Belize

This month I am participation in a blog challenge. I will write 26 blogs. Each title will begin with each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. My idea is to write about different countries and cities I’ve visited and share a specific memory experienced there. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

In Belize I became discerning. It was the first place I’d traveled which I was certain I did not need, nor want to return.   It being my 42nd country to travel to made this realization even more surprising. Had I really found all those other countries worthy of returning to?  Yes, I had, and I do still.  The fact was, no matter how different, or strange, or hot, or cold, or difficult, or easy a country was, I still found reasons to sing its praises upon my return.  It still served its purpose of exposing me to new cultures and food and people, and it always took me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to try new things. Each country was a place I wouldn’t mind going back to.

Perhaps it was because two years earlier I had discovered the perfect island, something I’d thought I’d be searching for forever (stayed tuned for V where I will talk about this island in more detail), or perhaps it was because English is the first language, or maybe is was the fact that the island of Caye Caulker did not have a beach to speak of (how does an island not have a beach?  I mean really, how is that even possible?), but when I returned from Belize I was quite sure I did not and would not return to it again. I had seen and experienced all that I wanted to there and was ready to move forward.

I found it refreshing, knowing it was a place I did not want to return to.  My goal of traveling to all 200 countries does not really allow me the leisure of returning to a place I’ve already been. There is simply not enough time.  And while I enjoyed my time in Belize and did the things I wanted to do there, it was nice to cross it off the list and not be wistful of the place.

I think the best travelers are those who can find the adventure in the ordinary, the lesson in the struggle, the joy in the unfamiliar.  I am certain I will never regret a trip. I will always find something to take away from it. Belize is no different.  Belize helped me learn that it is ok not to fall in love with everything.  It helped me realize that some places are better than others and that’s fine.  Without comparison, how do we know what we truly like?