We spent 4 beautiful days traveling to the major tourist sites in and outside of Oaxaca City. Our first day, our host at our AirBNB said we must go to the Sunday market and we could hire an affordable driver / guide to take us there, as well as to the ancient Zapotec turned Spanish site Mitla and wherever else… Read more →
Good Morning! I just woke up. It’s about 7:15 here in Oaxaca and it’s nice and cool out. By 9:30AM it begins to get hot, and by 11 it’s about 85 degrees with a giant sunny sky. It looks a little like the San Gabriel valley here, with hills surrounding the historic center made up of cobblestone streets and colonial… Read more →
I guess I tend to share the best parts of our trip. I don’t intentionally omit the challenging parts of our journeys, but there are always hard things, arguments we get into about timing or preference, cold showers for [7] days, club music that keeps us awake, etc etc. We just arrived into Tulum, know as “la ciudad mágica” and… Read more →
It’s hard to believe how many, many sights / sounds / joys / tastes / feelings / and magic there has been for us in the Yucatán in such a short amount of time. But then again, we tend to be cared for by local people and magical coincidences when we are traveling. We tend to strike a nice balance… Read more →
Many friends and travelers suggested we “get out of Bangkok as soon as possible.” But, both Sammy and I were skeptical of such dismissal of a city with 10 million inhabitants. Ever since we left LA to go to college, we would hear people not from LA tell us how much they disliked our home-city, how much they hated where… Read more →
This beautiful puppy {a Maltese + Poodle mix} made our stay at Minh & PA’s house so sweet. She’s just 5 months old and is currently being house-trained. She’s the cutest, even when she pees on the floor. 💕💕💕💕💕 Read more →
#1 at Luke #2 Breakfast at Cake Cafe in the Bywater Read more →
(Above is a description for Oshun) I don’t know much about the history of Voo Doo. Like most people, when k think of Voo Doo I imagine a voo doo doll with a needle in its chest – a prop that’s meant to curse an enemy. I don’t even know where I learned this; I only know it’s what most… Read more →
I saw the Mississippi River for the first time today. As we descended, the giant muddy river curved the view from my window. The river looks still and steady and I couldn’t help but stare, wide-eyed, at this body of water I’ve only ever read about in books. It’s something when this happens – when you finally see something that’s… Read more →
Yesterday, we woke up and went to the beach at 9:30am. We stayed most of the day, slathering on a mix of sunscreen with 45+ SPF and carrot oil we got in Lisbon (to even out our terrible tan lines from walking El Camino). The beach we relaxed at was a family beach full of babies and little ones… Read more →
Today we took a bus from Finisterre to Santiago. It made us dizzy with motion sickness. We hadn’t moved that quickly for that long (two hours) since arriving in León three weeks ago. Time travel is real. We’ve grown accustomed to moving slowly. To moving only as fast as our bodies can go, move, step by step. Although we will… Read more →
Our daily walk is done. The daily pull of our bodies toward a far-away end is complete. No more waking before dawn to smear lotion on our sore calves. No more wrapping my Achilles for the day. No more layering of two pairs of socks. No more Hoka One Ones (our space shoes). No more same outfit day in and… Read more →
We walked for ten miles (15 km) in the rain today. Not a downpour, but a constant mist (heavier in the mountains), as if the air itself were made of water. The first few miles were nifty. By the fifth, we were over it. Around the eighth, we felt like badasses. By the tenth, we were drenched and incredulous. All… Read more →
When you see the sign of your destination and you know you’re done walking for the day. It’s the best. Only 14 miles, but it felt like 20 in the heat. Read more →
As almost all of the pilgrims we met completed their journey on El Camino (if it’s ever completed) in Santiago, Sammy and I prepared to walk on to the sea, the end of the earth, Fisterra, or Finisterre (called by both names here). As we left the comforts of city life and the familiar hustle and bustle and crowds of… Read more →
“I am not a body I am free” Yesterday our bodies arrived to the Cathedral in Santiago — the final destination for most pilgrims. As I gazed up at the ornate stone designs of the St James Cathedral, I had a moment of awe. More than anything though, the moment of arrival felt surreal. And, this is not our end… Read more →
I haven’t mentioned this, but my Achilles’ tendon has been sore and inflamed since Day Two (it’s Sofia writing now, on Day Twelve of El Camino). At first, as I inquired with other pilgrims about aches and pains, I was assured that my body was simply adjusting to walking so much with so much weight on my back — and… Read more →
On our second day of walking, I began to move rocks. Little stones on our path would call to me like magnets wanting to be inside my pockets…to be moved down the Camino in some way. I collect stones at home and put them on my altar (so does Sammy). Sometimes I carry them with me in a pouch throughout… Read more →
The first day we slept in a convent, we became pilgrims on El Camino — even if we didn’t yet know what that meant (and perhaps we are still reaching towards understanding). As such, we were given passports that would allow us to sleep for 5 euros each night in albergues, which is a word that really means refuge or… Read more →
Today we climbed a mountain, literally. About a kilometer up the road, as we looked down upon lush, verdant hillsides, Sammy’s lower back/hip began to pinch — a lot. Probably sciatica. The great slow down of our already slow pace began. I found my stride yesterday. All the sudden, as I came upon the footsteps of a pilgrim walking in… Read more →
On the plane ride here, Sammy and I watched a movie called Interstellar, which explores many topics related to space and time travel, the destruction and creation of civilizations, relativity, simultaneous realities, and much more. In any case, as we flew through the sky and the clock ticked 9 hours ahead, we were thinking of our relationship with time and… Read more →
We rose at 5 am on our second day of walking. We had slept well, and woke without trouble, after having walked 13.2 miles our first day. On day two, we would walk 17.7 miles – far more than either of us have walked in one day ever. It doesn’t really hit you, what this is, this walking, this journey.… Read more →