To those few of you who have read and loved my epic stories during my travels, sorry to have not yet filled you in on the last months of adventure, and to those of you who hate group emails and have managed to read this far, you will be pleased to know this is the last of my stories in this chapter of the Life of me!
I left Columbia on a sail boat bound for Panama. Along the way we were lucky enough to spend time in the San Blas islands. They were everything you could imagine for islands in the Caribbean. Aqua blue water, big fat orange star fish, white sand, fish & sharks, swimming at night in the glowing plankton, and one massive tiger stingray that sped up just below the surface, then popped up out of the water and glided mid air for what seemed like eternity. We anchored the boat a couple hundred metres from a small sand island. It had 6 palm trees on it, the smallest i've ever seen. I named it Chook Island, after the picture of the place my mum imagines she could be when she wants to relax. So I decided to spend a night there in my hammock. After my experience in Brazil, i managed to overcome the fear much more quickly. I was more worried about the distant thunder and what the hell I was going to do if it came my way. The skies cleared and I spent the night stargazing at northern hemisphere constellations... and the morning sunrise kept me in my hammock until finally it became too warm to continue being a lazy bum.
After my boat trip I spent some time in Panama city. Previously knowing only what footage was shown in the movie Team America, I found that it had a lot more to it! Getting comfortable in the hostel, formed another traveller-family of a couple of aussie bums, couple of poms, an irish and me. Family dinners, texas hold-em poker, drinking all the boys under the table and a few too many visits to the many Panama City casinos!! I spent one night without a cent in my pocket, seeing the city from a very different perspective. Jumping on a local bus going anywhere, asking the driver if I could ride for free, then jumping off and changing buses willy nilly. One part of town I ended up in (about sunrise) had beautiful old houses, painted bright colours, but had faded with age, giving it a warm vintage feel, like I'd been blasted back in time. The buses I rode were a spectacle themselves. Old American school buses, turned into moving art. Detailed with beautiful graffiti, cartoons, or tattoo-like pictures, always female named and some were dressed up with curtains, and lights brighter then Vegas. No camera that night, but good memories of the streets of Panama city.
Enough bumming around, and missing the family, I decided to head in the direction of home... which meant NYC first. I was so over excited to see this city I had heard so much about, that when I got to JFK and was at the customs desk, I was a little to anxious. (After singing the Team America song in my head the whole flight) When the bloke in the customs cubicle started asking questions in his strong brooklyn accent, I burst out laughing. Trust me when I say, that I DO know that its not the place to fall into a laughing fit. I giggled so damn much I was embarrassing myself. I was trying to hold my mouth but it was too late. He assumed I was 'on' something, but when he asked why i was so happy, I just replied "Im just happy to be here". I managed to get a high-five out of the man, and on my way. My plan was to surprise my friend Osmany, on his doorstep in Brooklyn, but all I had from him was his address. So off I went on my 4-hour subway journey, with the help of many funny New Yorkers. One black guy who was helping me said in his home-boy talk "Oh girl, your man invites you to his crib and he don't give you no crossroad?... if you my girl, i'd look after you ight!". Also got help from NYPD, putting a call out on their radio to find the exact address for me, it was like being in a movie, everywhere I looked I had de-ja-vu. So I spent 3 weeks in NYC having good times with my friends.... Riding bikes through Prospect park and down times square in peak hour, chilling out on a grass patch on a rooftop looking at the tops of manhattan, driving a porshe 110m/hour in upstate NY, getting lost in central park, exploring NY subways and streets, always finding some live music around the corner. This city was something else. Huge mix of culture, an entertaining range of NYC accents, things to do everywhere, an endless amount of places to see, and the people are so kind and love to talk to strangers! I even got to ask for directions in ENGLISH... and also received directions in spanish! Definitely another place I could find myself living.
Finally out of money and deciding to come home. My last few days were intense, trying to see just that extra bit, and the feelings resembled my last few days before my trip started. Excited, scared, nervous, not knowing what was going to happen, and what home was going to be like. I flew Emirates from NY to Dubai. Had a few interesting conversations with people curious about the world of backpacking.... yes, females do travel independently, yes, there are people in south america and you can interact with them, and no, I'm traveling with my money, not daddy's. Dubai airport was cool, it was like the alien airport in Men in Black. Everyone seemed to come from different worlds, and everyone going to different places. It really felt like the centre of the world right there, watching all the people go by on their own journey's.
This whole year I feel like I've been suspended in time. Something I clearly remember asking for. Being neither here nor there has its many benefits as well as challenges. I started this trip with high expectations... to do everything, see everything, meet everyone, know everything, find ultimate truth... and find myself somewhere in between. I certainly didn't fully achieve any of the criteria, but I did manage to find some patience in me, to realise, we are not supposed to know all the answers. The feeling of discovery is the/my essence of life. Where would we be without discovery? If we all knew everything and we all knew the ultimate truth, what would we have left to look for? The ultimate discovery IS discovery itself. Thats why the universe is the way it is, an infinite amount of information & wisdom, so we never stop asking, never stop thriving, never stop feeling, never stop learning. The dangling carrot, the constant desire to find truth, is what drives us to continue to discover things about us and the world around us.
I've been back home a week now and feeling a little disorientated. Everything looks the same, but it feels like its all changed. Still, in a state of limbo, I find myself closing a chapter in my life and a new one beginning. Im in the process of accepting and letting go of things that will hold me down, and holding onto the good experiences and lessons that have made me, me.
To the people I have been fortunate enough to share experiences with when our journey's collided... "hiGH fiVE!"
