How do you know?

by Ivan Jonathan Nunez Dorado (Mexico)

The last thing I expected Mexico

Sometimes you get what you actually did not want. That happened to me while at University. But then again, you find yourself in the middle of dilemma; you want to do something different that even make you feel alive but your bank account is always refusing this idea. So, one day I just woke up and decided that I really wanted to travel around my country and off I was. Knowing that Guatemala is just around the corner, and the other places I have been reading of; desserts full of magic, mythical cities and even ghost towns... With this variety of options it's not easy to define your idyllic voyage. And that's the moment I realized that if I wanted to visit as much places as possible I should start at some point. The arrival city: Cancun. I know you might think that there is nothing special about this city, but the magic is expanded around the State. I took a bus all the way down and I arrived to Chetumal. I was nervous because there is the Mexican border near and since you arrive you can feel like if something is happening, because the air is tense but at the same time is telling you that you are far away from home and magically instead of feeling overwhelmed you start to realize if the beginning of your adventure. Still, at night I was scared. And didn't help that around 21h the streets and the city itself was like shutdown. No people walking, or drinking a beer, no, nothing. So I was thinking what the issue was and I found out that having turquoise water beaches, exuberant jungles and beautiful sunsets couldn't hide that this little city was located on the middle of nowhere and next to an international border. I started to talk to the locals and they were so friendly. So I couldn't understand after one week why I didn't feel relaxed. Probably because I learnt that every single travel you embark on is different and most of the time no what you expect. Even the hotel staff invited me to have a typical meal and the exchange started: they asked me about myself and why I decided to travel to that city, and they offered to take me to a little town 30 minutes away so I could swim and enjoy the atmosphere outside the city. I accepted and to be honest I was even scared but always having the travelling dream on my mind. We arrived and explained everything I needed to know. This place was so magical, nobody on the beach but me and the blue sky. I returned to my city and I thought: well, I wasn't surrounded by other people but I was surrounded by me.