The countdown to departure

My final Friday in DSM was spent with friends at Carl's and when discussing my future plans, a good friend from work, a girl who writes a spectacular blog, convinced me to start my own, in order to keep in touch with friends and family. I hope to use this to keep an online journal of my life over the next 6 months, as I travel to Playa del Carmen Mexico and start the next chapter of my life.

So in 6 days, I'll leave DSM, the place I've called home for the last 10 years and fly south. My flight leaves on Friday, January 4th at 1:35 pm, arriving in Cancun Mexico at 7:50. A friend will be there to pick me and my two suitcases up and take me to the place that I will call home for 6 months. Maybe less, maybe more.

I've paid off debts, sold a lot of stuff I didn't need and simplified my life. I'm going from a pretty cushy living situation, a cute condo in Sherman Hill, with cable and Internet, hot water, to a two room bungalow, 50 yards from the ocean, that has just recently gotten hot water and a hot plate to cook on. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum. I'm not nervous about the change of lifestyle, I'm excited to see if this is something I can do. So I will use this blog to tell my stories, post pictures, and make sure everyone knows I'm still alive and safe.


In Mayan tradition, there is a greeting that many people working with Mayan wisdom know of. It is the law of In Lak'ech Ala K'in, which means I am another yourself (A modern day interpretation). It also means I am you, and you are me (A traditional Mayan interpretation). We have come to understand that this Mayan greeting is an honoring for each other. It is a statement of unity and oneness. In Lak'ech Ala K'in mirrors the same sentiment of other beautiful greetings such as Namaste for East India, Wiracocha for the Inca, and Mitakuye Oyasin for the Lakota. It doesn't matter which culture you come from. But when one of these sacred greetings is given, there is always an action of placing the hands over the heart.