Traveling to “go find yourself” seems to be a “thing” that a lot of youth want to do. However, what exactly is “finding yourself”? Is it personal growth? Is it admiring nature and it’s beauty? Traveling the world? Or is it simply spending time by yourself to discover who you really are as a person? Maybe, just maybe it can be found in the simplicity of your own home. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. Traveling means something different to every individual. I think that when you travel you should be doing something out of your comfort zone as much as possible.
I came to Peru with not a lot of money in my savings lets just say. I’ve always been concerned with money and don’t like to spend a lot. I am on a pretty tight budget, however that doesn’t stop me from visiting the country itself. I am already here, so why not take advantage of it, right? My friends and I were on Spring Break at Mancora, Peru and we had heard that Ecuador was only four hours away. Four hours away is not far considering that it is 2,913 miles from the United States. I quickly gathered information so that we could get to the boarder of Ecuador. It was then settled, we will be going to Ecuador the following day. We woke up at 5:15 a.m. to start our Ecuadorian adventure. It was a fresh morning and we walked from our house to the main road to get a ride to the next town. There are transportation vehicles called moto-taxi. It is a motorcycle with a car seat attached to it. Strange, I know we then drove to the nearby town. As we got off I was searching for someone to yell “Tumbes!” which is the city next to Ecuador. As I heard a man call out for Tumbes, we quickly got on to the grey van and waited for the rest of the seats to fill. The sun had risen already and we can start to feel the heat and sweat from our bodies. Transportation in Peru does not leave unless all the seats are occupied. It wasn’t long until the van was full and we headed on our way to Tumbes. The ride was a total of two hours and I had to constantly look at my written out directions so I knew where to go next after we arrived. I was surprised at how vast earth is. As I look out the window and see the vast blue ocean and light blue sky, it reminded me of Mexico and the United States. Sometimes, I forget that we all share one planet. Once we arrived in Tumbes there were many people approaching us asking if we need a ride. This man “Juan” approached me and asked “Donde quieren ir”? “La frontera” I replied and he said he could take us. I was a little skeptical at first, but then noticed he was a taxi driver so I decided to say yes. As he drove us he asked which part of the two I wanted to enter. I had no idea there were two entries into Ecuador, however some of us didn’t have a visa so the Juan said that he could help us out. He told me exactly what I needed to do and explained that we need to be cautious when entering Ecuador and certain parts of Tumbes. We arrived at the boarder a flood of people started to appear. There were various tents with vendors selling their products. People with stands selling fresh food. Everything was crowded and busy. This was nothing like what I had in imagined. Of course, I didn’t know what to expect either. Juan said I am going to walk ahead of you. I want you guys to walk and try not to get noticed.” If they stop us they will ask for our papers and of course not all of us had them. How ironic is that, two American girls and one Hispanic girl dressed differently then the rest trying not to get noticed. Anyways, we did just that and as we started to walk across the boarder all I could think of was please don’t stop us. We tried to hide in between the crowd and “blend in”. We made it safely across the boarder and I was relieved and thrilled that they didn't stop us and I was in Ecuador! Juan started talking to his “friends” and called us over. He said “This is my friend he can take you guys anywhere you want in Ecuador, he will be your taxi driver”. We got on the car and drove off into Ecuador.
Ecuador was green, with lots of trees, colorful and beautiful. We drove two hours into Ecuador and arrived in this town and the taxi driver told us we could go on a boat ride to an island (beach). We all agreed and got tickets! We went on a boat ride and to a beautiful beach. The sand was a metallic black color something I had never seen before. We tried these cookies that were actually not that great. We needed to be back before six so after spending time in the boat ride and the beach we needed to leave and return to the boarder. As we headed back I started talking to the taxi driver. It was a simple conversation at first about money. In Ecuador they use dollars, yes dollars. However, it does not have the same value as it does in the United States. There was something different about this man; one of his arms was shorter than the other. As he held the steering wheel I could see some clear marked scares just above his elbow. He then mentioned his car accident and how it changed his life. Before the accident this man used to drink a lot and didn’t always make the right choices. It wasn’t until after his accident that he realized he needed to do something with his life and follow God. He was in the hospital for a couple of years, and I couldn’t believe it. We talked about the meaning of life, God and how unexpected surprises life throws at you. We talked to whole way back to the boarder, approximately two hours. At the time, I was having a difficult time figuring out exactly what I want to do with my life. However, I realized that life is ongoing, it never stops and we must stop to enjoy it just like I enjoyed my conversation with my Ecuadorian friend. A reminder that God is in control of my life, and I must leave everything up to him.
As we returned to the boarder de said our goodbyes and of course paid, a lot of money. I was very uneasy about having spent so much money on the trip. I had quickly forgotten what I enjoyed about the trip. I felt guilty about spending a lot and thought maybe I should have not came, I felt like I lost a lot of money and could have possibly used it for something else. I am on a tight budget anyway. On our ride back to Mancora I started thinking about what exactly I had learned. I had learned a lot from this small trip. A lot about life, my relationship with God and being allowing myself to love who I am as a person even more.
As I contemplated over the trip I realized that I might have spent more money than I intended, but I did gain something different; a personal relationship with a stranger, a talk that allowed myself to become more open and confident. The talk with my Ecuadorian friend reminded me that life is something to be cherished and that doesn’t matter where you are in the world. That is why, when you loose something in life, you gain something much more meaningful. That is something money can’t buy.
I came to Peru with not a lot of money in my savings lets just say. I’ve always been concerned with money and don’t like to spend a lot. I am on a pretty tight budget, however that doesn’t stop me from visiting the country itself. I am already here, so why not take advantage of it, right? My friends and I were on Spring Break at Mancora, Peru and we had heard that Ecuador was only four hours away. Four hours away is not far considering that it is 2,913 miles from the United States. I quickly gathered information so that we could get to the boarder of Ecuador. It was then settled, we will be going to Ecuador the following day. We woke up at 5:15 a.m. to start our Ecuadorian adventure. It was a fresh morning and we walked from our house to the main road to get a ride to the next town. There are transportation vehicles called moto-taxi. It is a motorcycle with a car seat attached to it. Strange, I know we then drove to the nearby town. As we got off I was searching for someone to yell “Tumbes!” which is the city next to Ecuador. As I heard a man call out for Tumbes, we quickly got on to the grey van and waited for the rest of the seats to fill. The sun had risen already and we can start to feel the heat and sweat from our bodies. Transportation in Peru does not leave unless all the seats are occupied. It wasn’t long until the van was full and we headed on our way to Tumbes. The ride was a total of two hours and I had to constantly look at my written out directions so I knew where to go next after we arrived. I was surprised at how vast earth is. As I look out the window and see the vast blue ocean and light blue sky, it reminded me of Mexico and the United States. Sometimes, I forget that we all share one planet. Once we arrived in Tumbes there were many people approaching us asking if we need a ride. This man “Juan” approached me and asked “Donde quieren ir”? “La frontera” I replied and he said he could take us. I was a little skeptical at first, but then noticed he was a taxi driver so I decided to say yes. As he drove us he asked which part of the two I wanted to enter. I had no idea there were two entries into Ecuador, however some of us didn’t have a visa so the Juan said that he could help us out. He told me exactly what I needed to do and explained that we need to be cautious when entering Ecuador and certain parts of Tumbes. We arrived at the boarder a flood of people started to appear. There were various tents with vendors selling their products. People with stands selling fresh food. Everything was crowded and busy. This was nothing like what I had in imagined. Of course, I didn’t know what to expect either. Juan said I am going to walk ahead of you. I want you guys to walk and try not to get noticed.” If they stop us they will ask for our papers and of course not all of us had them. How ironic is that, two American girls and one Hispanic girl dressed differently then the rest trying not to get noticed. Anyways, we did just that and as we started to walk across the boarder all I could think of was please don’t stop us. We tried to hide in between the crowd and “blend in”. We made it safely across the boarder and I was relieved and thrilled that they didn't stop us and I was in Ecuador! Juan started talking to his “friends” and called us over. He said “This is my friend he can take you guys anywhere you want in Ecuador, he will be your taxi driver”. We got on the car and drove off into Ecuador.
Ecuador was green, with lots of trees, colorful and beautiful. We drove two hours into Ecuador and arrived in this town and the taxi driver told us we could go on a boat ride to an island (beach). We all agreed and got tickets! We went on a boat ride and to a beautiful beach. The sand was a metallic black color something I had never seen before. We tried these cookies that were actually not that great. We needed to be back before six so after spending time in the boat ride and the beach we needed to leave and return to the boarder. As we headed back I started talking to the taxi driver. It was a simple conversation at first about money. In Ecuador they use dollars, yes dollars. However, it does not have the same value as it does in the United States. There was something different about this man; one of his arms was shorter than the other. As he held the steering wheel I could see some clear marked scares just above his elbow. He then mentioned his car accident and how it changed his life. Before the accident this man used to drink a lot and didn’t always make the right choices. It wasn’t until after his accident that he realized he needed to do something with his life and follow God. He was in the hospital for a couple of years, and I couldn’t believe it. We talked about the meaning of life, God and how unexpected surprises life throws at you. We talked to whole way back to the boarder, approximately two hours. At the time, I was having a difficult time figuring out exactly what I want to do with my life. However, I realized that life is ongoing, it never stops and we must stop to enjoy it just like I enjoyed my conversation with my Ecuadorian friend. A reminder that God is in control of my life, and I must leave everything up to him.
As we returned to the boarder de said our goodbyes and of course paid, a lot of money. I was very uneasy about having spent so much money on the trip. I had quickly forgotten what I enjoyed about the trip. I felt guilty about spending a lot and thought maybe I should have not came, I felt like I lost a lot of money and could have possibly used it for something else. I am on a tight budget anyway. On our ride back to Mancora I started thinking about what exactly I had learned. I had learned a lot from this small trip. A lot about life, my relationship with God and being allowing myself to love who I am as a person even more.
As I contemplated over the trip I realized that I might have spent more money than I intended, but I did gain something different; a personal relationship with a stranger, a talk that allowed myself to become more open and confident. The talk with my Ecuadorian friend reminded me that life is something to be cherished and that doesn’t matter where you are in the world. That is why, when you loose something in life, you gain something much more meaningful. That is something money can’t buy.