The plan was to head down to Panama. But now I’m thinking that I might head home instead. My passport has run out of pages (which means that I’ll to go the American embassy in Managua to get more added), but I think that the bigger obstacle is that I’ve just run out of steam.
I’m tired of travelling. Tired of youth hostels. Tired of meeting people that I’ll never see again. As I write this, I’m sitting in a room by myself in a hostel in Leon. I paid twice as much of the cost of a bed in a dorm, just so that I could have a private room and not have to interact with anyone. The other guests are out in the courtyard right now, chatting and making pancakes but the idea of going out there and running through the whole “Where you from? / How long you been here? / Where are you headed?” just sounds so exhausting that I don’t think I can do it.
I feel so old.
Maybe before you decide to go home, pick a place you liked and just stay there for awhile. I ended up bumming around Oaxaca during my trip this summer and it was kinda nice to stay in one place rather than move around every few days. I made friends with the family that ran the hostel and some others who were working there. I definitely still met a lot of people who were coming and going and there were the generic questions, but it was a nice balance of people.
And you never know whether or not you’ll see people again. Since I’ve been back, I’ve already met up with three people I met on my trip and will probably see more soon!
Doesn’t mean you have to settle on parental couch. Just means your need for finding a place in the world to stay for good grows. But don’t settle till you find it.
I sure know this feeling, I’ve been travelling and working online for five years, and the thought of settling somewhere back home gives me the horrors. But conversely, I’m not really a backpacker of the three-nights here, four-nights-there variety. I’m not in a hurry to see all the sights. I usually end up renting an apartment and staying in one place for four or five months at a time. That way I can get to know the locals a bit better.
Reannon, maybe you might feel more involved with the places you go to if you committed to staying there for longer, getting involved in some development work or something?