Lessons Learned in Flores

I am not sure how to sum up what my time in Flores meant to me. I arrived at my hostel around six in the evening, watched a beautiful sunset while I ate my dinner, went to my dorm room, and proceeded to bawl for a solid 30 minutes. As in, shoulders heaving, could-not-catch-my-breath, loud cries, eyes-swollen-in-the-morning breakdown session. There were numerous factors that lead to this, but in summary, traveling solo is HARD sometimes. Needless to say, I did not sleep much that evening, but I got up in the morning with a renewed intention of conquering my time in Flores. And conquer it, I did! Though I had booked four nights, I stayed for a week because Flores ended up being exactly what I needed at that point in my travels.

Flores was the first time that I was completely on my own without any clue as to my next move. When I arrived at my hostel, everyone was in a couple and no one was speaking English. A few of the nights, I was the only one assigned to my dorm room. Fact: when you are traveling solo, your dorm room is a fantastic place to meet others, except when you are staying in a dorm room by yourself.  So I had to venture out of my hostel to meet people. I had met a woman from Canada on the bus and, once I got up my first morning, I made a point to set up lunch with her. We ended up spending the next few days exploring Flores and Tikal, meeting other travelers, and relaxing at my hostel. During these days, I learned that everyone else is feeling just as intimated as me. Eventually, I had wonderful conversations with those couples at my hostel and they ended up sharing some great stories and recommendations based on their travels. They had been in my shoes before and reassured me that I was on the right track to fully enjoying my time on the road. Relief had never felt so good!

Another challenge that I encountered in Flores was the pressure I put on myself to have a plan – what is my next destination, where am I staying, how will I get there, when will I leave, what am I going to do in my next place. Here’s what I have found: figuring out my next move and traveling to a city solo and then finding my hostel and deciding what to do from there has been the MOST STRESSFUL part of my trip. To the point that I cannot sleep the night before I travel and my stomach is in knots and I cannot eat. This is how I exhibit stress in my everyday life so these symptoms were not new to me, but I knew this kind of stress could ruin my trip. (As I am writing this, I am 3 weeks into my trip. I am used to traveling and no longer feel the stress. Morale of the story: it gets better!) In Flores, I purposely stayed extra nights for a few reasons – I very much enjoyed my hostel and the city, I had not come up with a plan of where to go next, and my friends were arriving in Flores the day I was originally set to leave. I learned these are all excellent reasons to stay in a place! This is MY trip; therefore, the only pressure to move on is the pressure that I put on myself. With that realization, the anxiety to spend my nights scouring travel guides rather than being captivated by my surroundings dissipated.

So what did I do in Flores besides learn some vital lessons? I visited Tikal. I talked with several fascinating people. I met up with Anna and Sian, and we decided to travel more or less than same path for the subsequent 6 weeks. I wrote and blogged and chatted with friends and family. I took photos and went canoeing. I explored Flores and became familiar with its narrow streets and boat system. I left Flores a better traveler than when I arrived. For all of this, I am grateful and content.

And so from Flores, I moved on to Lanquin and Semuc Champey, one of the most beautiful areas in Guatemala. You better believe I took some amazing pictures! Until next time, friends…