The Journey Begins

Highlights and First Takeaways from One Month in Colombia

Friends!

Hello from Bogota, Colombia, my last stop in Colombia before I fly to Peru. My travels over the last month have flown by, and I’d like to use this post to reflect on and process all that this incredible country has shown me.

While the fact that I’m finally solo traveling/vagabonding is still a little amazing to comprehend, it has also become crystal clear that I’m in the right place at the right time. I don’t feel as strongly the need to justify it to myself or to others (finally), and that freedom is amazing! At the same time, this has made my motivation to sit down and blog a little bit more difficult and I didn’t expect to wait over a month to post!

But hey. This whole blog thing was a little bit ambitious from the start, wasn’t it?

So rather than update you on every little thing that’s happened since August 28, I’ll give you a summary of the highlights and the moments that have stuck with me. Through these anecdotes I hope to share what I’ve learned about myself, Colombia, and travel!

But before I jump into that, I want to say a big thank you to all of you who have shown me so much support via email, social media, and by subscribing to the newsletter! I was happily surprised by the amount of subscribers and all the well wishes I’ve received from old and new friends alike. I miss you guys already and connecting with you through these platforms does a lot for my mental sanity during the long bus rides and more lonely times!

Thank you!

So in summary, since my last post I have: said goodbye to friends and driven across the country from Utah to Rhode Island. Spent a week at home packing for the trip and spending time with family. Spent my first week in Medellin taking Spanish lessons, partying, and exploring the city. Spent a more somber second week in Medellin recovering from my first week (I got strep throat AND a bad cold). Next I traveled to the rural pueblos of Guatape and Jardin Antioquia, relaxing, living on a vegan farm, and drinking incredible coffee. Finally I spent a week in the tourist town of Salento, drinking more coffee and going on a hut to hut three day trek in Los Nevados National Park.

And now I write to you from a small cafe in Bogota, 24 hours before my flight to Peru, wondering where all the time went!

JUMPING IN

On August 31, I left Salt Lake City after meeting friends for breakfast. It was hard saying goodbye to so many friends who have been there for me over the last 2+ years! Once I finally got onto I-15 South I was struck by the feeling that now I am a jobless, apartment-less traveler. I’m not a student or an energy developer or a permanent resident of Salt Lake City. Even though I wasn’t out of the country yet, I was already wandering and I couldn't have been more stoked about that!

After a beautiful drive through Utah and Western Colorado, I pulled off the highway and into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Black Canyon is one of the lesser known parks in the Southwest, ranking only 46 on the visitation list. Needless to say it was easy to secure a permit for the Warner Route Wilderness hike, which takes you to the bottom of the canyon very quickly. 2800 ft of elevation over roughly 3 miles (according to my gps watch). I had the trail to myself and I finally had some space to process this big life change I was undergoing.

By the time I made it to the bottom of the canyon I was mentally and physically spent. With fatigue came some light emotional distress. (As my good friend Audrey Neubauer always reminds me: don’t confuse energy and morale!) Nevertheless, the negative flip-side of the exciting prospect of traveling solo for the next however much time hit me hard.

I knew this path was the right choice for me, but what if I failed in some way? What if I got badly sick or hurt or worse?

All of a sudden I felt very alone and I leaned into that feeling. I believe I, like many people, can flee from negative thoughts when I have a drive or dinner or a conversation to finish. But sitting alone, exhausted and overwhelmed by the beauty of Black Canyon wilderness I had nowhere to hide.

Looking up at the gorgeous rock above me, I sat on the river bank and cried for about an hour. It all flowed out. All the remaining stress and second-thoughts. I considered and accepted the possibility of every worst-case scenario and made peace with the fact that there could be difficult times ahead, moments of intense homesickness, loneliness, and fear.

But I was also quick to remind myself of something I already felt sure of: that the fear of something is usually a much stronger emotion than the subject of said fear. And as I’ve already noticed frequently over the last month, every time I experience a lull or low moment, a new person or experience walks around the corner and picks me up again! While life at home is more consistent every day, life on the road has its thrills, but with that comes new challenges.

There’s uncertainty in any big life change, but this was the first time in my life that I moved towards something so open-ended and unplanned. I had been looking forward to something, intentionally not being specific about what it is. My brain has been taking all those negative possibilities to the house over the last 3 years and eventually I just accepted that the only way forward was to ignore the negative ‘what ifs’ and just go!

After sleeping for about 10 hours, I rose and hiked out of the canyon to my car. The rest of the drive east was filled with long days on the road, and staying and catching up with friends from Kenyon; Zach, Johnny, and Andrew! (Big shoutout to you guys for hosting me!!) Needless to say I was glad to make it back to Rhode Island safely and be done with driving for a while.

IT STARTS IN MEDELLIN

During my first week in Medellin, Colombia, I took 1:1 Spanish lessons with a local Spanish teacher named Miguel Yepes. Miguel quickly became not only a great Spanish teacher for me but also a wonderful mentor and friend, which was most welcome and helpful for my first two weeks in a new country. Miguel is one of those people that tries to see the inherent goodness in all people and is a big believer in world peace. Working with him truly inspired me to dig deeper and form stronger connections with my inner self as well as the people around me! Sometimes after lessons we would walk from his apartment down the street to a local Venezuelan restaurant called “Donde Mi Negra” and eat a hearty menu del dia meal, talking in spanglish about topics ranging from the teachings of Prem Rawat to local politics.

Through my classes with Miguel, my confidence in speaking Spanish with strangers has definitely increased, but not always in a linear fashion. Some days I feel that I can have a basic conversation with anyone I meet (when well rested and caffeinated) and in others I feel that I can’t understand or say a thing (tired and hungover). This is just part of the learning process and I can already see that maintaining a patient, self-forgiving mindset can do wonders! Miguel is an amazingly patient and thoughtful teacher, who uses the Inner Game of Tennis as a guide for learning. As a tennis player this speaks volumes to me! When you hit a bad shot in a match, or make a mistake while speaking to a local, you can respond in one of two ways. Either you can beat yourself up with negative self-talk, or view the mistake as a learning experience, a new challenge that you can try to correct in a constructive manner sometime later on. It’s a fine line between not dwelling on and learning from mistakes, but making many mistakes is also absolutely crucial to learning.

Miguel, muchas gracias por todo. Espero que nos volvamos a encontrar pronto!

EVERYTHING CAN TURN AROUND ON A DIME

After week 1 of my trip, it all came crashing down. The anxious anticipation, the energy spent on learning Spanish and navigating a new place, and a couple of epic nights out in Medellin. My body decided enough was enough and I got a vicious cocktail of bacterial and viral infections that left me laid up in bed at a hotel for just under a week (Shoutout to my wonderful family and Phil Sheers for calling and making sure I was alive and ok).

Again, the doubts crept in, I started to wonder whether I was really built for this.

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for an answer to that question.

Once I started feeling better, I took a bus to the tourist town of Guatape and made some incredible new friends! Instead of following my original itinerary of busing/hitchhiking to Cali, I changed my plans and moved out to a vegan farm hostel in the countryside outside of town (Shoutout to Paola and Eco Hostel!) A week of yoga+meditation, eating local organic non-processed food, and sharing love and music with strangers turned new friends was a gift I couldn’t have asked for or known that I needed. The doubts and the nagging questions quickly melted away, leaving a beautiful newfound appreciation for my body and soul.

After Guatape, I traveled to Jardin with my new friend Regina! We spent a few days tasting amazing coffee, including a day where we sat in the town square and painted watercolors for a few hours. An elderly local couple sat down next to us and asked where we were from, curious as to why we were so far from home. They had lived in Jardin their entire lives, and never thought about going anywhere else.

TREKKING

One week later I was in Salento, the heart of Colombian coffee country in Quindio province. Regina and I had parted ways in Medellin after a week of traveling together, and while bittersweet, I was ready to move to the next place on my own.

In Salento, I drank more good coffee and after a few days of prep, set out on a solo trek in Los Nevados National Park, home to cloud forests, otherworldly cacti, and Glacier del Tolima - a glacier located remarkably close to the equator. Hiking up was no easy task, leaving Cocora at 7,800 ft and arriving at Finca Primavera at 12,200 ft created a day full of frequent water breaks. I was lucky to run into Moritz and Lena from Germany just as the thick fog rolled in. They were kind enough to share some of their coca leaves to aid my tightening headache. That evening we sat in the freezing cold finca Primavera, discussing European football and the German parliamentary system over a big dinner and frequent cups of hot chocolate and Aguapanela (literally hot sugar water).

Finca La Primavera

Moritz and Lena eating dinner at Finca La Primavera

On day two, we hiked to Laguna Del Encanto and saw incredible views of nearby valleys and the glacier. We concluded that while los Nevados dont have the dramatic cliffs and rock formations of the American rockies or the German alps, the cacti, rolling hills, and thick clouds that travel through create a unique and eerie otherworldly feeling. I feel strongly that this place would make a perfect planet in the next Star Wars movie or tv show. I can already see Ahsoka Tano, the Mandolorian, or Darth Maul walking through these misty green landscapes.

Spending two nights in Fincas Primavera and La Playa was a unique experience as well. These working farm houses are largely self-sufficient, relying on local guides and cowboys to bring supplies by horseback. Toilet paper, hot water, and any foods outside of rice and beans are in very short supply and are thus rationed carefully. The senoras who run each finca are kind and welcoming but simultaneously quick to put you in your place should you complain or expect anything more than the basics. Dinners were held family style at a long picnic table and I found myself huddling penguin style with my new German friends as well as alpinists from Colombia, France, and El Salvador. A comradery quickly blossomed on the second evening as we brainstormed ways to keep much needed body heat inside our freezing bunkroom.

I was for the second time in my life assigned the prestigious role of Door Troll, as my bed was located closest to the bunkroom door, which would blow open every so often in the night!

The next day, I returned to Salento and by chance ran into friends from the Eco Hostel back in Guatape! Dede, Stefan, and Katherin! We got dinner in town before saying goodbye once again.

CONCLUSIONS

Colombia been an incredible country to begin my travels, a wonderful beachhead of sorts. Here I’ve learned a couple of valuable lessons. Allow me a few minutes to get some advice-giving and preaching in and then we’ll wrap up!

1. There will ALWAYS be more to see, do, and experience in a country. It’s difficult not to get constant FOMO. I spent 5 weeks in Colombia and only scratched the surface! I’ll be back someday to see Cartagena, Tayrona, and the Pacific coast.

2. Learning a language while traveling is hard, but also extremely rewarding! Progress comes down to a courageous and a curious mindset.

3. There are high highs and low lows, especially when long-term solo traveling. It’s exciting to meet so many new friends, but eventually you need to say goodbye and sometimes intense loneliness can follow. Whenever a ‘low’ moment comes along however, a ‘high’ moment is always 1-24 hours away. This is part of the deal, and both sides of the coin are necessary to grow and mature as a traveler and person! As 50 Cent says in Many Men, “joy wouldn’t feel so good if it wasnt for pain.”

4. Traveling to another country wont cure your mental health challenges, but it will make you painfully more aware of them and how to more effectively tackle them.

5. The more you can slow down, change your plans and go with the flow, the more you will make your experience more meaningful. I missed traveling to many regions of Colombia because I spent more of my time focusing on a few people and a few places, but I developed deeper and more rewarding relationships with those people and places through doing so!

Wow! That was a giant post and you made it to the end. I think this one came out to exactly 10 minutes reading time, we live up to our name here at TMT!

Next stop is Peru. Can’t wait to share more with you soon.

Thank you for reading. Talk to you next time!

Charlie