Veracruz to Villahermosa
El Tajin
Just south of Veracruz…in a gas station
Tampico Diary
Tomorrow. Mexico.
I know we’ve already been putting in significant miles and I’ve seen parts of this country I’ve never seen before but can we all agree traveling into Mexico is different? It’s more exciting and frankly, I’m a little juiced to add the first stamp to my new passport. This is the first time I’ve crossed the Mexico border on land. It seems silly to say but I’m looking forward to seeing this border experience first hand. It may be great. It may be a struggle but it doesn’t really matter. Some would say we are defined by the hardships we endure more so than the happiness we enjoy. I believe there is certainly some truth to that notion but ultimately I’m just looking to collect stories. I want to know because I’ve seen it, felt it and tasted it. I want to know the visceral qualities that can only be gleaned from a walk along the path.
I recognize my ability to keep everyone updated may be greatly diminished as I travel beyond our ever present cell coverage but I’ll do my best to cobble together some means of disseminating info. Please keep track of our progress and feel free to send messages of encouragement or questions as we make our way down to Honduras.
Thank you for everyone wishing us well and all those checking out the website and blogs.
Austin Diary
Start of Day Two – Mobile to Austin
First Stop
Honduras Bound
The Night Before
I am sitting here with just a few hours before we leave and I am about 90% done with all my packing. Much of what is left is just toiletries and electronics that are still charging. I am excited and feeling just a teensy bit anxious with the hope I haven’t forgotten anything too important. Luckily, I will have a couple of days travel in the States if I need to purchase anything else.
I was really hoping to get videos out to you with my tool kit and other essentials I have packed. Maybe they would make good on the road segments. Tomorrow we will be shoving off at about 10am with a long day ahead of us. My folks will be here along with my wife and son to wish us well. We had a last dinner tonight before the big trip and I thought about how tough it is going to be missing 5 weeks of his little life when he is only a hair past one year old. It feels like he will be interviewing for jobs and asking for the car keys when I get back. It is terrifying to think about how quickly he is growing up and I am going to miss a sizable portion of it.
This idea was always a hard one to rationalize but when I was discussing these types of trips in the early days, we thought about why it felt so important to do. I really want to be able to tell my son that when an idea enters my head, I find a way to get to “yes”. There are a billion easy ways to say no to things that seem difficult. People do it every day in thousand of little ways and it slowly chips away at who they are (or at least who they could be). I want to show him how starting with yes and following the path of positivity can lead to some amazing places. We can all start with little steps and after a while when you look back, you realize just how far you’ve come. I need to be that model and the sacrifices I am making now will pay off when those lessons are learned. I look forward to continuing on this path and serving as an inspiration to my son to never accept no as the final answer. Always continue to push forward and like the waters that cut through mighty mountains, find a way.