Some of our best experiences often come about after something bad happens. At first we cannot see past our piece of bad luck however upon reflection it often steers us on some new and unexpected path that proves interesting, exciting and sometimes life-changing.
This has bean true throughout my life and today’s guest post by Grant Lingel the author of Imagine – A Vagabond Story describes a great example of this principle in action when a piece of bad news led him on a fabulous adventure through Central America.
My Adventure by Grant Lingel
I’ve never really considered myself much of an adventurer. I was raised in a quiet, peaceful suburb of Rochester, New York, before heading to Buffalo for college. Like many American suburbanites, I knew exactly what was expected of me. First there was elementary school, then middle school and high school, then off to college. With such a regimented life growing up, it seemed the opportunities for true adventure were few and far between.
Then, October 2005, the fall of my senior year in college. I woke up one morning to a quite official-looking email in my inbox: thanks to some ineligible transfer credits, I was seven credits shy of graduating, and pretty much there was nothing I could do to get everything done in time to walk at graduation with all my friends. I felt like it was the end of the world. What was I going to do?
Everyone was talking about their jobs, grad schools, future plans, and I had no idea when I would even be done with my degree. Then, for some reason, I thought of a friend who had moved to Mexico to get into animacion, basically translated as “entertainment.” She was a dancer, living the life at a high-class hotel on the beautiful Caribbean. I began to entertain serious thoughts about following in her footsteps. I mean, why not? I definitely didn’t want to stay in Buffalo in the dismal state I found myself in.
Once the idea planted itself in my head, I didn’t waste much time. I booked a one-way ticket and emptied my bank account, leaving the country with a grand total of $300. I had no plan, just a backpack, my friend’s phone number, and equal parts apprehension and excitement.
In January, my one-way ticket took me to a different world. I began my voyage at a hostel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, an hour south of the hustle and bustle of Cancun. It’s easy to find adventure in hostels, and I was running out of money pretty quickly when I found work at a beach resort, complete with free accommodations, food and booze and a couple hundred USD/week, not to mention like-minded, interesting co-workers from all over the world. I was being paid to run pool and beach activities and loving every minute of it. Somewhere between snorkeling and kayaking with guests, early morning scuba trips with my roommates, and fantastic local food and bars, sleep lost its importance and I spent about 20 hours/day enjoying life to the fullest.
As you can imagine, I burnt out pretty quickly on a regimen of physical activity, sex, drugs and booze, so I went back to hostel life to find something new. There, I met six guys who were road tripping from Minnesota to Guatemala and back. I tagged along with them for two weeks, heading south through Belize and eventually into Southwestern Guatemala. The time with the boys was crazy – camping, spelunking, cliff-jumping, and even an encounter with a roadside ditch that left the van (and some of us) in pretty poor shape.
Once in Guatemala, I decided it was time to stay put for awhile and found work for the next few months as a volunteer in two different hostels (with some intermittent backpacking in between). It was a great way to save cash – working the bar in exchange for room and board – and I met some truly unbelievable people, both backpackers and locals (my Spanish, virtually limited to “hello” and “thank you” when I arrived, was pretty impressive at that point). Guatemala proved to be quite the place for spur-of-the-moment adventure – case in point, the night that I ended up hiking on an active volcano, the soles literally melting off of my shoes.
One of my greatest adventures, though, has been putting my story together as a book. I never thought it would be easy, but I’m not sure if I realized that the long and wild road to publication would be more exhausting than the trip itself. Still, it’s rewarding to hear that my story might inspire others to do something foreign, or scary, or unexpected. My philosophy is to enjoy every moment before I get wherever it is I’m going in this adventure of life, and I hope Imagine can make others feel the same.
For more information on this exciting adventurer please visit Grant’s website www.vagabondstory.com
For more information on his book Imagine – A Vagabond Story
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Beautifully written Grant! I think that personal set backs can be great opportunities for growth and change if you have the right initiative. That’s always been true in my life and i think your story is a good example as well.
By the way, Grant’s book is a thrilling inspiring read and everyone should definitely check it out.
Sounds like a very cool book… definitely gonna have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
I love reading about other people’s life changing adventures – and this looks like an awesome book Grant.
Twice I have packed up and sold up to travel – they weren’t necessarily my best times, but they certainly formed a big chunk of life experience which I wouldn’t swap for anything.
Best of all for me, was the feeling of freedom – on the way to the airport with my ticket, leaving life as I knew it behind me … ah, now that is a feeling I would love to repeat!!