Patiently Planning

The time before travelling can sometimes be the hardest part of travel itself. The build up, the anticipation, the anxiety, the excitement. The waiting game is tough, especially for an impatient soul like me, but fortunately the hardest part is already behind me. Looking back, I can tell you that last winter was the period when I struggled most. I had recently gotten married and life was supposed to be grand! Young and in love, with a decent job and steady supply of wine and cheese, what did I have to complain about? But I felt trapped. Not trapped in any way in my new marriage, that wasn’t the issue at all. In fact, Matthew was one of the only things keeping me going (plus the fact that we were going on our honeymoon right after Christmas, a week in Jamaica that I was very much looking forward to). 

As the days got shorter and work really picked up, coming home in darkness every weeknight was taking its toll. A touch of seasonal affective disorder perhaps? I don’t know, but being in a windowless room for 8+ hours a day certainly didn’t help. What I felt the most was the craving for a change of pace and taste of adventure. Where to next? My itchy feet had just spent the last three solid years in Ottawa and, with Matthew in full-time student mode, we were both ready for a change of lifestyle.

Parliament Hill in Ottawa via Brian Leckie

When we agreed we were going to go travelling through Central America for four months, it was as if a light started to break through the tunnel! Okay, maybe not quite as dramatic as a tunnel, but you know what I mean. This trip would be the first of a few lifestyle changes and it sparked an excitement in me that led to finding many of the blogs that I follow now as I delved into travel resources -- blogs, tips and advice, memoires, fictional stories -- anything I could get my hands on. 

Knowing that we were soon to begin this journey made it easier to squirrel away as much money as we could. Topped off with wedding gifts from our generous friends and family, we finally hit our savings goal of $10k this summer!

Last weekend we ordered and received a bunch of our travel gear, including our backpacks (mine and his). It was such a cute moment of excitement as we tried on our new packs and rain jackets, rifling through the items we’d be researching for months. Just a few minutes ago Matthew had all of the blankets we own stuffed into each of our backpacks as he practiced securing our bags with our pacsafe locks. Since I was the one who’s been more passionate about travelling in general, it’s especially adorable to see him getting so into it now and being  genuinely excited about our upcoming adventures.

Needless to say, the mood around our apartment is much more lively and upbeat these days. We’ve both jumped into the planning and prep with excitement as our trip is almost within reach. My husband is more of a plan-it-right-down-to-the-very-last-detail kind of person whereas I have more of a we’ll-see-when-we-get-there travel mentality, so we’re learning to compromise on the kind of structure we want for the trip.

Map of Central America via World Atlas

We know we’ll be starting in Honduras and heading right to Utila (part of the Bahia Islands) for all of January 2014. We want to take it nice and slow for the first little bit and have already found the cutest guest house! We’ll get our open water certifications, do lots of diving and snorkelling I’m sure, catch up on reading, and just enjoy the slower pace of island life. I’ll still be blogging on a regular basis and taking as many photos as I can while I soak it all in.

From Honduras we’ll take the ferry to the islands of Belize, then bus to Guatemala and continue south from there until we fly out of Panama City to the States in April 2014. I’ll be sharing more details in the weeks to come but in the meantime I’d love to hear if you have any suggestions or tips for travelling through Central America -- please send them my way!

Maya Beach in Placencia, Belize via Sage Photographer

For now, I’m looking forward to what’s next but very content to be in the moment, basking in the freedom of flexibility and unseasonably warm days as autumn continues on. There’s still a lot of planning and preparation to come, a couple of upcoming Canadian adventures to keep me going, and of course blog posts to write chronicling it all! 

This traveller is about to start moving again. 

Linking up with Lost in Travels and Postcards from Rachel.

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