The Feeling of Home

---

Over the course of 9 months in 2017, my partner and I sold all of our possessions, including 2 vehicles, and a house full of stuff. In order to sell the house for its maximum value, we also completed 3 months of renovations that had been lingering for over 3 years. We wrapped up 2 businesses and left a town and tight knit community that we both cherished. We did all of this in order to seek out a life of freedom, away from the hustle and bustle of the 9-5 life, but most importantly, we did it so that we could travel. This is our story…….

---

After leaving Oaxaca, heading back to San Cristobal for 3 days, then returning to Flores, we feel like we have come home.  Chris even said at some point when we were in San Cristobal “We can do that when we get home.”  I laughed and he didn’t even realize what he had said.

But it’s true.  After spending the better part of 4 months here now, and making so many wonderful friends, we do feel like Flores is home, more so than any other place that we have been in the last year.

It makes me realize that home is what you make it.  Most of us focus so hard on creating that one space to call home.  We put all of our money and our efforts into creating that space, making it a representation of ourselves.  But what if we can create home wherever we go?

Although we did rent a ‘home’ here for 3 months, we are now staying in the Bar/Restaurant where we painted the murals.  They have 3 rooms here, and Chris has traded some tattoo work for the owner, in return for our accommodations (plus some cash on top!).  And even though we haven’t decorated it and bought lots of ‘stuff’ to fill the room, it is home, even if only temporarily.

Tomorrow we head off to a small town called El Remate.  Those that follow us will remember that we stayed there back in July before we headed up to the Tikal Ruins.  (Read that post here.) We are going back to meet with a man who owns a large retreat space on Lake Peten Itza.  We are scheming to organize an art retreat there. (Stay tuned for details!!)

After that we are headed to Rio Dulce for a couple nights to visit some friends of ours that are staying there.  Then, we will be travelling by riverboat to the water access only and Garifuna town of Livingston.  We will be housesitting in Livingston for 6 weeks.

While we are sad to leave our ‘home’ of Flores once again, we are excited at the prospect of being settled again for a few weeks.  We always find that we are more creative, and more productive in our online business’ when we are static in one place for a few weeks.  And so, we look forward to seeing and discovering our new ‘home’ in the coming weeks.

As today is American Thanksgiving, I find it appropriate to express, once again, how thankful we are for this life that we have created.  Never a dull day goes by, and we are constantly inspired and excited by this life.

---

Thanks for reading! Please know that above all else, I aim to inspire others to just get out and see the world. Traveling is such an enriching experience, and I can’t even comprehend how much it has shaped me as an individual. If you have ANY questions, or need travel advice of ANY kind, PLEASE don’t hesitate to email me at the address below! I will do my very best to help you in any way I can!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

---

Current Location: Flores, Guatemala

Travelling Plans: Tomorrow we head to El Remate, then we are off to Rio Dulce and Livingston, Guatemala.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our possessions to travel the world, click here.

To see many travelling photos and to learn about where we are travelling, please follow our Facebook and Instagram accounts by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right hand column.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, (including all of the ones about letting our stuff go) head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To contribute to our Patreon account, please click here.

To learn about housesitting, please click here.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

If you like my writing, and want to follow along on our journey, please put your email address in the right hand column to subscribe. That way all of my posts will go straight to your email inbox:)