The Travel Bug

If you love to travel, then you know the desire is never lost. No amount of new adventure will ever quench the thirst for more. Traveling is like itching a bug bite - the temporary relieve is nothing compared to the agony post itch. I am fortunate to have grown up in a household that always valued travel and experience. Some of my greatest memories were made abroad. My Mother graciously took me to Paris on a girls trip when I was 10, it was here I learned to use my first camera. I learned what OB was in Italy. I got my nose pierced in Costa Rica when I was 16. I learned to scuba dive in Belize in college. I spent a semester in Granada, Spain, fumbling my way through terrible Spanish and learning to truly be on my own. In Aruba I learned (the hard way) that booze cruises are never a good idea. In Amsterdam I learned the importance of being on time. In London I learned to say no to food the staff "just found downstairs". In Malawi I learned to be humble, and appreciate what you have. In Cabo, I fell in love. Our experiences shape us. Travel is an expedited way to learn about the world around us. We are so consumed with our daily lives. We are angry when the coffee gets cold, or when we're stuck in traffic. Our lives are over when our cable is out, or the wifi is slow. But when you travel, none of that matters. You get to see a glimpse into the lives of other people we share this Earth with. If nothing else, and not to be cliche, it gives you perspective. I always come back from travel truly appreciating the life I have because at the end of the day, I am fortunate enough to have a home to come back to. And, I am not going to go all soft here and say that traveling is my form of jesus and that every day is #soblessed, but it truly is valuable. (I am being serious when I say booze cruises are bad idea. A million Aruba Arribas and a 3 day hangover later and you learn your lesson).

I am so lucky to have married someone who loves to travel as much as I do. Now, he is a little more fiscally responsible than I am, so we made a compromise (thats marriage, right?). We would plan one epic trip, a trip of a lifetime. A trip that would be so epic we would be okay with postponing travel for a few years (see above comment about thirst quenching haha) to save for adult things like houses and kids. We're both (relatively) outdoorsy and we wanted to embark on an adventure that would be impossible with future small children. We did our research, thought about several different locations (some that will absolutely be back burnered) and landed on Peru.

Why Peru? Well, we had a few stipulations that we put into place before choosing our destination:

1. It had to be a place neither of us had been: We are both very fortunate to have traveled quite a bit, but neither of us had been to South America, let alone Peru.

2. We needed adventure: You can't ask for much more adventure than hiking the Inca Trail for 4 days. I mean, the bathroom situation alone is enough adventure FOR A LIFETIME (more on that later).

3. Needed to be safe: Peru is incredibly safe to travel to, in fact I never felt unsafe or threatened in anyway.

4. Cost: Although we wanted an EPIC trip, we didn't want an epic price tag. AKA Asia, Africa and Australia were totally off limits. (next time!)

As we planned our trip we had one "must do" item which was hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Everything else fell into line, but the trek was the catalyst for the trip. We did hours, days of research into how it works, when to go and the choosing the right trekking company. If you have had to do online research anytime in the recent past, then you know the internet can be daunting. So and so says one thing, and so and so says another. Sifting through reviews and recos can be difficult, but we finally landed on Ceci's Travel which was recommended to us by a trusted Travel Agent (more on the trek later).

Once we picked the date and company for our trek, we needed to fill in the rest of our time. Adjusting to the high altitude of the Andes can be challenging so we opted for a full 36 hours in Cusco prior to our trek. After our trek we knew we would be toast, so we did a relaxing night in Aguas Calientes, followed by a train back to Cusco, and then 2 days in Lima to finish it off.

I gotta say, after everything - it was, indeed epic. From the food, to the people, to the sights, to the lessons. Everything was perfect. Having been back for about a week and a half now, I feel I am finally ready to digest it. The bug is satisfied for now, but don't tell Tony that I've been looking up pictures of Thailand on Instagram.