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WHEN DO YOU PACK?!

Some people pack weeks in advance. Some make checklists. Some pack and unpack, forgetting that they actually wanted to wear those jeans at the bottom of the bag, and some just say “screw it” and wear the same thing the entire trip. Me? Well, to me, it’s just throwing stuff in a bag. I went to a 9:30 movie with one of my best friends last night, and as we were strolling into “Margot at the Wedding,” I announced that I hadn’t even started to pack for my three-week trip. He looked at me lovingly and laughed, “Oh Allison, it sounds like how you do life.” Ha! That’s so true! He then suggested that I write my next blog entry on this. And so here I am– exposing to everyone how incredibly spontaneous and impulsive I am in my life. Now this habit can be looked at several different ways:

That I don’t sweat the small stuff. I know what’s important to me in my life, and I focus my time and energy on those things. So, in this case, I can recognize the importance in packing, so yes, of course I do it… But I find more value in the new Neil Baumbach film with a friend… So thorough packing takes a back seat, and I rush through the process of packing the next three weeks of my life three hours before departure time.
I’m lazy and I don’t want to think too far in the future because that would mean taking responsibility for more than i want– sad, but true, I am still very much a child.
I know that whatever I forget at home because of my lack of preparation will only add to my adventure on the other side– so really, it’s all a deliberate attempt at increasing my life experience.

I happen to believe my packing habits are a combo of all three. There are so many things to do and see– I don’t want to waste my time “preparing/packing” for an experience; I want to be living it. However, that being said, I’m disregarding the immensely valuable lesson that everything is an experience, and true freedom and joy come when you can feel fully engaged and excited by absolutely every and anything… Including counting out your underwear and matching up socks– Huh… So maybe it would be a good exercise for me to take my time more often and challenge me to find the fun in simply planning my outfits for the next three weeks and placing them in a bag like a lovely game of Tetris.

Ciao for now,
Allison

Tags: Friends, Travelling

Read more | Comments (58) | December 10th, 2007

Aztec Wonders

It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.
by Havelock Ellis

Okay, so I am sure you are all wondering what this quote on failure has to do with traveling in Mexico. Don’t worry, I will explain.

I failed today… miserably. No “ifs”, “ands” or “buts” about it. Failed. For the last six months, I have been training for a half-marathon that was to be run this morning. And so I did… out there in the rain, ready and willing to go. About 2 kilometers into the 21 kilometer run, my knee started acting up… but I pushed through. Then again, acting up, kept on pushing. Then around kilometer 6, I thought I should probably stop to stretch it out. Well, once I stopped, there was no starting again. My knee completely seized up and I couldn’t even walk. I cannot tell you the feeling of disappointment that washed over me. It was brutal. As I was hobbling back to the car, my lovely trainer was reminding me that it was not about the race, but the process of training that was what was important and impressive. I tried to buck up, but man was it ever hard when I couldn’t put weight on my left foot to save my life.

But then, I got home and I started looking online for other races, and I found this quote. I thought to myself, “You know what? He is so right! I can just fix whatever is wrong with my leg; do a little research about what is up with my leg and how I can prevent this from happening next time.” If I choose to look at the bright side of this whole ordeal, I really did learn quite a bit about where my body is right now, and the things I need to do in order to get into the most ideal shape so as not to hurt myself. So there is a silver lining!

I just wanted to share that with all you. I found it quite inspiring and so awesomely profound. I get so caught up in the result “the race” and I completely overlook the amount of triumph and learning that I gained during the process of training and even failing. It is such a gift and this whole experience just supports the phrase that I am trying to live my life by, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”

So true, so true.

Okay, so, enough of that failure talk, back to my trip to Mexico. The Aztec ruins were awesome! I woke up early in the morning after having an evening of incredibly strong cactus alcohol and traditional Aztec dancing, to go for a beautiful sunrise run around the temples.

There are two temples in this specific spot; the sun and the moon. They almost look like natural hills because of all the trees and nature growing over them, but once inside the park, you can see evidence of a truly amazing and sophisticated community of people. I was so amazed by the art and architectural design of the place. It was truly overwhelming. I will admit that the human sacrifice table was a bit creepy and the fact they the world is predicted to end in 2012 is also a bit unsettling, but other than that it was fantastic.

I have attached a few pics of the trip and some fun stuff from the day! Enjoy and let me know your own thoughts and experiences around failure. I’m sorry to keep bringing it up, but it was really a cool experience today.

Ciao, my fellow thinkers!
Allison