Above it all

It's quiet up here, somewhere over Central America, the Big Bang Theory playing on the screen in front of me, some 4 hours into the Houston to Lima leg of my trip. There's something about long flights that makes the mind wander, and mine is meandering like the streams and rivers that I'm sure we're flying over down there in the dark. Most of the plane is asleep, but not me. I am wide awake, mind jumping from contemplation over whether I'll ever find somewhere back home that my roots will be happy to settle into permanently to random musings and excitement over the upcoming experiences that I am about to have over the next 5 weeks. My inner child has been buzzing with anticipation and producing the lyrics "I'm flying in an airplane, I'm going to Peru, to see Machu Picchu and the Incans too!" to the tune of that childhood song that goes "I'm going to the country, I'm going to the fair, to see the señoritas with flowers in their hair" over and over again. When it's quiet like this, and I'm up here by myself, I figure it's safe to let that inner child play. No responsibility up here, no clients calling, no one I know here to judge, just me and the child singing in my head. Travel gives me that, a space and time to get a way from all the heaviness that "real life" brings with it, a temporary escape, a time to play, and a chance to explore not only the world but also the parts of myself that everyday life suppresses. I know at the end of the journey I will have to go back home and find a way to fit back into the life I have created, but for now, until my traveling is done, I get to just exist in a space, figuratively and literally, above it all...And that is why I'm here. Greetings to all from up above the clouds!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Blogging REBOOT: Cara the globetrotter...back with avengance!

So, I know it's been a while. Quick update: After a glorious year and half in Mexico, I moved back to the US at the end of December, and I've definitely been missing my adventurous and discounted lifestyle. But do not fear, we all knew I couldn't sit still for long...the mission to reach 30 countries by the time I'm 30 is still looming, but it's getting a healthy boost this summer!

I managed to line of 5 weeks of summer travels...flying to Lima tomorrow to spend 10 days in Peru (my company's Peru: Incan Adventure tour) and then 2 days later I'm off to finally "back-pack" Europe (not hiking, just meaning traveling with minimal stuff on my back). I figured there's no easier way to wrack up new countries than traveling Europe, so when I saw that I could manage 3 weeks of leave, I booked flights into London and home from Rome and set about filling in the rest. I found a few people through the website www.travbuddy.com who had posted that they'd be traveling around the same time as I would be, had a few chats, and we plotted out a route that would hit some of the Central & Eastern countries that I've yet to explore: Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. England, France, and Italy won't be new countries in my list, but they're definitely countries that deserve multiple visits, so I plan to make the most of those stops as well. We'll be taking trains through Germany, Austria, and Slovakia along the way, but we don't really have plans to make any serious stops there. I'm told I get to add Slovakia to my list even if we don't stop there since traveling by train means I will physically be IN the country, and I'll by into that logic if it helps my cause!

So where will does this put me on the 30 by 30 mission?
US (1)
Canada (2)
Mexico (3)
Bermuda (4)
Bahamas (5)
England (6)
Ireland (7)
Wales (8)
France (9)
Spain (10)
Germany (11)
Austria (12)
Switzerland (13)
Italy (14)
Greece (15)
Turkey (16)
New Zealand (17)
Cook Islands (18)
India (19)
China (20)
Belize (21)
Peru (22)
Netherlands (23)
Czech Republic (24)
Poland (25)
Hungary (26)
Slovakia (27)

So that means I'll have 3 countries and 2 years to reach my goal, I can taste it!!

Stay tuned for posts from Peru & Europe, Cara the globetrotter is back...