When we are kids, we lack the fondness for nature. We don’t develop an appreciation for landscapes until we get older. Back when the unpaved streets of one of the poorest yet richest places in the world were callusing and scarring my bare feet while playing futbol. With my torn ball, I didn’t have any expectations to travel and see the world. I remember a burning desire for a white Christmas after watching the movie Home Alone. But even after my mother started dating a guy from Minnesota, and married him years later, I was still a kid sliding in the flow of my mother’s destiny. I never really understood that impact it would have on me.
First Trip Ever: Huetamo
When I was fifteen years old, my influenced destiny took me to Huetamo, a small, quaint town in the middle of Michoacán. A town that during the summer is hotter than a star. A town, I missed because my hormones wouldn’t let me see further than the next female silhouette being captured by my dad’s camera.
This town is the place where the man that raised me was born, and I completely missed it. I couldn’t appreciate its history, culture, art, people, cuisine, and quaintness. If it wasn’t for my mother, I couldn’t even tell you how we arrived.
Someday, I will go back and appreciate the place that saw my grandfather grow.
Second Trip: Ciudad Juarez/Denver/Minneapolis
In 2006, I received the news that at some point in time I was so excited about, but the feeling subsided as they got postponed year after year. I started giving up and believing that my trip across the border would never happen. One day after school, my grandma gave me the news, it was finally time to move to the land of the free. Her words were like a fist of mixed emotions punching my heart violently.
At the time, I was a 17-year-old that only knew one culture, one language, one history, and one way of life but I have always had an open mind.
After a couple of weeks of packing, saying goodbyes, breaking up with my significant other because of the uncertainty, and flying on a roller coaster of emotions (with excitement triumphing all) we headed to the bus station. It would be my first 24-hour bus ride that I ironically promised myself I would never repeat again in my life.
I remember certain things from that trip such as the bus slowly but fearlessly cruising the dangerous cliffs of “La Sierra Madre” in Durango. Stopping a few times in random places to have street food and failing miserably at sleeping on those small and uncomfortable bus seats.
After a minor inconvenience, and a few extra days in forgettable Ciudad Juarez, the U.S. government finally awarded my grandma, my sister and myself our Green Cards.
My father had the great idea to rent a car and drive north to Denver. He thought it would be a great way to spend quality time with us, show us the land and try our fist American restaurants on the road trip. At the time, I lacked the maturity to see it that way. For me, it was more torture than anything to sit in another vehicle for the next several hours.
My sister and I were so tired that to my father’s disappointment, we missed most of the ride to Denver. A trip my grandmother said was beautiful to experience.
From Denver we flew to Minneapolis and to this day I need to see pictures to refresh my memory of certain stops we made along the way.
A few months after I arrived in Minnesota, it was November. The beautiful colors of the fall began to embellish the streets. The temperature dropped even lower, and my love for this state burgeoned like flowers in Spring.
I grew up sweating, searching desperately for tree shades every block I walked to shake the sun off my skin. There was absolutely nothing you can do to avoid the heat. During the winter you could put more clothes on, but during the summer, which in Mazatlán lasts forever, there is no way you can take off your skin to cool down.
I still remember the first time I saw the snow fall. I was in class, paying attention like the “A” student that I was. I turned my head to the windows and saw snowflakes encrusting on them. One by one, they were swinging in the air, being blown by the gentle wind. A few moments later, there were so many snowflakes falling down that it blurred the neighborhood landscape. A white blanket cladded the city and for a minute I believed in heaven. A white heaven. It was beautiful. I was in a dream, living it and my heart was palpitating passionately.
Perhaps, experiencing this in real time awoken my fondness for nature and consequently for travel.
Most recent Trip: Kauai, Hawaii
After the epiphany I had during class sixteen years ago, I started appreciating more not just the places, but the people, their culture, languages and much, much more. Every time I explored a new neighborhood, city, and state, I felt appreciative and grateful to be where I was. I tried to learn more about everyone and everything. My curiosity had evolved.
Thanks to the curiosity and courage to travel and get out of my comfort zone, I ended up in Kuwait, where I met my wife.
For the first time, since we met and started traveling together, we wanted to reserve a resort that would include everything, and we wouldn’t have to worry about anything. We wanted to truly have a vacation and relax. Enjoy ourselves and get inspired by the world and its beautiful sunrises and sunsets. However, the universe had something different planned for us.
A month before our trip someone broke into my car and stole my backpack which had my passport. Our trip to Costa Rica was ruined and we had to come up with a back up plan. Our trip had to be in the U.S.A. as I had no time to renew my passport.
We wanted a place with some resemblance to Costa Rica and its green mountains. We turned to Kauai, “The Garden Island.”
Fortunately, it was too late to book a resort that offered everything, and I took it upon myself to plan the trip.
It was an exciting experience to explore Kauai before we even got there. The landscape looked surreal. It took my breath away as my brain transported me their effortlessly.
Without hesitation, I read blogs online about the best hikes to explore the island. I booked an air tour and made reservations to a show that would tell us the history of the island, its people and culture.
My wife and I ended up physically exhausted yet mentally and emotionally enthralled. Throughout the years, I learned that material things bring you happiness that last as long as a second but trips around the world stay with you for life.
Life is short and Earth is an extremely beautiful planet. The universe is immense and my knowledge ridiculously, sadly, and embarrassingly limited. I get lost and I find myself again on every trip to a different part of the world which ends up not being a place but a different perspective in life.
I will keep traveling with zero regrets to account for, just satisfaction.
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