wander – Just Some Wandering

The Mighty Sahara

I’ve never been one to keep a bucket list. I have places in mind that I would like to visit, and things that I certainly want to see, but they have never been written down, only thought about and dreamt about. Sometimes, and unbeknownst to me, the Universe throws me into one of these magical places, and I manage to live out the most epic dream of that place, that I could possibly have ever conjured up.

I’m delighted to say that the Sahara Desert was one of those places.

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50 Experiences in 300 Days

Although there are some items on this list that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, at the same time, I wouldn’t take any of them back.

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…….

In less than a week, we will have been on the road, and away from Canada, for 10 months. While everyday is definitely not perfect, there have been many more seemingly perfect days while we have been abroad, then we would have experienced back home.

Letting go of all of our possessions has allowed us the freedom to live life on our terms. To experience the world without a schedule, without anyone dictating our time or how we spend our days. It has been an ebb and flow of trying to figure out what works for us. What works in some places, definitely doesn’t necessarily work in others, but we adjust as we go. We figure it out each and every time.

It occurred to me the other day that we have had some pretty wild experiences in the short 10 months since we have been gone. And it excites me to no end to know that we certainly wouldn’t have had half of these experiences had we have stayed in Canada.

To me, this is what life is all about. Life is a culmination of our experiences. They are what shape us, they are what make us who we are. Without our experiences to broaden our perspectives, we would be empty shells, robots in a sense. I believe that having new experiences is what life is all about. Only then do we grow and change as humans. Only then do we become new people everyday.

Traveling, to me, is the ultimate experience. It creates a platform for new and different things to happen each and every day. Around every corner, in fact, is a new experience that is waiting to happen. Around every corner is an adventure waiting to unfold. THIS is what travelling is all about! This is what makes it exciting, challenging, and soul enhancing. I crave these new experiences, and I will never stop seeking them out and searching for those ones, that I know, are just sitting and waiting, lurking in the corner, seemingly begging for me to find them.

And so, in no particular order, here is a list of 50 experiences that we can think of that have happened in the last ten months to either one of us, or both of us, and I am sure we are missing many…..

Had 2 hammocks break while we were sitting in them.
Encountered 2 wild snakes, both more than 6 feet long.
Saw 2 wild crocodiles in 2 different rivers.
Ridden in boats across 2 different lakes, one of which we cross everyday from our rented house near Flores.
Experienced 2 earthquakes.
Had our house struck by lightening.
Had food poisoning once.
Been sick with parasites twice.
Had an infection on my foot so bad that I had to seek out antibiotics.
Watched a sea turtle dig it’s nest and lay eggs.
Sat face to face with a sloth as it hung from a low branch.
Walked with a sloth as it crawled along the ground after falling out of a tree.
Seen numerous volcanoes, one that was actually smoking.
Visited ancient temples and ruins.
The ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal.
Had huge toads come into our rented house every night for 3 weeks straight.
Painted a mural.
Witnessed political unrest and war break out in Nicaragua.
Crossed the Panama/Costa Rica border once.
Crossed the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border twice.
Been on 5 airplanes.
Painted over the course of a month while staying in Samara, Costa Rica.
Rented 2 houses in local villages with Spanish speaking neighbours.
Bought handmade tortillas, made that morning, from our neighbours that made them, in two different places.
Housesat 3 houses.
Took care of 4 dogs.
Swam under the full moon, in the ocean, at midnight on New Years Eve.
Went 24 hours with no water in our house.
Experienced multiple power outages.
Walked down the street with a propane tank in a wheel barrow to refill it for our stove.
Ate tons of street food that was to die for.
Made a bazillion new friends.
Saw numerous Toucans, Parrots and Scarlett Macaws.
Visited an epic waterfall.
Saw numerous monkeys.
Helped build an earth bag home.
Got stung by a sting ray.
Zip Lined.
Volunteered at a Music Festival.
Had a visit from a tree frog inside our house.
Witnessed several incredible sunsets.
Slept in our tent on top of our bed to keep the bugs and snakes away from us at night.
Saw 2 tarantulas in the wild.
Saw various scorpions.
Rode in the back of numerous pick up trucks.
Ate traditional Mayan food at a neighbourhood barbecue.
Witnessed incredible handicrafts in Panajachel, Guatemala. Literally mountains of woven textiles, carvings, beadwork and much much more!
Attended a one week Digital Nomad retreat.
Shopped at numerous local markets, buying our produce direct from farmers and other food producers.
Opened numerous fresh coconuts to drink the water and eat the meat!
Learned to make local dishes wherever we go.
Ridden in numerous tuk tuks, buses and collectivos to get from points A to B.

Like I said……I KNOW there are many more, but you get the idea. Life is an adventure, and each day brings new and exciting experiences.

Although there are some items on this list that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, at the same time, I wouldn’t take any of them back. ALL of these experiences are shaping us to be the people that we are now, and they are making us who we will be in the future.

As the old saying goes “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”

So true, so very very true.

What new and exciting experiences have you had in the last nine months? I would love to hear all about them in the comments below.

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: We are currently in Flores, Guatemala. We have rented a house and expect to stay here until mid September at least.

Travelling Plans: We are considering the possibility of heading up to Mexico for a couple months after we are finished with our house here. Then we will be returning to Guatemala to housesit for 6 weeks starting November 26th.

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 more travelling photos and videos, 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 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:)

Venga Vale Vamos Guest Interview

I am honoured to join the ranks of many before me, and have been featured in this section with regards to our recent experience of travelling and living in Costa Rica.

Kristie Jeffries is a traveller, blogger and digital marketer. She has been on the road for a few years now, and has travelled to 72 countries…….and is still going! Her website offers a wealth of information about travel around the world, expat life, budget backpacking, working as a digital nomad, Australian working holidays/work visas, the Spanish auxiliares de conversación program, and so much more.

She has a section of her website where she features interviews from fellow travellers, called the Travel Talk Interviews. These interviews run the gamut from learning about being a Digital Nomad, to becoming a Spanish Teacher’s assistant in Spain, from travelling on a budget to seeing the world in style.

I am honoured to join the ranks of many before me, and have been featured in this section with regards to our recent experience of travelling and living in Costa Rica.

You can read that interview here.

Thanks so much Kristie for the opportunity to share my travel story and my tips to travelling in Costa Rica!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are currently in Flores, Guatemala. We have rented a house and expect to stay here for a minimum of 2 months.

Travelling Plans: Our next plan is to head to Livingston on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, where we will be housesitting for roughly 6 weeks at the end of November.

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 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:)

Reflections from Flores, Guatemala

Could this be the doors opening that we had been hoping for? Of course it was!

We arrived in Flores after 3 different flights from Costa Rica, and an 8 hour day. We hopped our way through Central America, stopping first in San Salvador, where we spent one hour in the airport, but managed to have a glass of beer at the airport microbrewery. Seriously, not something we expected to find! Next was a quick hop to Guatemala City where we had a 4 hour layover, allowing us plenty of time to grab our bags, clear customs and check back into our next flight to Flores.

Flores is a small island town that is perched on Lake Petén Itzá, in the most Northern Guatemala Department (similar to States or Provinces), also called Petén. Since we were arriving at night, we were a little concerned with getting to our hotel, which was across the the lake from Flores, a 3 minute ride by boat. However, our worries were typically needless. Our very friendly shuttle driver, drove us straight to the boat launch, phoned our hotel to send a boat, and we arrived in fine fashion.

As we entered the Island of Flores, by one single road connecting it to the mainland, we were immediately enamoured with the quaint and idyllic little island. We could see Bar-B-Que’s happening on the sides of the roads, and plenty of life happening in the streets. The teeny tiny little streets are just about the cutest little streets we have ever seen (although I think I say that about all the little streets that we see), some of them only big enough for motos and tiny little gas driven tuk tuks. Small little alleyways, many suitable for walking only wove themselves away from the main roads, and off into the matrix of houses that are intertwined in behind. As we passed each alley way and road, each of us craned out necks to look down as far as we could. We were both wide eyed and lost in wonderland and were immediately in love with this place!

Initially our two planned nights in Flores (actually, we learned, the area across the water, where our hotel was, is called San Miguel), turned into 3, and as we met more and more people in and around Flores, we found it really hard to leave at all.

THE PLAN

Our ‘plan’, when we booked the trip to Guatemala, was to visit Flores for a couple days, then head out to El Remate for a couple more days to see Tikal. After that we would be off to Belize by bus, heading north to Mexico up the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Our end goal was to get to Merida, the capital city of the Yucatan Peninsula, and where we visited for only 3 days in 2015, but fell in love with it. Chris had spoken to a tattoo shop there that accepts guest artists, and we have some friends that are currently living there that are from Portland, who we keep telling that we are coming up there. However, as it is with travelling, and this sort of life, things don’t always go as we plan.

The morning after we arrived, we were ecstatic to look out of our hotel window to see an island across the way that was literally beaming with colour. Even from our distance across the water, which is likely less than a kilometer, we could see that there were cute little buildings, seemingly stacked on top of each other. The coloured roofs seemed to interconnect, making it seem like a giant patchwork quilt set out on the middle of the lake. In the center of it all, and up on the hill in the middle of the island, stands a grande white church that looks down on the rest of the area. Needless to say, we couldn’t wait to get our day started, so that we could get back over there to explore.

A tiny little “lancha” took us across to the other side for just over a dollar for both of us, and we were dropped off in about 3 minutes. We immediately set out to explore what we could, weaving our way here and there up the tiny streets. Many Guatemalans sat on their front stoops, and I’m sure ALL of them greeted us in some way as we passed. Over the course of the day, we visited many little stores, coffee shops and bars and met some really interesting people. We learned that there was in fact a tattoo shop in town, however we didn’t find it that day.

By mid afternoon, we found ourselves back down by the water, and where we would be catching our boat back across to our hotel. We had noticed a really neat looking coffee shop along that road that morning, it was covered in plants from top to bottom, and really caught our eye. So, we decided to head in and have a beer before we headed back across the water. It wasn’t just the plants, and the lure of feeling like we would be sitting amongst a jungle that brought us in here, though. It was the bright vibrant colours that everything was painted in, it was the funky bohemian decor, and it was just the good vibes and the feeling in general. We felt very comfortable in that little place right away, and it felt like home to us. We took our boat back across the water after a fulfilling and great exploration day, and decided that maybe 2 nights wasn’t enough for this place.

The next morning, we told the hotel that we wanted to stay another day, and we headed straight across the water for breakfast, back to San Telmo, the comfy little bohemian coffee shop/bar that we had fallen in love with. Right away when we got there, we met William, or Docter Gato, as the locals know him as. He started chatting with us immediately when we came in. Having grown up split between Canada and the US, he has now been in Guatemala for 25 years. We don’t know how old he is, but I can imagine its between 60 and 70 somewhere. Although, he is also one of those spirited, spry people, that could easily be 80 as well.

He sat down to ask us what we do and all kinds of questions about our life. In an instant I felt like I could tell this man anything, while simultaneously feeling like I couldn’t get enough of what HE had to say. He immediately suggested that since we had no schedule, we should stay for longer in Flores since it is such a nice spot. We agreed.

Chris sourced out the tattoo guy through Facebook, and sent him a message asking if he was looking for any guest artists. He replied right away that he was interested, and, of course, wanted to meet us. We finished breakfast and then headed to his shop. We found it with no problem and felt completely at ease and comfortable in his presence, right away. He seemed excited at the prospect of having another artist in the shop, and we spoke with him a bit about needing a house to rent, if we were to stay longer . He immediately took us through the streets to look at a couple options.

We didn’t find anything that was suitable at that time, but later in the day after we had moved on to other things, Vladimir, the tattoo shop owner, messaged us that he knew of a place in San Miguel that was available and he wanted to show it to us at 9:00 the next morning. He would pick Chris up with his motorbike (actually he thought he was picking us both up at once, as they often do here, but I opted out of that one….) and take him to see the house. If we didn’t like it, we decided that we would head back over the the Island of Flores, and would stay in a hotel there that was just as cheap, but a little more part of the action than across the water at San Miguel.

Little did we know, Vladimir was hoping that we would stay in a room at his house! Him and his girlfriend had completely cleaned out one of the bedrooms, but left the mattress on the floor (a King Size Mattress none-the-less), complete with clean sheets. He stated that we could stay there for as long as we wanted, as long as Chris was working in his shop, and didn’t want any money or compensation for it at all. We were astounded at his offer and decided to spend a night to see how it went. Unfortunately, between many lights not working, a shower that never stopped running (at least while the water was actually working), water constantly on the bathroom floor, and a living area that had no furniture to sit in, we decided that this place wasn’t quite as comfortable as we wanted to be, and we set out the next morning to continue our search for accommodation. I booked a couple nights at a hotel in Flores, then booked 3 nights in El Remate, where we would explore Tikal from and we resigned ourselves to the fact that maybe Flores wasn’t the place for us to be after all. After talking to countless people and trying our hardest to find a place to live there over our first 3 days, we figured that no doors opening, meant that other doors would open somewhere else. At that point, our plan was to see Tikal, and then continue on to Mexico like we had decided before heading up to Guatemala. Maybe that really IS the best plan, we thought.

After our first night staying in Flores proper, Chris had decided that he wanted to tattoo Vladimir. Throughout our stay there, Vladimir had told him how excited he was to have another tattoo artist around, and there were some things that he really wanted to get finished on him. It turned out that what Vladimir wanted, was something that Chris would design himself, and be something that represented his art style. Knowing that he had very little money, but realizing that we were leaving, he still wanted to gift Vlad with his art, in exchange for how kind he had been to us, so he did it for free. At that point, it was our last day in Flores, and it needed to be done then, so Chris headed up to his shop, while I went back to our favourite cafe to do some work on my computer, visit with our new friends, and have some coffee.

At some point through the day, I left go to our hotel for something, and when I returned to the coffee shop, my initial seat had been taken, so I sat down to chat with a Guatemalan lady that was sitting on her own. We immediately got to chatting like we were long lost friends, and she started telling me where she lived, back across the lake in San Miguel, where we had initially been staying. The way she described her house somehow seemed so familiar to me, and I immediately asked her if she had and Air BnB there. “Si!” She announced. I really don’t know how I knew this, but the morning that we had woken up at Vlad’s, and after searching out some other options of accommodation possibilities, I had found her house on Air BnB and it was very reasonably priced at $15/night. I almost messaged her to see what she would charge us for a month, but quickly also realized that it was her house, and that we would be living with her if we wanted to stay there. This wasn’t ideal for us……we really needed our own space, so I didn’t.

But all of a sudden, here I was, sitting across a table from the exact person that owned this house. As we discussed her house a bit, Doctor Gato sat down and I told him the story. Suddenly these impossible words began spilling from his mouth “she is planning to move out of her house, you should live there.”

WHAT???!!! I couldn’t believe it! Here I had been already, researching this possible place to stay, feeling like it would have been the perfect house for us, but just not wanting a roommate. However, with her planning to move out, things were coming together perfectly! My mind buzzed with excitement!

I quickly asked her how much it would be to rent it, and she told me the magic number. We had been looking for something close to US$200 per month, and she wanted the equivalent of $225. Could this be it? Could this be the doors opening that we had been hoping for? Of course it was!

After explaining our situation and insisting that we were VERY interested, I asked her if she could wait there while I ran up the street to ask Chris about it. Of course, I was quite sure that he would be ecstatic about it as well and I arrived breathless and barely being able to get a word out, as I expressed how excited I was about this place. We agreed that it needed to be looked at, and made a plan with Heidi the very next morning to see it.

Of course, the house is perfect! It has 2 bedrooms (one which we can Air BnB if we desire), a beautiful deck, perched high up on the hill with a view of Flores from San Miguel. It is smack dab in the middle of a teeny neighbourhood of homes, and our closest neighbour makes fresh tortillas every day, 4 for 1Q (about 15cents!). The house is very modern, and we immediately fell in love with Heidi, she has spunk and a zest for life, and she knows all about Europe and Canada and many other places in the world.

We are so excited that things have worked out for us here. We really didn’t feel like leaving, we just hadn’t given it enough time for the Universe to lay out the possibilities. We are looking forward to being able to use this place as a launchpad to explore this area. Plus, with all the friends that we have made already, we really already feel like we are part of a community, and we look forward to sinking in even more and enjoying this place for a while. It is in the staying in one place where we feel the most productive. Where we can really sink into our artwork. Where we can make friends, meet people, and really learn about the culture and the people of this land.

Not to mention that being here on the lake brings with it a certain peace that is hard to quantify. It feels tranquil, welcoming and refreshing. After spending so many months on the Ocean, we are very happy to be near fresh water.

This is the life that we have chosen! Not a day goes by where we aren’t ecstatic about the opportunities that cross our paths. Every day is an adventure. Every day offers a chance to take a different path if we so choose. However, when you get to those places that bring you so much happiness, sometimes it’s nice to stay a while.

Next up, we are off to El Remate, as planned, to explore Tikal! We are over the moon with excitement about this chance to visit these sacred lands. Stay tuned for a full story on that adventure!

In other news!

In January I joined a network called Location Indie. It has about 350 members that are either already location independent, or are working their way to being so. It offers mentoring and advice on how to achieve a location independent lifestyle. There are many valuable free workshops, lectures and a great forum where you can post any sort of question, and you will get many answers from other members.

If you are interested in checking it out, and signing up for their newsletter, please click here!

In June, I was honoured to be featured as the monthly member spotlight, and got interviewed on the network for all members to watch live. The interview was also turned into a podcast! I am very happy to share that link here (find episode 113). It tells of our journey to location independence, and gives you an inside look at how we did it, and how we are making it work now. Give it a listen if you like, and sign up for their podcast. It is very inspirational!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are currently in Flores, Guatemala. We have rented a house and expect to stay here for a minimum of 2 months.

Travelling Plans: No plans to go anywhere at this point!

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 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:)

Off to Guatemala!

Although we have been content here in our hostel in Samara for 3 weeks now, we also realize that we can’t stay here forever. We exchanged part of our stay for painting a mural for the hostel owner, but we are now living on paid time, and while the price tag is only $25/night, we also realize that over the course of time, that adds up.

A couple weeks ago I went online to find cheap flights up to Cancun. Obviously, flying is not our travel method of choice, but since the roads are blocked in Nicaragua, civil war has broken out, and the country is at a standstill, there really isn’t any other option. If we want to go somewhere, it has to be by plane.

As we are to be housesitting in November in Guatemala, it only made sense to head North, and not South, to cut down on future travel expense and time.

A couple weeks ago I researched flights up to Cancun. We have our sights set on Merida, a beautiful colonial city that we spent only 3 nights at back in 2015. It sits about 4 hours by bus to the west of Cancun, and is close to the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. We fell in love with the city and vowed to return for longer some day. Being close to Guatemala, makes it a good option for us to be close to our housesitting gig in November, and we can find apartment rentals for $150-$200 per month. Good deal!

Screenshot 2018-06-29 14.58.40 — *Image courtesy of Googlemaps.com*

When I did my my initial search, the flights were looking like they were about $200-$220 per person. Not bad. I researched many different days around the beginning of July, and found them all to be about the same price. So I figured that I would wait until we got closer, to see if any other opportunities came up for us around Samara, or in Costa Rica, before we committed to something solid.

When living a nomadic life, booking a flight is a bit of a big deal. When you are trying to live day to day, and take whatever opportunity comes your way, committing to some far off point can be stressful and a bit overwhelming. But as everything in life, we have to make decisions, and once we do, new opportunities will arise that never existed before.

Last night, feeling like our time is definitely up here in Samara, and in Costa Rica in general, I decided that I should sit down and find a flight and just book something. We needed to make a move. However, I was dismayed when I saw that all of the $200ish flights had now jumped to sometimes $350 or more! If we wanted a $200 flight, it would mean staying in Costa Rica for another 2-3 weeks, which would negate the cost of the cheap flight anyways.

Not to be deterred, I checked many websites and although I found the odd cheaper flight, most of them only allowed carry on bags and charged extra for checked bags. Unfortunately, although we are nomadic, our bags do not match our nomadic lifestyle! We have one complete duffel bag that is full of Chris’ tattoo gear, our tent, some thin sleeping bags, and (shudder) wool sweaters and cold weather gear! We do plan to get to Ecuador eventually and these warm clothes WILL come in handy, but just thinking about them at this point makes me sweat!

PLUS we have an entire carry on suitcase that is dedicated to our art supplies. This case in particular is a little worrisome as we have been adding heavy paper and other supplies to it making it quite heavy. Even if it does fit in the overhead bins, there is a chance that they won’t allow it onboard the plane due to its weight. On top of all that we have 2 small back packs and another large backpack that contains both of our clothing.

Like I said, one would NOT think we are nomadic with all of the stuff we are hauling around, that’s for sure!

However, this is a cross that we bear, and is why once we got down here we had resigned ourselves to bus travel only, at least in the near future. But, with travel comes uncertainty, changed plans, and never really knowing what is around each corner. So here we are, booking flights and stressing about our luggage!

I continued my searches through many websites and finally decided to switch things up a bit. Previously, I had considered checking flights to Guatemala, and they had all been quite cheap as well, in fact cheaper than to Cancun. I decided to throw that into the search engine to see what came back. Right away it was obvious that flights were cheaper, but Guatemala City is so far away from Merida, it seemed silly to try to save the $100 when we would have to spend days travelling north from there. Sure Lake Atitlan is nearby, a very popular destination and a “must see” Guatemala sight, but with the explosion of Volcan Fuego happening recently, maybe that wasn’t the best place to go. I’m sure there is an economic spin off happening with that, tourism is likely down and possibly, there could be other problems. No, we weren’t really interested in going there, at least for now, especially having just gotten over our shell shock from Nicaragua.

However, as I typed Guatemala into one search engine, just to see other options, in tiny writing and in an obscure corner of the page, was an option for other airports. Other airports? I had no idea that there were other international airports in Guatemala! I assumed that all international flights flew into Guatemala City, then connected from there (never assume….I know, I know.) I quickly chose another destination, Flores, yes, that looked like a nice name, meaning Flowers in English. Lets look there, I thought.

Screenshot 2018-06-29 15.07.14 — *Image courtesy of googlemaps.com*

Our German friend Nico, one of the same hostel family members that had been with us since we arrived in Samara, and who also left Nicaragua, had been to Flores. He quickly announced “Oh yes, Flores is lovely, then you can go to Tikal.”

Tikal??? What?? I have dreamt about going to Tikal for so many years, but it’s never been a solid plan, just some sort of far off fantasy. One that would manifest itself one day when I ever got to Guatemala. Well, all of a sudden this far off plan was suddenly manifesting itself before my eyes. Chris announced “Book it!”, and Nico was immediately on his feet with enthusiasm, whipping out his Lonely Planet guide, pulling up maps on his phone, and showing me all sorts of things to do and places to go in that area. I had to get him to slow down for a few minutes while I booked the flight, but I was pumped for his excitement. Clearly this was a great place to head to! Plus, it’s located in the Northern part of the country, which means getting to Merida, may be a little bit easier than it would be from Guatemala City.

The flight to Flores is $160 each, and includes one checked bag each (now we just have to make sure they are below 24kg!). BINGO! In an instant our flight was booked and just like that we are off to Guatemala. The hilarious thing, also, is that our flight is on the same day (July 5th) that our friend Nico’s is to Mexico City, and within half an hour of his. So we are all going to travel to San Jose together, stay in the same hostel, and see each other off at the airport.

In the course of a couple hours, we went from not knowing what we were going to do, or where we were going to go, or if we were EVER going to get out of Costa Rica, to finding a cheap flight, booking it, and planning our trip to Guatemala! For the first time since leaving Canada, I am finally going to a country I haven’t been to before, and I couldn’t be more excited!

We have no idea how long we will spend in Guatemala, we don’t really know anything about what we will be doing when we get there (other then going to Tikal of course!) but we are going, that much is clear! It feels incredibly good to have a bit of a plan, and to know that very soon we will be in a new county, experiencing a new culture and seeing new sights.

This is the life of a Nomad, this is what is exciting! One day at a time, step by step we choose our futures. It’s an exhilarating feeling and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Pura Vida from Costa Rica (for only one more week!)

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are currently in Samara, Costa Rica. After having to leave Nicaragua unexpectedly due to civil unrest. We have been in the El Dorado Hostel (highly recommended!) for 3 weeks.

Travelling Plans: Heading to Guatemala on July 5th!

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 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:)

A New Look and a New Time

I am more interested in inspiring people to get out into the world and to live the life that they can only dream of.

As we sit in Costa Rica, after 8 months of arriving here, I can’t help but feel like pieces are finally falling into place. It’s not like all of a sudden everything has become easy, and that we have it all figured out. No, it’s more of a feeling. A feeling that big things are starting to happen. A feeling that we are both stepping into our shoes.

This past 8 months has allowed us the freedom to explore our deepest desires. It has allowed us the time to really consider what it is we want to do, and where it is we are headed. Day by day, bit by bit, the petals unfurl to our souls, moment by moment we are finding out who we really are. Who we are without the crush of society telling us who we should be.

Since leaving Nicaragua, 21 days ago, we have rested, we have recuperated, and we have done a lot of thinking about where we are going and what is next. And the only thing that has been really clear, is that we really don’t know. We have discussions about going to Mexico, or maybe Columbia. But when that will happen, is something that has not yet presented itself to us. For some strange reason, we are content here in Samara. We are back in the safe arms of Costa Rica, and we are happy with our place in this life right now.

Horses in Samara — An eerie rainy day in Samara.

Living in a hostel is not something that I ever would have considered in this life. But I have to say, I am really enjoying it. We have our own room, our own bathroom, a kitchen to cook in, and a social scene that is just perfect. The average age of people that stay at our hostel is about 35 years old. This isn’t your typical party hostel scene, and I’m realizing that at the ripe ol’ age of 41, most hostels aren’t really like that anymore. I mean sure, if you go to well known party places like Whistler, Thailand, or Australia, and I’m sure even in parts of Costa Rica, sure there are party hostels. But here, it’s different. It’s nice. We have a constantly changing rotation of roomates, and we like it that way. We are meeting other travellers and are learning about where they come from, and what their cultures and traditions are like.

We have made lasting friendships with some of them, with promises to visit their countries one day. We have exchanged travelling stories, and we have become immensely inspired. Having this time to really dictate what we do with our days, has been refreshing and rewarding. We both feel like our minds are clearer and our goals are manifesting.

My online stores have finally grown their own legs. I mean, obviously it all takes work, and I will be putting effort into those things until the day that they cease to exist, but the hard work of getting them off the ground is finished for now. I feel like now I have time to focus on my writing, and to really set out to start making a difference in the world.

You will notice that the visual format of this blog has changed to reflect something a little more professional. It no longer serves as a fun Travel-y blog type thing, now it is a platform for me to share my experiences, I call it a Travel Lifestyle Blog. I’m not interested necessarily in trying to promote travel destinations. I’m not into doing those blogs that do “Top 10 budget destinations” type writing.

No, I am more interested in inspiring people to get out into the world and to live the life that they can only dream of. And when I say “get out into the world”, I don’t necessarily mean to go travelling. I guess more of what I mean is to get out of YOUR world. To leave the feelings, the places, the normal-ness of your life to explore something different. Try those things that you have always wanted to try. Take that salsa class, do a pottery class, go to a paint and wine night. Write that blog, go to that restaurant, call that person.

Just switch things up a bit. Don’t become stagnant, don’t become normal.

Throughout this journey, and from day one of making this decision to sell all of our possessions and travel the world, I have been keeping a log of what we were going through at each stage of the game. Some of this is reflected in this blog, but much of it is also kept in journals, by voice recording and memos to myself. It all has to do with living a life that we create, stepping away from the normal day to day routines that have been set out for us by society.

I will be writing a book that will bring this message together. My hope is that it inspires others to build a life that they love. To get away from the everyday grind and to seek out a life that you love, one that inspires you, one that excites you.

Something else that is new is that I have set up a Patreon account. (Click here to see that.) Patreon is a platform that allows individuals to fundraise money for certain causes, to create a product, to launch a book, to create a constant income stream to allow them the time to be creative. I feel like we fall into all of those categories. We are constantly creating, and putting our best work out into the world, but it takes time to build. It takes time to build our own brands and to reinvent ourselves.

Patreon is a way for our fans to contribute to our journey in some small way. You can donate as little as $1 per month to help us to keep moving forward and to bring our projects to fruition.

As always, we are so grateful to our friends and family that have supported us in our journey so far. Without the community and family support that we have received, this journey and decision to live this life would have been much more difficult.

And so, here we stand. We stand in immense gratitude for this life that we have created. And we look forward to continuing to share that with the world.

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are currently in Samara, Costa Rica. After having to leave Nicaragua unexpectedly due to civil unrest, we are here still figuring out where we want to go next.

Travelling Plans: We have nothing scheduled at this point other than a housesitting job in Livingston, Guatemala in late November.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our posessions to trave 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 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:)

Nicaragua – Should We Stay or Should We Go Now? Part One

This unspeakable and despicable act is what forced us from the country. Because you realize that if a person is capable of that, he is capable of anything. This is our story of 8 weeks in Nicaragua, when a civil war broke out.

We arrived in Nicaragua on April 9th, 2018. On April 18th, we got news that President Ortega had put into law a new social security reform which would negatively affect the entire population. The students took to the streets to protest, and in what would become the historical beginning to this crazy civil war that they have now entered, over 70 people were killed, mostly students, and many more hundreds were injured, around the country. On May 10th, we began a housesitting job in Rivas. Things had calmed down a bit, and we felt right in our decision to stay in the country. The violence had’t reached where we were, we really felt like it would stay calm. Day by day we watched as things escalated around us. We started to feel trapped. Roadblocks made travelling impossible and we weren’t sure if it was even safe to go anywhere. Maybe it is best where we are, we thought. On May 30th, a peaceful Mother’s Day March took place in Managua, the capital of the country. Estimates of 200 000 people took to the street to show solidarity and a will to make a point, to tell Ortega they wanted him out. They marched to remember their children that had already been lost in this bloody war. They were thousands upon thousands strong, mostly waving the Blue and White striped flag of Nicaragua. It was a sight to behold and I felt a surge of pride for the country and what it was representing. We read the following morning that late in the day, Snipers located high off the ground, started shooting into the crowd. That day they killed upwards of 15 people and injured hundreds more. One boy was shot right from his mother’s arms. On Mother’s Day. This was the turning point for us. This unspeakable and despicable act is what forced us from the country. Because you realize that if a person is capable of that, he is capable of anything. This is our story of 8 weeks in Nicaragua, when a civil war broke out.

We had been staying at Amanda’s farm for about 10 days when we started to feel like it was time to go somewhere new. We had been living in our tent, it was dry and dusty, we were covered in ticks every day and we were dirty. It was time to move on, we both felt it.

It was April 19th, and we were scheduled to start housesitting around the beginning of May. So we had a few days to kill and we thought that spending them in Granada, would be a nice way to see another part of the country, before settling into our house in Rivas. I instinctually looked on Booking.com and found a place. I booked it and paid for it, but it didn’t go through for some reason. After a while, I received a message from the owner saying that they are not taking bookings because Granada was under attack. Under attack?? What do you mean under attack?? We had just been there the day before. Amanda had commented on the amount of police vehicles around, but other than that we didn’t see anything else unusual.

The man said that there were blockades and fighting in the streets and that they were closed. That was it. He suggested that we leave the country as soon as possible.

I went to find Amanda to tell her what I had heard. Mostly dumbfounded and really not sure what to think. It was all beyond comprehension to me. When I found her she said she knew. I don’t know for how long she had known, but she was in close contact with her Aunt in Managua and things didn’t sound good. But we were in Nandaime, nowhere near Managua, and everything seemed normal there. The 4 of us decided to just see what was going to happen. This could go many ways, and we wanted to make sure that what we were hearing was fact based, not just based on fear. And none of us were going to make any rash decisions about leaving, until we heard the outcome of this.

Because at some point this “fight” will end. Won’t it?

Obviously, we were as glued as we could be to the internet. Looking on Instagram and Facebook for updates. Many expats had started reporting about what was happening in their neighbourhoods. It was frightening and terrifying and we really weren’t sure what to think. But that was there, and we were not. We felt safe where we were, on a small farm well away from main roads and big cities.

Amanda’s Quidador (property caretaker) who is roughly 70, would come around our camp a couple times per day reporting in on the numbers. Letting us know how many had died that day. Stating that the revolution had started. Fearful for what he remembered from the last one. Sickeningly, looking back, we joked about it. “Viva la revolucion!” we yelled as we all laughed, his Nicaraguan nephew included. I think about that scene now and it makes me angry at myself. How insensitive were we? To think about what that man had been through, and for him to know what’s coming, and we all just made light of it. Maybe I only feel bad because I know now what I didn’t know then.

I mean really. How bad could it get?

There was a general feeling around us of “NAH, it can’t be that bad!” We knew it was serious and that people had died, but we really just thought it would blow over. Nobody really gave it too much credit. Or maybe that was our brain’s defense system. We went to town in numbers in the day, and we didn’t go anywhere at night. We hung low. We were cautious and we knew crazy things were going on around the country.

But they would sort themselves out. Wouldn’t they?

We stuck it out through the weekend hearing reports of more and more dead. By Monday upwards of 65 to 70 people, mostly students had been killed in various locations around the country. Mostly they were marching peacefully. They wanted Ortega out, and they were making a show of it. Somehow people got killed. Many say it was government trained snipers, other say it’s junior Sandanistas that have been groomed to kill. Who ever it was brought violence to the equation, and with that brought a fight.

Somewhere amongst it all, the students and their supporters started building barricades in the streets. They literally pulled the bricks up that were laid in the streets and built walls out of them. They staggered them through towns and cities, intermittently, with not much organization. Some road blocks turned into shields as the odd time guns were involved, and they would all crouch down behind them to dodge the bullets. These road blocks are meant to put pressure on the government to halt deliveries of supplies, and cause general disfunction in the country.

And oh ya, by Monday morning the newspapers were ordered to stop reporting and a national radio station was closed down. He was censoring the news. Our hearts sank.

After the weekend ended, Ortega finally agreed with the church to have talks. They were going to do some negotiating. The priests were tired of blood shed. Videos on Facebook and You Tube showed them walking into the conflicts, dressed in full regalia, to halt the fighting. They were tired of the violence and they knew that it needed a solution.

Day one of the talks, a young Lesther Aleman, a University student, told Ortega point blank to his face that the Nicaraguan people want him to step down. They are tired of his regime, and his presidency had gone on long enough. In fact, Ortega himself was the one to decide that he could be president for a third term, and in effect for life, by changing the laws that stated presidency was two terms, maximum. He also somehow decided while entering into his third term that the rules should state that his wife be allowed to be Vice President. You can imagine my shock when I read this in an article shortly after this all started. I remember distinctively thinking “His WIFE is the Vice President??” My heart sunk with this knowledge as right there laid out before me was the perfect dictatorship. Complete power.

The thing is that the people knew it. They knew that he was amassing an empire. They knew it, but it didn’t matter as much because their lives were good. Nicaraguas economy was booming, tourism had never been better. Expats were buying up land in droves and new guest houses, cottages and hotels were popping up everywhere. What’s to complain about?

But apparently however good Nicaragua seemed on the surface, things were not so good behind the scenes. Bit by bit Ortega had been amassing unbelievable wealth, and power. He made himself the head honcho to every branch of government, took over the countries electrical company and bought many more businesses and things to create a very powerful and dominant structure. Even if he did step down as President, he would still be controlling the structure of Nicaragua. It’s very scary to think about how entangled he is in the country. Taking notes from Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and the Castro boys, he seemed to be following a game plan. A long strung out government take over that would be done so slowly that nobody would notice. However, his plan backfired, Venezuela stopped their supports for Nicaragua, and a desperate government, one that knew that it was about to go broke, made a decision that stepped over lines and crossed boundaries.

I was told by a Nicaraguan friend that two years ago, Ortega was told that if he didn’t fix the Social Security program, it would be broke by June of 2018.

So it was in April, not even 2 months before that fateful month, that Ortega decided to finally do something about this. I read that he did it without speaking with the business sector, and without asking for any input from any other branch of government.

He just decided that it was so, and so it was.

His new bill would instantly increase the Social Security rates that the current employees AND employers were paying, and simultaneously reduce the current amount that seniors were getting now, and in the future. Thereby affecting the entire population of the country.

This is what started it all. This was the tipping point. The people had had enough of his power. This time he had pushed too far. It was time to say no to the monster! It was time to take their country back. It was time to rise up.

To continue to part 2 of this story, click here.

Disclaimer: The information provided in my writing is based on articles that I have read from many publications, information gathered from Nicaraguan Expats and Locals, and from videos that I have seen posted online. I don’t pretend to be an expert on Nicaraguan politics, and if you feel like I have misrepresented information in anyway, please email me at jillamatt@me.com.

For news on what is happening in Nicaragua and to learn all about this crisis, please visit the La Prensa website. Their online newspaper has covered this from the beginning.

After selling all of our possessions in Canada in 2017, we flew to Costa Rica to do an initial housesit for 2 months. Our journey has continued and we have now been ‘on the road’ for almost 8 months.

Current Location: We are currently in Samara, Costa Rica where we are staying in a familiar hostel with 2 others that left Nicaragua in the last few days. We have also met 5 other people in town that just left. We call ourselves the Nicaraguan Refugees.

Travelling Plans: Our ‘plans’ have been flipped upside down and we are now trying to figure out a new one.

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

To see more travelling photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

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

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

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:)

What’s Next?

We clearly have been here too long if we are starting to get woven into the Payton Place dramas that are going on around us.

Well, after spending 4.5 months here on the same remote-ish beach in Costa Rica, we have found that it is definitely time to move on.

When we look back at the state we were in when we arrived here, we were nothing short of shell shocked. We had just come from 9 months of selling all of our stuff in multiple garage sales, renovating our house to get it ready for sale, finishing up our work contracts and moving as fast as possible through life, so that we could get here and just breathe. Well, we did that! We collapsed on this beach and literally hibernated for at least 2 months while we fulfilled our first housesitting gig here on Playa Matapalo in Costa Rica.

C95555ED-A7D2-4F60-83F8-5B4752FF140F — We never get tired of the perfect sunsets and warm water literally right at our doorstep! We will miss this there is no doubt!

Just as that gig was finishing, we were asked by a neighbour if we could manage his Cabina Rental property. This meant moving 2 doors down, temporarily adopting his three awesome dogs, and managing the day to day goings on of his 2 Cabinas. Not a huge chore in return for a couple more months of accommodation, not too mention the chance to make a bit of money on the side! Hell yeah!

We jumped into our roles here with both feet, right at the busy Christmas and New Year season. Did we know what we were doing? NO! Were we nervous, frightened or afraid? NO! We were just gung ho to try something new, and get a chance to extend our stay on a beach that we really didn’t want to leave after all.

EA52F96B-B57A-4C5E-821A-BF0DAA80F8A8 — The view from our front porch for the last 2.5 months! Sigh………..

Well, fast forward 2.5 months, and we are now ready to move on. Although this place is spectacular, and well, perfect really, we are yearning for new and exciting experiences. It is a pretty remote place and coming and going is a challenge with bus schedules and walking 2 km back and forth to catch it. There is only so far that we can go on the bus, as it only goes in a couple different directions, and of course, we need to return to the house each night to take care of dogs and guests etc. So we have explored as far as we can around us with those limitations, and really feel like there isn’t much else to see. Our beach is spectacular, and we make a special concerted effort to not take it for granted, but it really is the same every day, and we yearn for some action. Something new and different. Something that only travelling can bring!

Besides, the other day we were accused of spreading some vicious rumours about one of our neighbours. While what we were accused of is definitely NOT true, it was in that moment that we both decided that YUP, it’s time to move on. We clearly have been here too long if we are starting to get woven into the Payton Place dramas that are going on around us.

Off to El Silencio!

We have been promising our Canadian friend that lives really close to here, but up in the mountains, that we would come and help him with some projects on his property this spring. We didn’t know how long we were going to have to stay in our current spot, but we figured we would have plenty of time to help him out after we were done here.

(Our friends property complete with his own perfect clean stream running through it!)

He has a bunch of acres of property up a river and deep in the jungle. Every day he bears witness to Toucans, Scarlet Macaws, Morpho Butterflies and numerous other animals flitting to and fro. We have visited his property a couple times, and have similarly fallen in love with it. It really is a perfect little jungle paradise, and we look forward to staying there for a few weeks and experiencing Costa Rica from a different perspective. Not too mention that we have formed an incredibly tight bond with him in the last few months that we have know him, and we feel like he is family to us more than just friends. We really look forward to hanging out with him more, and on his terms as most of our friendship has taken place down here at the beach when he comes to visit. So that will be a nice and new experience.

His neighbours that live less than a km away have a house that sits high up on the hill, that is currently unoccupied. The matriarch of the family had lived in it for many years, but recently decided that she is unable to climb the hill to get to it numerous times per day. So it sits vacant, just waiting for someone to stay in it. At a price of $60/week, we are excited to know that we will have our own space complete with Electricity, a Fridge AND a flushing toilet! All of these things are a bit of a luxury in the parts where we are headed!

We are off to El Silencio on March 15th!

Next to Nicaragua!

While at Envision Festival a couple weeks ago, we received a happy text message telling us that we had been selected to housesit at an apartment in Rivas, Nicaragua starting in May. We had applied sometime at the beginning of February and had gone back and forth with them numerous times, each time getting shortlisted a little more. Well, thankfully we got chosen and we are really looking forward to that as well.

We will be there for 4.5 months, but unlike this place where we currently are, we won’t have pets to take care of, and surely no Cabinas! In fact, the owners have insisted that they don’t expect us to be there full time, just to make sure that we are checking in on the place once in a while. As we don’t plan to travel a ton while there, it is surely nice to know that we can come and go as we please, and it will be so nice to have a place to leave the majority of our stuff, so that we can travel light throughout the country! Not too mention that we will be close to buses that can take us in any manner of directions, and Lake Nicaragua is nearby where we can ride the ferries and do some exploring around there. We are very excited about this opportunity!

(Some pics of time spent in Nicaragua back in 2004. I’m looking forward to seeing San Juan del Sur again!)

On a side note, in 2004 my ex-husband and I spent 4 months living in Nicaragua in the then quiet and quaint San Juan del Sur, which is only 40 minutes from our housesit. I made many friends there that I still keep in touch with today, and I look forward to re-connecting with them some 14 years later!

8194AE17-F416-45AD-B160-29983669C88A — This is Yajira. She was my first spanish teacher and now owns her own school! We intend on attending her school while in Nicaragua!

We were on the Radio! (And other news……)

I keep meaning to mention that before we left Canada, we were interviewed by our community “Let’s Talk Trash” group about our minimalist journey. They aired the interview on their radio show at the end of January. Here is the interview if you would like to give it a listen: http://cjmponline.ca/podcasting/index.php?id=2526

It is such a trip for us to listen to this now that we have been away for a few months. Our perspective on life has definitely shifted, and we are constantly aware of what it is that we are buying as we now have to carry it all around with us!

I was also recently featured on a blog that features Etsy shops specifically. She wrote a thoughtful article on my Etsy shop and my journey as a Digital Nomad. You can check that out here: http://thewomenteam.com/psychedelic-fun-design-by-a-woman-of-travels/ If you enjoy the article, I would be super grateful if you could share it on your social media pages! It certainly will give my Etsy shop a boost.

As usual, thanks for reading and following along on our journey! We are still constantly in awe of this life that we have created for ourselves, and look forward to so much more fun and excitement to come!

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are managing a Cabina on the beach at Playa Matapalo, between Quepos and Dominical, in Costa Rica.

Travelling Plans: On March 15th we are headed up into the Costa Rica mountains to stay at our friends farm in the jungle. There we will be helping him with some large landscaping projects for 5-6 weeks. After that we have been accepted to housesit at a house in Rivas, Nicaragua beginning May 4th. We will be there for 4.5 months. To learn how you can housesit, click here.

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

To see more travelling photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

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

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

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:)

The Threat of Stagnancy

“You either change, or you stagnate. You either leap forward, or you fall backward. You cannot stay where you are today.”

My partner and I have officially been living on the same beach in Costa Rica for 3 months now. While that may not seem like a long time to most people, it is a bit of a bench mark number for me. In the past, when my ex husband and I would travel for long lengths of time (back in our 20’s before “real life” kicked into gear), we would always start to get itchy to go home around the 3 month mark. Granted, that usually meant that it would take us another month or so to get back home, but the intention was usually laid around the 3 month mark, and the plan would be set.

This time is different though, this time we aren’t going home. This time there is no home to go back to!

In the last couple of weeks I have started to feel the pang of boredom, that feeling of “spinning my wheels”, a feeling of not really getting anywhere. That yearning to see and do more has crept in, and I go through feelings of a bit of anxiousness as I wrestle with it all. After all, we are supposed to be travelling right? (Accent on the “ing” part!)

However, and this is a HUGE HOWEVER, we are sitting in the absolute most perfect spot right now. We are making a little bit of money, our accomodation is paid for, and we are parked on one of the most undiscovered, and picturesque beaches in all of Costa Rica.

So what really IS the problem??

I have been contemplating this for about a week now, and I think the answer is that stagnancy has crept in, and with that a certain laziness. Suddenly we have a routine, suddenly we are comfortable, suddenly we have a community, suddenly nothing is new anymore, things aren’t as exciting as they were when we arrived, and we have started to become complacent.

My Dad, John Amatt, has a quote that he uses in his motivational presentations:

“You either change, or you stagnate. You either leap forward, or you fall backward. You cannot stay where you are today.”

When I look at this quote, and I think about my reasons for wanting to go on this traveling journey, I realize that it is the need and the want to see and experience different things, that really gets me excited. That is what travelling is all about after all, seeing new things, experiencing new experiences, trying different food, finding out about what is around every corner. As we have new experiences in life, we grow, we change, and we become better people all round.

This past few weeks I haven’t posted many new photos on my social media pages, I have been finding it hard to write blog posts (therefore already dashing my goal of one per week in 2018!), and I haven’t really felt like doing much at all in general. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been doing lots of artwork, and continue to upload images to my various online pages (clickShops here to see more of this), which is always a lot of work, but that’s all I have really felt motivated to do. And I do realize that this all sounds like a very “Poor Me” post, but it’s not. It’s simply just real. It’s simply my human experience, and that is all.

We just had a friend visiting us for about 12 days from Canada, which really felt nice, having our routine broken up for a bit. He fell in love with this place, and proclaimed that he could stay here for a really long time. When I told him that I am starting to get itchy to go somewhere else, he stated that I was crazy. Why would I want to leave such a perfect spot? We have friends here, we have community here, we have a routine, we have created a new life.

It might seem bizarre to people that these are the exact reasons that I want to start a new, go somewhere else, experience something else, but I guess that is just how I am built. I feel like when I do the same thing for too long, have the same scenery over and over for too long, I become bored, I become disinterested in doing much, I become lazy, and worst of all I become stagnant.

When we lived in Canada, it was an easy fix. We would just jump in the car and go exploring, go for a hike, go on a road trip, go see something new. And looking back, I think that is pretty much what we did every so often. But here, we have no car and we have 3 dogs to take care of, which makes it difficult to even leave at all.

But, as I said before, it really is the perfect scenario, so I will just sit with it, I will continue to appreciate my surroundings, and I will continue to be thankful that we are so fortunate to be here. After all, we worked very hard to get ourselves here, it would be a shame to not enjoy it!

Not too mention, no matter what I am thinking, and no matter how anxious I get, we are here for as long as we need to be. The owner of the place we are managing is not sure when he is coming back, so it’s necessary to stay and take care of his dogs and manage his business until he returns. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be thinking about our next moves! I have a growing list of places we want to visit after we leave here!

Maybe this is the lesson I need, to be able to learn to be patient. Maybe I just need to breathe in one spot for a while. Maybe THIS is the universe trying to tell ME something!

I have to say though, it hasn’t been all being lazy on the beach this past month, and while our friend was here, we did have a couple of adventures, and had some exciting experiences!

#1, We went Ziplining!

I really can’t even remember the last time that I went ziplining, it has to be at least 20 years I think! We went to Hacienda Baru, a 330 Hectare Wildlife Reserve that is located just down the road from here. We flew through the canopy with reckless abandon on 8 different zip lines! It was exhilarating!

#2, We went camping!

We spent one night up at our friends farm in El Silencio, located 30 minutes away, in the mountains behind us. It was his 60th Birthday celebration, and we arranged for the dogs to be cared for while we enjoyed a night with friends around the fire. He also took us on a pretty awesome tour of his property and a few of us marched through the dense jungle to reach a lookout high above his house, that looked out all the way to the ocean!

#3, We got Accepted to Volunteer!

We learned that we have been accepted to Volunteer at Envision Fesitval about 3 weeks from now. Click here to find out about more from this amazing festival. We can’t wait to be involved in the creativity and meet incredible artists from around the world!

#4, We saw Whales!

Yes, we had a pod of about 5 humpback whales swim past our beach, very close to shore. We saw them spouting and breaching and could really see just how big they actually are! Quite a spectacle! Unfortunately I started videoing JUST as they finished breaching right in front of us, so I have nothing to share in that regard.

Another thing that I have worked on recently is a small crowd funding campaign that I have launched. Chris and I have made a friend here in Costa Rica, and she is going through a rough time right now. She is only 21 years old, has a 4 year old daughter and is going through a divorce. I can’t imagine having to take all of that on at such a young age!

She works as hard as she can, and as much as she can, to try and make ends meet. While I know that money doesn’t solve the worlds problems, I feel that a small boost for her in the short term, would get her through her current rough patch, and would maybe take away a feeling of hoplessness, and a scary outlook as she navigates parenthood alone. She is so young, and just starting out, and life can be a long and difficult road.

One of my goals when we set out on our journey, was to try and make a difference in the world. This is one way that I feel like I can maybe give back a little bit. We are so fortunate to have the lives that we do in North America. The fact that we can afford to do most things that we want to, even those of us that are seemingly scraping by, means that we are already in the top percentages of the wealthy people in the world.

In Costa Rica the wages are incredibly low in comparison to the cost of living. We have noticed that much of the food, gasoline, electricity and other common bills, are comparible prices to those found in Canada. At a standard rate of roughly $3 per hour, I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for some people to get by.

If you have even $5 to spare, it would mean a lot to me if you were able to contribute to the Go Fund Me Campaign that I have set up. Help me to help others, but making a small difference in one persons life.

Thanks for reading! Pura Vida to all!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are managing a Cabina on the beach at Playa Matapalo, between Quepos and Dominical, in Costa Rica. If you are travelling in the area, please get in touch! We would love to connect with fellow travellers!

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to do this, click here.

To see more photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

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

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

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

January 11th, 2018 – One Year Later

Today marks one year since we made this crazy decision to sell all of our things, to not only seek out a life of travel, but to free ourselves of the burdens that society had placed on us. (To read my post that day, click here.)

We had found ourselves suddenly drowning in debt with no clear picture of how we were going to get out of it. We were living a life that seemed normal to others, but was terribly uninteresting and uninspiring to us. We both made and created art, but because of our need to make money doing our “REAL” jobs, we didn’t have the time to properly sell it or promote it, something we really wanted to do.

We lived a life that was the epitome of being on the hamster wheel. Running, running, running, working ourselves to utter exhaustion, but never getting ahead.

I asked myself all the time: “Is there more to life than this?”

I knew there was, I knew there had to be, but I didn’t know how to get there. I didn’t know how to pay all the bills at home, keep my house, keep my car, keep my things, keep my small business, and still do the thing that I really wanted to do…….travelling.

As I sat in my art studio one year ago, I was watching ‘Minimalism’ a new documentary that had just come out on Netflix, while working on my creations. As I watched this enlightening documentary, in the most quintessential way possible, I had an epiphany. It was as though a lightening bolt blasted down from the heavens and jolted me in the back of the head. From that film, I suddenly realized that my house, my car, all of my stuff, was actually what was keeping me from travelling. All of the stuff, was literally drowning us. All of the stuff was what was making us feel like we were treading water. All of the stuff was what was keeping me from doing what I wanted to do the most.

I say this in a first person narrative because Chris, at that point, hadn’t travelled a ton. We had done a 6 week trip to Europe in 2015, and had done a 2 week trip to Mexico, but that was it. He understood that he liked travelling, but he didn’t really know what it was like to LIVE in a different country, to really spend time learning different cultures, customs and traditions, and to learn about what makes different places tick. He had had a taste, that was all. But thankfully, he too decided that he wanted more.

On that fateful evening, we decided that enough was enough! All of our stuff didn’t matter anymore! The only thing that mattered was making our life count! We knew in that moment, that we had some HUGE changes ahead of us, and we knew it would be a ton of work, but we were committed. We had a plan, it was set, and we immediately got started on undoing the life we had built, to seek out a vastly different one. One that was fulfilling, one that was inspiring, one that was EXCITING!

Fast forward one year later, and it all seems like a distant dream. In nine months we held multiple garage sales, we sold items on Facebook, to friends, to neighbours. We took mountains of things to the thrift store and inevitably, the dump. We finished renovations on our house that had been half done for over 3 years. We sold our vehicles and our house. We closed down our business’ and we worked our butts off to pay off as much debt as possible. We stopped drinking, eating out and buying things. We completely flipped our life upside down, in order to make this happen, in order to unburden ourselves, in order to seek out a life of freedom.

It was not an easy ride! We were utterly exhausted most of the time. We put in as much effort as we physically could, and worked harder than either of us ever had before. But guess what? It worked! We did it!

Our life has gone from “normal” to extraordinary, and it happened all in 9 months!

Today I sit in Costa Rica, staring out to the waves breaking, to the pelicans soaring by, and sometimes, to a sloth climbing the tree in our front yard. Today I feel FREE! Today the worries about money, how I’m going to pay the next bill, how I’m going to find the next client, and how I’m going to be able to travel again, are gone. Literally gone!

Don’t get me wrong, life is not a perfect, easy, breezy time, all of the time. Of course, we are both working on ways to secure a financial future, as the money we now have will run out eventually. But we are doing it with clear intentions. We are focussing on what is important to us. We are seeking out those things that inspire us, that motivate us, that move us. We are going where the wind blows us. When we see a good opportunity, we take it. If we don’t like the situation we are in, we change it. We don’t owe anyone our time. We certainly don’t owe anyone our souls. We are in charge of what we do, that is it, that is all.

Many people we meet ask the same question over and over again. They hear about what we are doing now, but then they can’t help but ask “But what about your future? What is your plan for the future?”

Well, the answer if simple. We have no real plan for our future. We are simply just being. Being in the moment, taking life one day at a time, enjoying ourselves and really getting to know ourselves. We have given ourselves the gift of presence. We have given ourselves the gift of living each day as it comes. We don’t know what is around the corner, and quite frankly we like it that way. Our future is not some construct that we have laid out, hoping that all of the pieces fall into place the way that we have planned. Our future is determined one day at a time. Each day determines tomorrow’s path. Each day brings new directions, new thoughts, and new opportunities.

And so, I ask you this. Are you living a life that is inspiring and exciting? Is there something that you would like to do, but just can’t quite figure out how to do it?

My advice is simple, take a hard look around you and find ways to let go of what is burdening you. Maybe you are like me and you realize that it is your stuff that is weighing you down. But maybe it is your job, your relationship, the place you live, the people you surround yourself with? There can be any number of things that we carry around with us that are holding us back from doing what it is that we really want to do in life. But it is up to us, and ONLY us, to figure those things out, to let go of those things, and to build a life that we truly love.

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

To see more photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

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

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

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

	jillamatt on Moving on…….
	jillamatt on Our Nomadic Kitchen
	LeBeau on Our Nomadic Kitchen
	Passport Overused on Moving on…….
	ccandraymond on A New Year and A Brand New…

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Off to El Silencio!

Next to Nicaragua!

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