One of the few phrases that is regularly uttered in my many conversations when attempting to speak to a native in Peru.
Inside an art exhibition in Miraflores, 2016.
_Let's backtrack. It was roughly ten months ago after a life changing event that urged me to decide this whack job idea to travel (more like move away and start my life over).
I was in a bad place, a very bad place. Somehow I managed to persevere by connecting to my spiritual side. First, I had a haircut after that I started praying diligently, exercised more, meditated and took up yoga. I call this the 'Pseudo hippie starter pack'.
The emotional trauma that had befallen on me proved to be too much, something that my starter pack could not heal all at once. It was then I decided that the best thing was to change my surroundings.
Yes, I know this is very typical of someone with problems. Most specifically a heartache.
South America, Peru, was the first place I thought of. To everybody i've spoken to, the reasons for choosing this destination is not fully understood by me. All I knew was that I HAD to go to Peru, it was as if something compelled me to just 'find myself' there.
A month later after my decision was made, I started a to-do list . A list of things I needed to prepare for my adventure. My intention was to backpack/hitchhike/live off the land for one month and then return as a new person. I didn't know how or where to start because my whole life i've been very privileged to be brought up in a home where everything was brought to me. My father a former diplomat had raised me with a silver spoon in my mouth. We had maids, a driver, a big house, a great education, having the entire extended family in the same country to survive with in comfort and support, living was easy peasy. Food was prepared for me, clothes were washed and chosen for me, even the shoes were tied for me (during the childhood years of course), deciding what to pack for the trip wasn't going to be easy.
Fortunately the packing list wasn't too hard as I expected it to be, a few internet searches on 'what to pack for a solo backpacking trip' did the trick. You'd be surprised as how many solo travelers have chosen this nomadic path due to unfortunate events in their lives.
A few trips to the nearest local 'adventure shop' and a few hundred dollars spent I left with a bright red backpack, some hiking necessities and not to mention a good pair of botas. A month later I would be off on a two day flight to the land of llamas (of course being here now for ten months i have only seen llamas in the highlands, they aren't everywhere in Peru, FYI).
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Let us now fast forward. The adventures and misadventures can always be told in other entries in different times. This is but only a summary of how everything has come to be until now.
Almost a year in, my heartache and anxieties have been replaced with hope, love, real life struggles which i've never encountered before. Here I have no maid, I share a two bedroom apartment with two other people , I prepare my own food, wash my own clothes, and alternate shoes so they don't wear out. The struggles to start a new life from scratch is hard without the comfort and support from family.
What I would like to impart is that the rewards from experiencing all this is overwhelmingly satisfying. Despite the struggle for money and living through my earnings every month; taking care of myself has made me love life more and has given me the drive to do my best to make a mark. Because if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.
Todavia necesito practicar mi español...
'Big Red'