When the Travel Bug Knocks: ANSWER!
♥
By: Lina Martinez
I’m sitting at my desk, drinking the third coffee of the day, it’s raining, but I can’t see or hear the rain from my office, I know it’s raining because somebody came in with a wet umbrella. After the lunch break, the day always gets more tedious and depressing– I count the minutes to go home and see Molly (my little dog), but the time goes so incredibly slow!
I finished that extremely large report my boss asked me to do a couple of days ago, I will send it to her just one minute before I go so there’s no chance she’ll call me back to ask for changes.
How much time has passed since I checked the time last time? 30 minutes! GOD! This day feels endless!
Finally! It’s 5 o’clock! I can run away from here! Yay! I clean the mess from my desk, check one last email, grab my keys, and run out of the office as fast as my feet allow. Phew! The day is finally over. I’ll come back tomorrow for the same routine, and I’ll repeat it like– forever? Ugh.
This is basically what you do when you have a 9-5 office job, I hated it.
That was me four years ago, I really hated doing something I didn’t like, and I had been doing it for the last 10 years!! Crazy, I know. But that day was different, that day something changed inside me.
I felt I needed a break, to just go somewhere. I needed to travel!
The Struggle
My income wasn’t bad. Actually, it was the highest salary I had reached in my whole life. I couldn’t complain, but I wasn’t happy. The routine killed me, it was the exact same every day, over and over again. I thought there had to be more to life. Go to school, study, graduate, find a job and work at an office until you die. NO! There had to be more.
So I began researching. There is so much information available online, it’s actually a bit overwhelming. But I had kind of an idea of what I wanted to do. I needed to find a place that wasn’t that far (I was in Colombia, South America), a place that wasn’t too expensive to travel around, and something more like the adventurous style.
So I decided to go to Perú.
Buy the Ticket
This part was easy. Many airlines have good deals and it is only a three hour flight. I got excited and started looking for flights, then hotels, then I read dozens of blogs to see what were the best places to go. I even used Google maps to see what some places looked like– all the while visualizing myself on the plane.
Next up, asking my boss for some vacation days.
Fortunately, I had a good relationship with my boss, she trusted me, and I had shown her very good results during the past months. I also had to find somebody that could back up my workload while I was gone, which wasn’t a problem.
So I sorted it all out, I got permission from my boss, put one of my co-workers as my backup, left all my pending stuff listed and organized, and bought the ticket, and flew to Perú
Happiness
My smile stayed on my face during those two weeks. Additionally, it was the first time I traveled solo, so it was a bit scary, but I think I took the necessary precautions. I decided to stay in hostels, a cheap but good option. I was really impressed with how good these places can be, as comfortable as a hotel if you choose a private room, and still nice if you choose a shared room. I didn’t really care about that, I just needed a place to sleep in.
Lima was my first stop, a very historical but also Cosmopolitan style city. The beautiful cliffs really make the city shine. It’s a cold city just next to the ocean, an interesting mix.
Then I took a domestic flight to Cusco, spent a couple of days there and enjoyed its beautiful architecture. That old little town is a traveling must. I walked a lot to see the old Inca ruins; some small buses can take you to other towns around to see the ruins, beautiful waterfalls, channels, and more. I absolutely fell in love with the amazing food!
After a couple of nights in Cusco I took a bus to Ollantaytambo, from there I walked for about two hours through the mountains until I finally got to the tiniest, but cutest town ever: Aguas Calientes. I stayed there just one night and the next morning I woke up early to finally make it to see the famous Machu Picchu.
There were so many people at Machu Picchu. There’s sometimes a big difference between how you imagine a place by pictures you’ve seen versus how it is in real life. It was a very rainy and cloudy day but I stayed and waited for a couple of hours. Then finally the clouds gave us a break, the sky cleared and finally I was there– in front of one of the most amazing places in the world.
That moment was so worth it. I sat there for awhile just to think about my life, what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to do for my next steps to give myself some happiness.
Knock Knock!
That moment was so important. I had finally made it!
I got out of my comfort zone and traveled solo, I carried a backpack with just a few things, I spent days without talking to anyone –just enjoying the time with myself. I took the risk, left my job for a few weeks and enjoyed the trip. Best experience ever!
Maybe this sounds like a small thing to somebody that has traveled the world, or to somebody that is not scared of traveling alone. But for me, it was so important. This trip made me grow, it made me stop for a moment and think about how I wanted my life to continue from that point.
I actually met my husband on this trip! Chance or fate? You be the judge, but when the travel bug knocked on my door– I answered. If it knocks on yours, don’t be afraid, don’t find reasons to not do it– just answer!
When the Travel Bug Knocks: ANSWER!
♥
By: Lina Martinez
I’m sitting at my desk, drinking the third coffee of the day, it’s raining, but I can’t see or hear the rain from my office, I know it’s raining because somebody came in with a wet umbrella. After the lunch break, the day always gets more tedious and depressing– I count the minutes to go home and see Molly (my little dog), but the time goes so incredibly slow!
I finished that extremely large report my boss asked me to do a couple of days ago, I will send it to her just one minute before I go so there’s no chance she’ll call me back to ask for changes.
How much time has passed since I checked the time last time? 30 minutes! GOD! This day feels endless!
Finally! It’s 5 o’clock! I can run away from here! Yay! I clean the mess from my desk, check one last email, grab my keys, and run out of the office as fast as my feet allow. Phew! The day is finally over. I’ll come back tomorrow for the same routine, and I’ll repeat it like– forever? Ugh.
This is basically what you do when you have a 9-5 office job, I hated it.
That was me four years ago, I really hated doing something I didn’t like, and I had been doing it for the last 10 years!! Crazy, I know. But that day was different, that day something changed inside me.
I felt I needed a break, to just go somewhere. I needed to travel!
The Struggle
My income wasn’t bad. Actually, it was the highest salary I had reached in my whole life. I couldn’t complain, but I wasn’t happy. The routine killed me, it was the exact same every day, over and over again. I thought there had to be more to life. Go to school, study, graduate, find a job and work at an office until you die. NO! There had to be more.
So I began researching. There is so much information available online, it’s actually a bit overwhelming. But I had kind of an idea of what I wanted to do. I needed to find a place that wasn’t that far (I was in Colombia, South America), a place that wasn’t too expensive to travel around, and something more like the adventurous style.
So I decided to go to Perú.
Buy the Ticket
This part was easy. Many airlines have good deals and it is only a three hour flight. I got excited and started looking for flights, then hotels, then I read dozens of blogs to see what were the best places to go. I even used Google maps to see what some places looked like– all the while visualizing myself on the plane.
Next up, asking my boss for some vacation days.
Fortunately, I had a good relationship with my boss, she trusted me, and I had shown her very good results during the past months. I also had to find somebody that could back up my workload while I was gone, which wasn’t a problem.
So I sorted it all out, I got permission from my boss, put one of my co-workers as my backup, left all my pending stuff listed and organized, and bought the ticket, and flew to Perú
Happiness
My smile stayed on my face during those two weeks. Additionally, it was the first time I traveled solo, so it was a bit scary, but I think I took the necessary precautions. I decided to stay in hostels, a cheap but good option. I was really impressed with how good these places can be, as comfortable as a hotel if you choose a private room, and still nice if you choose a shared room. I didn’t really care about that, I just needed a place to sleep in.
Lima was my first stop, a very historical but also Cosmopolitan style city. The beautiful cliffs really make the city shine. It’s a cold city just next to the ocean, an interesting mix.
Then I took a domestic flight to Cusco, spent a couple of days there and enjoyed its beautiful architecture. That old little town is a traveling must. I walked a lot to see the old Inca ruins; some small buses can take you to other towns around to see the ruins, beautiful waterfalls, channels, and more. I absolutely fell in love with the amazing food!
After a couple of nights in Cusco I took a bus to Ollantaytambo, from there I walked for about two hours through the mountains until I finally got to the tiniest, but cutest town ever: Aguas Calientes. I stayed there just one night and the next morning I woke up early to finally make it to see the famous Machu Picchu.
There were so many people at Machu Picchu. There’s sometimes a big difference between how you imagine a place by pictures you’ve seen versus how it is in real life. It was a very rainy and cloudy day but I stayed and waited for a couple of hours. Then finally the clouds gave us a break, the sky cleared and finally I was there– in front of one of the most amazing places in the world.
That moment was so worth it. I sat there for awhile just to think about my life, what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to do for my next steps to give myself some happiness.
Knock Knock!
That moment was so important. I had finally made it!
I got out of my comfort zone and traveled solo, I carried a backpack with just a few things, I spent days without talking to anyone –just enjoying the time with myself. I took the risk, left my job for a few weeks and enjoyed the trip. Best experience ever!
Maybe this sounds like a small thing to somebody that has traveled the world, or to somebody that is not scared of traveling alone. But for me, it was so important. This trip made me grow, it made me stop for a moment and think about how I wanted my life to continue from that point.
I actually met my husband on this trip! Chance or fate? You be the judge, but when the travel bug knocked on my door– I answered. If it knocks on yours, don’t be afraid, don’t find reasons to not do it– just answer!
About author: Lina Martinez
Lina Martínez is a writer, traveler, food and animal lover, entrepreneur, and mom.
She is passionate about writing and happiest when she gets to use words to tell stories and inspire people to pursue their dreams.
About author: Lina Martinez
Lina Martínez is a writer, traveler, food and animal lover, entrepreneur, and mom.
She is passionate about writing and happiest when she gets to use words to tell stories and inspire people to pursue their dreams.
