December 1: Best Trip

December 1: Best Trip



I told myself at the beginning of the year that I would have to cut back on travel - I had just moved to Portland six months before, and had come basically from Chile by way of Michigan. It was going to be a "save" year.

But I can't sit still, especially not when lovely friends are beckoning from all over. So just days after the Honduran coup, I headed down to Nicaragua to visit my friend Beth for a long weekend. Not the most stable country ever, but safer than Honduras.

It was the best trip of the year because:

1. It was the real deal. The accommodations were comfortable and safe, but this was no resort. Beth knew enough about the city of Managua to get us around via public transportation or cabs at night. And I met so people who actually live there. That is my kind of vacation.

2. I made a great connection with a friend of a friend which kind of happened through Facebook. Beth and I met up with Jane, George and their family - in Nicaragua for a month to serve and travel. The kids were fantastic - 7, 5, and 3 - speaking Spanish, playing with Nica kids and totally embracing a very foreign summer vacation. They let us tag along one morning to volunteer at a home for abused women and children - we played games, sang songs, fake-tattooed their arms, and loved on some kids for a morning.

3. This trip reminded me of Chile, my precious Chile. The Spanish, the culture, the volunteering. I vow to go back.

All that to say: Visit Nicaragua - for the year-round black curtain, the fantastic coffee, the gorgeous landscape, the friendly people and just to grow your heart and mind a little bit. And there's more here. (And FYI: this trip beat out 10 days home with my family, whom I love dearly, and a long, warm weekend in SoCal with great friends and a U2 concert.)