April 10th, 2015
I’ve been back in Canada for a couple of weeks now. Reflecting back, the past 5 months in Central
America were fantastic. I’m super glad
that I decided to continue my travelling after my whole India saga (if you
don’t know what I’m talking about, check out this post). I
didn’t want that episode to steal the entire second half of my around the world
trip I had planned. But now it’s back to
“reality”. That actually seems a bit ass
backwards as if you have ever done some backpacking, you know that that is real
living. Getting out there, exploring new
places, meeting new people, trying new things and venturing outside of your
comfort zone. It’s not all fun and
games, there will be ups and downs that’s for sure. And it does require effort, figuring out
transportation and accommodation, learning some of the local language, keeping
your spidey senses tuned into the location of your passport and money, haggling
to make sure you’re not getting the “super gringo” rip off price, relinquishing
your privacy and sleeping in continually changing environments. But the rewards definitely make it
worthwhile. When I used to have my 9-5
IT job, after a while the only way I could discern one year from another year
was to try and remember what holiday I took.
That’s not cool. Life is about
more than simply sitting behind a desk performing routine functions as days,
weeks and months meld into each other.
However, one has to pay the piper at some point so I’m back
in Canada with the hopes to begin a small tandem paragliding business and
perhaps start some online computer freelance work. It’s definitely daunting to try and become my
own boss and it’s crazy to think that it’s been 5 years since I’ve really made
money but I’m sure I’ll figure it out, one step at a time.
But before I move on to that, one last reminiscence of this
trip. Let’s see.
The countries I visited:
- US
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Panama
- Colombia
Activities I did:
- Attended a NASCAR race
- Snorkelled
- Climbed ancient pyramids
- Watched a bullfight
- Rode a boat through a 1000 meter high canyon
- Hiked up four volcanoes
- Tobogganed or “Volcano Boarded” down one of them
- Spelunked
- Yoga
- Learned to kite surf
- Rode a horse
- Zip lined
- Extreme water sliding
- Fed a sloth
- Surfed
- Visited countless waterfalls
- Climbed a 20+ meter tree
- Hiked in a rainforest
- White water rafted
- Scuba dived with whale sharks
- Tubed down a river
- Watched a football match in Colombia
- Rode a gondola
- First time trying Hydrospeeding
- Learned to roll a kayak
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What a ride! Speaking of which, now I
have a new ride, and a new home. A few
weeks have passed since I wrote the above and I’ve been putting together pieces
of the puzzle that is this upcoming summer and my attempt to venture into the
tandem paragliding business in Canada. I
have been spending money like it’s going out of style but they feel like
necessary expenditures as I do require some essentials, like a four wheel drive
vehicle capable of taking 5-6 adults and their paragliding equipment up a
mountain. I never thought I would ever
own one, but I bought a truck, yup, a pickup truck!
So in a few days I will set off for a new adventure. I’d like to give a big thanks to some of my
friends in Victoria who have been very supportive, letting me stay at their
places, helping me fix things, giving me ideas, feeding me and also
entertaining me! Thanks Adri, Tony,
Sean, Sika, Sheryl and Steve. See you
guys in the fall!
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