Two Months In

*This post is about a month late as I just completed Month Three a couple days ago. There were some unexpected delays, but that is travel. I will be catching up this week with lots of photos and posts. Get excited!

So Month Two of my trip is officially complete! This month was quite the whirlwind! At the beginning of the month, I celebrated my 28th birthday in San Pedro; surrounded by my road friends and family and more joy than I ever expected. I finished out my month of Spanish lessons and homestay and moved on to Antigua for Semana Santa (Easter Week). After a week full of Easter processions, Monopoly, great hangout time with some new friends, and a very special visit from Stephy and Santiago, I left Guatemala and traveled to Nicaragua via El Salvador.

This month was still a transition month for me (and I am starting to believe that every month will be some new transition). After my month in San Pedro, I found myself traveling to Antigua and once again solo. The feelings of loneliness came back, but because my life in San Pedro was extremely social, my loneliness was compounded in Antigua. So I spent my first two days in Antigua watching movies in bed or hanging around the hostel; not interacting with my fellow travelers.

And then I met Jing, Alex, and Reto. The four of us were in the same 10-person dorm from the beginning of my stay, and we ended up spending the rest the week together. All three of them are experienced travelers and I loved hearing their stories and plans. We shared jokes and drinks and Monopoly games. There was such an ease and comfort that was created within that week. At some point during the week, I was chatting with Jing and telling her about how much I was struggling when it came to meeting new people each time that I moved on. I told her that I was lucky to have met my three Antigua friends. Jing was so surprised by this and explained to me that it was not luck that I had met the right people. I had just needed to speak up and stop holding myself back. Her words were so sincere that it became a moment of realization for me and my trip significantly changed after.

From that discussion on, I have made it a point to make the first move and talk to others and to stop being so self-conscious. This caused me to meet Gabriel and Alli on the shuttle from Antigua to El Tunco, El Salvador, and then from El Tunco to Leon, Nicaragua. It gave me the confidence to talk with Guillermo and Raphael in Granada (also Nicaragua). And here I am, at the beginning of Month Three, and the loneliness and fear is becoming more and more foreign to me. Consequently, Month Two has been filled with more awesome people and memories and experiences than I ever expected.

And now on the Month Three! I am so excited because I will be spending a majority of this month reconnecting and traveling with friends that I met earlier in my trip. I have not intentionally traveled with others so I am looking forward to this change in travel style. Hasta luego, amigos!