2 Weeks Until Mexico

The photo above was taken during the beginning of 2016, at the National Museum of Anthropology, in Mexico City.

In exactly two weeks, I will be back in Mexico City, on my way to Puerto Escondido!

I recently was approved to take a 90-day leave of absence from my job, and I intend to spend that time traveling, and getting a taste of the vagabond lifestyle. I've always envied those who find ways to travel for months and years at a time, so hopefully these 90 days will give me an idea of what that might feel like.

Puerto Escondido is located in the state of Oaxaca, and sits on the Pacific coast, about 160mi south of Oaxaca city. When I was looking for a destination, I had two things in mind:

1. I wanted to take Spanish lessons
2. I wanted to be by the beach

I visited the city of Oaxaca last year, and loved it, so I thought I'd check out beach towns in the same state. Puerto Escondido caught my eye after, literally, looking at Google Maps and finding the nearest beach town to Oaxaca city. Upon further research, I discovered it was home to one of the biggest surfing destinations in the country - a beautiful, and sometimes terrifying beach called Zicatela. (A quick YouTube search of "zicatela" and "wipeout", will show you what makes it terrifying)

Having picked up surfing as a hobby in the past year, and learning that there are amateur-friendly surf spots in the area, I was eager to add that to my to-do list while abroad.

The current plan is to stay with a host family for 4 weeks, beginning on 4/28. During that time, I will be taking Spanish lessons, as well as surf lessons, 5 or 6 days per week. It will be an exhausting, exhilarating, and without a doubt life-changing experience. After that, I intentionally have no plans for the remaining 60 days of my time off. I could end up backpacking into Guatemala, and carry on into South America. I might hop on a plane to Iceland, or Vietnam. I could burn out and ask to come back to work early.... hah, yea right!

I've never been good at making plans, and I think the best experiences tend to be unplanned anyway. So for now, I'm limiting myself to a planned 4 weeks in Mexico, and a plan to update this blog weekly (as long as WiFi is available for me to do so).

Check back soon if you'd like to virtually "tag along" in this upcoming adventure! Also, feel free to leave any questions, travel tips, or other thoughts by leaving a comment below.