Surprise Layover in San Salvador

I’m supposed to be in Managua right now. I am not in Managua though, I am at a Quality Hotel near the El Salvador airport, outside of San Salvador. I was only supposed to be in that airport for 50 minutes but plans change. My flight was cancelled. The airline did right by us, however, and bussed us to this very decent hotel, gave us dinner and are bussing us back, albeit at 3 am (!),  for our early morning flight to Managua. Fingers crossed!

The Positives About the Surprise Layover in San Salvador

Some good things came of this unexpected stop: I got a new stamp in my passport, tried the local beer (not that good), watched some Americans do karaoke in the bar, and met two Nicaraguans who were sooo nice and made me more excited to live there! In fact, one of the people I met over dinner runs a small hostel in San Juan del Sur with his wife, who is American and is in DC right now to do the Women’s March. Small world!  So the surprise layover worked out fine. Just wish I could have used the pool – it looks nice.

school bus
Our transport to the hotel
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Being Scared Of Solo Travel

So there’s that saying “do something that scares you” and I do agree with it. To me, there are benefits to being scared. In this case, it’s about being scared of solo travel. I want to try new things and sometimes I can only do them alone. That is not going to stop me. Before today, I thought this trip to Nicaragua didn’t scare me. Colombia scared me! I had never travelled alone before Colombia. But I did it! I figured, I’ve done it, and being scared of solo travel should be off the table for me now.

Nerves

Wrong. I am so scared. I don’t want to be away from Brian for 6 weeks. That’s too long! Too late now. I leave today. He’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I will miss him to bits though, wow.

Last night, we went out for dinner and to a gallery show for my last night in town. The art exhibit was really great – it was a collective of design students showcasing their senior projects in process. And this one quote caught my eye and fits this moment for me right now. I don’t know: it is making me feel better about going on this journey alone. Plus, Brian supports this completely, and I know a bunch of you reading this do too!

Quote Being scared of solo travel
Yes!
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Preparing and Packing for Nicaragua

I leave tomorrow for Nicaragua and am almost done packing. I figure if I need something I’ll figure out a way to buy it, because I expect to be there for almost two months and I don’t want to bring a lot. Here’s how I am preparing and packing for Nicaragua

Packing for warm weather

On the plus side, the weather is warm in San Juan del Sur so packing light is easier. I mainly need shorts, tanks and bathing suits for the Pacific coast, and maybe some athletic wear and a jacket and long pants for when I travel to the north of the country next month.

packing for others

To make it harder on myself, I found a way to support the local community in San Juan del Sur. One of the resorts in San Juan del Sur is a drop-off point for Pack for a Purpose so I bought some supplies for the kids down there! 

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