On our last night in Mexico this summer I passed Hubby my traveling notebook and asked him to write down his thoughts on the trip while we waited for our dinner. I thought he'd protest and whine about the request, but instead he looked at me for a second or two, silently took my notebook and started scribbling away.
20 minutes later he was still scribbling. I started to worry that he would finish all my blank pages and not leave me any room for our coming trip to India this fall when he suddenly stopped, closed the notebook and handed it back to me asking me to promise not to read what he'd written until we'd gotten back to London.
Well, we're back in London and I've read what he wrote. And now I wish to make sure his words are forever cemented somewhere where I and all who recognize themselves in The Trip will always remember what he meant.
August 5th 2011 -- Cancun, Mexico.
Fifth trip to Mexico for me and third traveling across the country along the Mexican highways, from Puebla to the Sureste (south-east). The trip is still as incredible as ever with its unchangeable routines: the departure at dawn (always running late), the descent at Orizaba in the early hours of the morning where we go from the high fresh mountains in to the Veracruz fertile jungle while saying goodbye to the Popo, the heat and the sun of Veracruz, the chaos of Villahermosa, the straight highway on our way out of Ciudad del Carmen, the bridges over the Golfo de Mexico, the pit stop for fresh shrimp cocktails at Champoton, the Yucatan dry jungle, the rest while soaking in the warm summer night and the lights of Merida, the dry concrete highway until Tulum, and then.... at last .... the Caribbean beach and the feeling of having arrived to the end of the world, of reaching Paradise, after all that effort.
Like each trip, this one came with its surprises: the mechanical malfunction under the pouring rain, the overnight stop at a "dubious" hotel in Frontera, the Yucatean policeman more than a little curious about our quirky setup....
Not everyone was able to come on this occasion, some are no longer with us, others joined along the trip. And even though things are no longer the same as before, probably never will be, what matters most is to continue to make The Trip, continue to keep the dream alive and share it with those who count, continue to transmit this passion and this desire to throw oneself in the direction of the Caribe and travel all across Mexico to get there.
20 minutes later he was still scribbling. I started to worry that he would finish all my blank pages and not leave me any room for our coming trip to India this fall when he suddenly stopped, closed the notebook and handed it back to me asking me to promise not to read what he'd written until we'd gotten back to London.
Well, we're back in London and I've read what he wrote. And now I wish to make sure his words are forever cemented somewhere where I and all who recognize themselves in The Trip will always remember what he meant.
August 5th 2011 -- Cancun, Mexico.
Fifth trip to Mexico for me and third traveling across the country along the Mexican highways, from Puebla to the Sureste (south-east). The trip is still as incredible as ever with its unchangeable routines: the departure at dawn (always running late), the descent at Orizaba in the early hours of the morning where we go from the high fresh mountains in to the Veracruz fertile jungle while saying goodbye to the Popo, the heat and the sun of Veracruz, the chaos of Villahermosa, the straight highway on our way out of Ciudad del Carmen, the bridges over the Golfo de Mexico, the pit stop for fresh shrimp cocktails at Champoton, the Yucatan dry jungle, the rest while soaking in the warm summer night and the lights of Merida, the dry concrete highway until Tulum, and then.... at last .... the Caribbean beach and the feeling of having arrived to the end of the world, of reaching Paradise, after all that effort.
Like each trip, this one came with its surprises: the mechanical malfunction under the pouring rain, the overnight stop at a "dubious" hotel in Frontera, the Yucatean policeman more than a little curious about our quirky setup....
Not everyone was able to come on this occasion, some are no longer with us, others joined along the trip. And even though things are no longer the same as before, probably never will be, what matters most is to continue to make The Trip, continue to keep the dream alive and share it with those who count, continue to transmit this passion and this desire to throw oneself in the direction of the Caribe and travel all across Mexico to get there.
Photo by Hubby: Combi Paradise
Fned.
3 comments:
Sounds magical. I wish we could've come. But there's a season for everything and I think our travel season was coming to end for this year.
Hey, I remember that picture! Didn't it win a prize of some sort?? (No way the caribbean can NOT dress up a picture.) And yes, it's the journey itself that "makes" the trip! Wonderful sentiments from someone who has truly "agarrado la onda" about combi trips...
Hey Fned!! How are ya? Just catching up on your posts and longing for Mexico- I'm a bit further south in Guatemala travelling and (re)learning Spanish! Don't know if you have an email address I can contact you at, but I'm moving to London on the 15th of October and would love to meet for tea if you're up to it. :-) Add me on FB or email me? Oneika Raymond or nikita_the_traveller@hotmail.com
When are you going to India? Lucky!
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