How Did We Decide to Visit Guatemala?
/STORYTIME: #Guatemala CHAPTER 1:
Trip Planning
This trip began before it began. What started off as a “let’s get away for a few days and relax as a new couple” quickly became a meticulously planned out, deeply researched, and way more time and effort than either of us wanted to spend (thanks for all your parameters, Simon—had to be within a few hours of EST for work; had to be a warm climate (both of us despise the cold); had to have either great diving or a beach; had to be a country I’d never been to before; had to have zero quarantine; had to have low case counts, high vaccination rates, and good covid practices. Oh and stuff that we actually want to see and do. That actually thins the herd quite a bit if you really think about it).
We started over multiple, multiple times because everything was perfect and then we’d find that one thing that was a dealbreaker for one of us and we’d have to go back to the drawing board. Not gonna lie, it had me wondering how well this bode for the future of our travel career together.
25+ itinerary drafts and COUNTLESS flight searches later, deeply thought out travel route in hand, we were off to Guatemala for the complete opposite of “relax on the beach in the sun and go diving for a week” and instead gearing up for an insane week of frenzied activities (I’ll admit, I was pretty excited—this was my first trip since Covid began.) We decided to spend 11 days basically backpacking all over the country (we’ll get into that as we go), and then “compromising” by finishing up the trip by vegging out in Cabo at a bougie all inclusive for 4 days (even though neither of us really drink). We just wanted to not have to think about any logistics whatsoever and RELAX.
Why Guatemala?
We landed on Guatemala for a number of reasons, not least because of our various parameters (see above!) but in the end, it won because it has a bit of everything:
it has warm weather. It has beaches (if you really want them - not the nicest in the world but hey). (t’s got incredible outdoorsy activities (kayaking, SUP, horseback riding, hiking, camping atop an active volcano, anyone?) incredibly rich vibrant history and culture that’s well preserved to this day, see how coffee/chocolate is made, go to a market in a small local village and admire the handiwork or just the daily life; enjoy the jungles and rainforest and all the animals that come with it, the mountains, the desert, various lakes, tons of volcanoes, and of course the wealth of Mayan ruins, a tiny fraction of which have been uncovered.
If you want to feel small, visit Tikal where only 8% have been unearthed and as you’re walking around you realize it’s not that the jungle isn’t flat, it’s that every “hill” you’re seeing is literally yet ANOTHER building or temple of some kind that has yet to be discovered under the jungle floor. and they are everywhere you turn, in every direction. Thousands upon thousands. We were only there for a few weeks but could easily stay and explore the country for months if not years—there’s that much to see and do without getting bored!
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Frenzied Packing
So. The morning we’re supposed to be leaving. I’m sitting here trying to cram 3 months worth of cute outfits into packing cubes (it’s an organizational system which means I can totally bring more stuff—also why is it that we wear the same damn thing for 3 days straight at home, but thing we’re gonna change twice a day whenever we’re on vacation? I pack like that WITHOUT FAIL). Needless to say, my packing cubes were NOT fitting in my luggage even without the lack of assistance of my visual-spatial senses. With a few hours to go, Simon started to get antsy and started calling more frequently to check on my progress. “Doing. Fine!” I grunted, as my face turned red from exhertion, throwing my entire body weight onto my suitcase and it still refusing to close.
Finally Simon clued in that when a girl grunts curtly that “she’s fine” and hangs up shortly thereafter, she’s most definitely not fine. He showed up soon after to collect me for the trip. Good thing he did, because not all the packing cubes in the WORLD could have helped me fit them in the shipping container—I mean luggage—I intended to bring (we’re going for 2 weeks). S manages to pack it all into 3 bags (!!!!) , where he brings it back to his place, dumps it all out, and forces me to choose between clothes like unborn children—I was NOT HAPPY (but really pleased it all fit into 1 case! Pic 1 is the umm, remnants, or as he likes to call it, the attempted smuggling I tried to do—not on his watch! He definitely thinks I’m insane now. Not a good look for our first trip together). Oh—and you should have SEEN my face when I arrived in Flores & discovered just how many things he WENT. BACK. AND. TOOK. OUT.
YES. REMOVED. AS IN. LEFT IN CANADA.
We’re talking my curling iron. We’re talking my Kindle. We’re talking specific shorts, bathing suits, lululemon and other things I had in mind for the trip. I was LIIIIIIVVVVVIDDDDDDDD. (But I will say two things about Simon & his radical packing: #1 - he never made me feel bad for bringing so much stuff, and he took care of repacking my things every single time we moved places. #2 - I didn’t miss a damn thing.)
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Next we had to wait to go thru US customs @ Pearson. Was originally told it would open at 4:30 but have since been updated it will now open at 5, earliest. Have been put in a line to wait for the security line (our flight is boarding at 5:25 am, leaving at 6:15—we arrived at the airport at 3 am) so just a heads up - if you have a short connection of any kind (like we do) chances are you won’t make it even if you leave 4.5 hours ahead of your flight time. Not enough staff and no sense of urgency whatsoever. There were 3 checkin agents, 3 security lines (incl Nexus!) and 3 customs agents working for literal thousands of people at the airport traveling. Unbelievable.
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Update: we made it with about 10 mins to spare ONLY because they literally kicked everyone else who WASN’T boarding a flight to either Miami, NY, Charlotte & 1 ATL(?) OUT of the aforementioned line… (sucks to be you if you showed up early today to try and beat the rush I guess?). Panic started to set in during the layover in Miami when I realized we had never spent more than about 48 hours consecutively together and now we’ve just thrown ourselves into what is essentially The World’s Toughest Race (Amazon Prime, Anyone?).
I had a mini panic attack at this existential reality that was quickly setting in, becoming acutely aware that my personal space was no longer mine for the next 18 days,…if only I knew how much dignity I was about to lose. I did know this was about to bring us closer or we were going to break up as soon as we got home! (possibly before?)
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So today so far went like this: Had a quick layover connection in MIA and have made it to Guatemala City where we are waiting to catch our final flight to Flores, where we’re staying in the jungle tonight and waking up amongst the ruins of Tikal tomorrow (per some of your suggestions on a previous post, staying @ the Jungle Hotel).
Thankful our luggage made that connection!
For those interested you can follow the trip here (sign up for the mailing list so you don’t miss a post!) or at Backpackkat on Social Media (Linktree is below)
