memories?

I spent one long grumpy evening in our apartment complaining to Megan about how I didn't feel any different, and I must have missed something somewhere. Well, obviously some things don't change as quickly as others. The next day I had to smile at myself. No matter how many times this comes up, it always seems to take some effort for me to step back and remind myself that nothing is wrong.

The truth is that it's hard to imagine that even a single moment of this trip has managed to slip by unnoticed or unappreciated. I can't count the number of times Megan and I have found ourselves staring at each other across a table somewhere with uncontrollable grins on our faces, just basking in the freedom that this year has been for us - A full year's worth of experiences bursting with an unfathomable quantity of unforgettable adventures, fulfilling relationships, and challenging moments of growth and clarity.

You can't do something like this and not come back changed.

In a lot of ways it feels subtle though. Sometimes it's hard to notice that the colors are slowly shifting when you've been staring at them the whole time. The growth we've experienced on this trip is not something we can quantify or list out (as much as I would love to). No, instead this year has just become a part of us - the same us we've always been, constantly growing, constantly changing, constantly adapting to new situations and new ideas. We'll come home just as we are, knowing that everything we see and everything we experience is slightly tinted by the lense of wisdom this year has provided.

We spent our last two weeks in Buenos Aires soaking in the rich textures of that amazing city - not trying to justify anything or make the most of any particular experience - just basking in it. When the end of the month rolled around and we packed up our things, checked out of our apartment, and hit the road again we both realized this was the first time on this trip that we were leaving a city without feeling quite ready to move on.

With thoughtful smiles, we boarded a bus to head out to the central Argentine capital of Córdoba. From here we will spend the next several weeks enjoying the journey west through wine country toward Santiago where, on the 26th of February, we will catch our flight home.