December 15, 2007

After 11 months on the road in Mexico and Central America, there are many loose mental ends left dangling.

And tying them together in an eloquent narrative isn’t easy.

But that won't stop me from trying:

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We visited the iconic attractions in Mexico and Central America and they left an indelible mark on us. The Panama Canal. The “Big 3” Mayan pyramid sites. The rainforests of Costa Rica. Mexico’s Copper Canyon. The “Chichi” market in Guatemala.

But as any seasoned road-tripper knows, being on the road for an extended period of time is more about how you live - and who you sometimes become - than what you see.

In a nutshell, an extended road trip is about having the freedom to pursue life’s small pleasures.

Reflecting back now, the times I was most happy – even bursting with contentment - were when we were hanging out in the van, maybe listening to music on the Ipod, maybe looking at the photos we had taken that day, maybe preparing a meal. Often sipping on some wine or a cold beer.

No TV, no internet, no excess. Simply being in the present. With the person you love.

That’s not to say, though, that “being present” virtually 24/7 over an 11 month period with your romantic partner is always a smooth ride. It’s not, and there were a few times we felt like we were being crushed by the weight of our own relationship.

But the adage “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” applies to those instances and the shared experience overall allowed us to pour a thick foundation for our future.

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There is absolutely no question that traveling in a camper van - compared to let's say, a car with a tent – enables the lifestyle built on small pleasures. With our 50 litre fresh water tank, our two burner stove, and our propane powered fridge, we were completely self-sufficient, and could cocoon basically anywhere.

A beach today. A parking lot tomorrow. A campsite the day after that.

Moreover, given the “half a star” quality of the hotels and guesthouses our budget dictated we stay in, we usually preferred the confines of the van. It’s not always possible to camp, however, particularly in Nicaragua and Honduras.

It’s also not always practical/possible to take the van to reach several points of interest in this region, like when we hopped the Cheep train to Creel, Mexico, or took a small boat to Isla Mujeres on the Yucatan, Caye Caulker off Belize and Utila, one of Honduras’ Bay Islands.

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(For some reason, these overnight trips away from the van were our relationship Achilles heel. There was something about having to find a secure place to park the van, and thus our belongings, remember the items for the overnight bag, figure out the transit schedule, etc. that always left us barking at each other).

The downside to camping, however, must also be acknowledged.

Other than during the Semana Santa holiday in April, the locals don’t really camp. And not only do campsites tend to be travelers’ ghettos – especially in Mexico – they are often located a fair ways from the centre of town.

So while you live in your own space, and save a lot of money doing so, camping can also pull you away from the very people, the very food and the very culture you came to explore. It is a bit of a catch 22.

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When it comes to the small pleasures of a road trip, having the time to read copious amounts of books rank right at the top.

Before we left Vancouver we had crammed the storage area under the van’s back bench seat full of dozens of books, turning it into our de facto library.

Over the course of our trip I plowed through several great reads – some, like Tony Cohan’s On Mexican Time or Bea Gonzalez's Map Makers Opera, which had a bearing on the places we were visiting - and other that did not.

But the book that made the biggest impression on me was The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Waste by Joseph Jenkins, a self–published gem about the benefits of not flushing human waste down the drains. He makes a compelling case for a practice that is simple, sustainable and apparently being done by a lot of people.

But enough of the shit.

An extended road trip is also about giving yourself the mental space to write. When did you last have the time, energy and stimulation to fill four thick notebooks with your daily thoughts, observations, impressions and feats?

And it wasn’t all “travel writing”.

After re-reading Steven Covey’s best seller, EmphasizedSeven Habits of Highly Effective People – one of which is “beginning with the end in mind”, I was inspired to craft a Personal Mission Statement, hopefully a timeless touchstone of what it truly important to me.

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For the Final Analysis (Part II) go to the next entry.