Last May, I hit my dead spot and my tank was running on empty. I was bored, exhausted and all my passion seemed to disappear from my heart and from my life. I had experienced a hard season in life, and I was ready to be refreshed and to fall back in love with my life.
I was craving something new and outside my comfort zone, I needed to be challenged in a new and uncomfortable realm. The need of growth was present in my personal life and more importantly my spiritual life. For the first time in my life I was searching for fulfillment, not a distraction.
In July I took off with a Experiential Education Program, Pacific Discovery for a whole month. My destination- Quito, Ecuador. Having little experience traveling overseas and a very limited Spanish vocabulary, I was stoked to see what the month ahead held for me.
Here are some blurbs from travels from my Ecuador & Galapagos escapade:
"Travel Tip #1: Always roll up your windows when the taxi comes to a stop. People will reach inside and take your belongings. Glad this occurred early on in the trip, attentiveness is a word I'll get to know better." -Quito, Ecuador
"Today I am reminded of how deeply rooted I am in service. We spent the morning working with the land to plant shrubs in order to protect the Eucalyptus Trees reminds me of how called I am to respect and love the earth. Here in Ecuador, pachamama (Spanish for Mother Earth) is their first love, they care for pachamama and she generously provides for them. I want to devote a portion of my life to sustainability, conservation and service to plants and animals." -Agato, Ecuador & Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands
"Here in Agato I am shown what a healthy community looks like. We arrived to Agato during their Inti Raymi (Sun Festival), a celebrate of ending to winter solstice where they honor the sun. It's a combination of our new years and halloween. It provides a new fresh start, and they dress up and dance every night till late hours. Dancing around a field with my Kitchwa family, wearing their precious indigenous clothing I feel an overwhelming sense of love. I look up at the corozon (heart in spanish) in the mountains and whisper a soft gracias." -Agato, Ecuador
"We spent the day canyoning (canyoneering) and puenting (bungee jumping). Adventure is critical for my well being. An incorporation of adventure needs to be inserted in my daily life. Note to self: always try new things. Wether they speak english or not, jump off the bridge" -Banos de Agua Santa, Ecuador
"'Simplify, simplify, simplify' said Henry David Thoreau. Over the last month, I've lived out of a 71-liter black hole duffel bag. To own simply what you need, is an art form. I have too much stuff, too much clutter. This causes stress, and hurts my overall well being. When I go home, I plan to carry out this theme of simplification into my daily life and home."-Riobamba, Ecuador
"Spend more time reading and journaling than on your phone. Traveling rips you away from your phone. It makes you aware of the time you waste scrolling though Instagram, focusing on others lives. Journal, It provides time for solitude, massive self reflection time. Also spend more time making art, even if it's terrible. Go create something." -Sinchiwarmi, Ecuador
A small look into these blurbs and I realized how much I've learned about myself in such a short time. I rediscovered my passions and became fully accepting of myself. Experiencing new places, peoples and cultures has crafted me into the person I intended to be. I enter back into normal daily life with a refined version of self, with concrete values and stupid big dreams. I found myself in the purest form within the pages of my journal.
