As you can see, it has been almost a month since my last, and first, post. Don’t expect me to pump one out every week, or on any kind of schedule. I try to write when I have something to say, or when I have the urge/motivation, which is not always.

“I’m here for a good [time], not a long time.” Can you believe that up until this year, I had never left the United States? Not even to Canada or Mexico. I’m 27. That’s a problem. But one that I had resolved to fix this year, because life is short, and I want to have a good time while I am here. I’m traveling to Utah soon to visit an old friend and catch one of Kobe Bryant’s last games before he retires. I’m going to a bunch of concerts this spring/summer. Just trying to do some things for me while I still can. I would rather die young with too many adventures to count under my belt than an old geyser who never did anything exciting in life. And so, when the university I worked at offered an employee trip to Belize for a week this March, I jumped at it. Central fucking America, here I come. Or should I say went? I got back two days ago, and let me tell you, it was (cliché) the experience of a lifetime.

Within the first two days, I got to get up close and personal with baboons (aka black howler monkeys aka the second loudest land animal. Seriously, you can hear them from over a mile and a half away) and green iguanas (see pic below). I love animals, so this was so cool and amazing.

And it seemed like every new day would trump the highlights of the previous day. I got to see the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich (translation: Stone Maiden) on the third day. You see representations of the ancient pyramids of Egypt on television and in the movies a lot, way more than you do ancient Mayan ruins, but that is what it felt like, like I was seeing something larger than life. And I was. Not only did we get to see these ruins, these ruins which contain El Castillo, which still stands as the second tallest structure in all of Belize (the first is another Mayan ruin), but we got to climb and explore them. Amazing. I stood on top of El Castillo in the same spot that a Mayan stood as he yelled down to his people while passing himself off as a god… over one thousand years ago. It was incredible. I think about a whole civilization living there and building these structures with no modern equipment or technology and it blows my mind. When I looked up, I could see for miles and miles. It is an experience I will never forget.

My favorite part of the trip was exploring the Actun Tunichil Munkal (ATM) Cave, considered by National Geographic as the most sacred cave in the world (Source: Nat Geo). I won’t speak on the sacred part really, but let me tell you, it was truly an adventure walking through an actual jungle to get to the cave entrance, which was in a pool of water, and then swimming, hiking, climbing, and sliding all through the cave to where most of the Mayan artifacts were left. I felt like a Nic Cage in National Treasure or Nathan Drake from Uncharted. I felt like a real life fucking explorer. I had no words. None that it would do it any justice anyways. Sadly, because of all of the water (we were half-submerged for most of the trek and had to swim at a few different points), I was not able to take any pictures of the inside of the cave (they actually do not let any phones or cameras inside anymore since some tourists dropped their cameras on, and broke, some artifacts several years ago. Fools). But, I have the memory of the experience and I will hold on to that for a long time.

Now, the ATM Cave was the best part of the trip, but for the last two days, we went and hung out on an island of Belize, Caye Caulker. If you will recall, up until a week ago, I had never left the states, so it goes without saying I had never been on an island either. It. Was. A good time. I’d seriously consider living there. I swam across the Split (where Caye Caulker is split in two), went snorkeling (and swam with sting rays and sharks!), took a boat tour of the island, drank a lot, and made some new friends from England (with the help of a yellow seahorse).

With all that I did on the island, my favorite part was befriending the two girls from England on my last night. For those of you who know me, it might be easy for you to forget how shy I actually am and how hard it is for me to make new friends. Socially awkward at its finest, that’s me! But through some curious happenstance (and about nine drinks, thanks happy hour!), I ran into this girl twice, and after buying her and her friend a drink the second time, decided to attempt to strike up a conversation with them. Immediately learned that they were from England, but did not watch Doctor Who (WHAT?!). I got past that real quick though because these two girls turned out to be pretty frickin awesome. We ended up talking for the rest of the night. I entertained them with tales of fast jets, accent origins, and my bucket and fuck-it lists (which doesn’t mean what it sounds like.. it’s when you want to do something but are scared to do it, so one day you just say ‘fuck it’ and do it), and they told me all about their travels over the world (seriously, for being so young, they’ve traveled A LOT). Which is why they were equally astounded to hear that this was my first time out of the states, but excited that I was getting out. Funnily enough, they were slightly envious of my life and job as an admissions counselor. Yes, I get paid to travel to different schools in a specific territory to recruit students, and yes, since this trip to Belize counted as professional development I did not have to take any time off (aka I got paid while I was sipping rum and cokes on the beach), but I say their life is still more awesome than mine. All that traveling! They’ve been to Australia, Cuba, Mexico (I think), Belize (obviously), and were leaving in the morning to go to Guatemala before heading down to Panama. Now that is an adventure I say (Melissa, do you still want to swap? North Central PA would love you!)

Now, for the hard part. Trying to end this post is gonna be as rough as leaving Belize (on Daylight Savings day no less). Endings are always the worst. It’s a fact. But I came away from this trip with an insight into a whole other culture, with amazing memories, a firsthand look into history, new-found confidence after tackling a myriad of obstacles I never thought I’d ever face, and some new friends. I’d call that a damn good adventure.

Until next time, friends..

Peace & Love

The lyrics for this post’s title came from Childish Gambino’s The Last