2 Blondes on a Mission

"I have come to understand that life is composed of a series of coincidences. How we react to these - how we exercise what some refer to as free will - is everything; the choices we make within the boundaries of the twists of fate determine who we are." - John Perkins, from Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

John Perkins explains the coincidences that led to his career as an EHM: one was a rebellious friend, the other a young girl who captured his heart. Is Perkins correct in that the mere meetings or interactions with others can truly alter our path? Perhaps he sheds more light onto why we make decisions than we ourselves care to admit. For aren't we often too proud to confess that others affect what we think or do; don't our ego's like to think that we made decisions regardless of what others say?

But to declare that I have made the decision to travel across Latin America- be it through fate, free will, or a series of coincidences - without the influence of others, is to deny how I arrived at this point. It would ignore the events that made me feel stir-crazy and the people that first planted the seeds in my mind to travel.

Had I not been so discouraged by the nonprofit I worked for immediately after graduation in 2009, and had I decided to stick it out rather than spontaneously quit and fly home, I would never have worked retail. And that would have been sad indeed, for I would have spared myself the torture of selling Christmas ornaments 3 months in advance. And I would have also never jumped on the opportunity to spontaneously jet set to Guatemala with my friend Stephanie, just to avoid continuing on my path of retail hell.

The people I met in Guatemala and the series of coincidences that occurred there didn't subdue my desire to travel like I thought they would, but rather only fueled the flame. I met one young woman who quit her amazing job as a magazine editor, forfeiting her free flights and free clothes to work in Santa Maria for a year. I met another girl who bought a round-the-world ticket and planned to set foot on almost every continent before returning a year later to London. My host brother in Guatemala spent two years learning English from a group of Aussies as he traveled Europe - and needless to say, hearing a Guatemalan man speak English with an Australian accent is priceless. And spending so much time with Steph, who is one of the most ambitious young ladies I know, also helped me ask myself, what do I really want to do with my life?

Shortly after arriving back in the states and back in New Mexico in March, I had an interview for an assistant manager position with a large salary and a 2-year contract. I, obviously, didn't get the position. Yet I'm beginning to think that being denied the opportunity was a blessing. For if I had, I would probably not be driving a $450 piece of metal with a broken bumper, no AC, and no turn signals, and I also wouldn't be waitressing.

Which leads to the final coincidence. If I was doing something else, I might not spend half of my day dreaming about leaving the country. I might not be wondering what the others I met in Guatemala are doing now, or what they are experiencing. So it is actually a very fortunate series of coincidences that has fostered my intense desire to continue to learn Spanish, to work with those less fortunate in any way I can, and to see what I've only glimpsed in books.

Having arrived at the conclusion that I needed to at least find a way out of Albuquerque, I emailed my friend Amanda asking her if she knew of any internships abroad. Quickly this conversation budded into full force plans to travel together.

October 20th: Amanda and I will meet in Panama City, where we will (safely!) shuttle down to El Valle de Anton where we will live with a Panamanian host family and work at an orchid nursery to help bring back endangered flower species. Here's the website: http://aprovaca.webs.com/

From there we will likely move up through Central America with a possible longer stay in Honduras with another environmental conservation internship (still in the works) and then perhaps fly down to Ecuador. We shall see...

But whatever happens and however long we end up staying, I haven't been this excited for quite some time :)