Our time in Puerto Vallarta is quickly coming to an end. As ever, I am a bit in awe of just how quickly time can pass us by. Three months. It sounds like such a long time to spend in a city that we have only granted one week stays in the past. Time flys by in a heartbeat. The big question now is … Whats Next?
Time, that most fairydust of qualities, tends to fly or drag; all dependent, upon your inner happiness. I remember with startling vividness the endless, mind-numbing hours spent watching the clock from the inside of my cubicle. Willing those last hours and minutes to go faster. Just as I have tried to slow down time throughout my life; on vacations, amazing nights out, those great moments in time you never wanted to end. What I’ve learned in 120+ days on the road is that time, once the enemy, now a friend, still can fly by in an instant.
The 83 Pueblo Magico towns of Mexico may very well be enough of a reason for a visit to the country. We have previously visited several, including Alamos, El Fuerte, and Creel just last year. Recently we relished our time in Loreto and Todos Santos, finding ourselves completely intrigued and enchanted by stepping back into time to experience hand formed cobblestone streets and woodbeamed ceilings. Wanting to escape the city, it was time for a little magic.
We are, of course, always “home”. When you live in a tiny house on wheels, home is, literally, wherever you park it. However, among all of the amazing places we have visited around the world, Puerto Vallarta is our most often visited, and one place we really feel like we are coming home to.
Well, I’m going home, back to the place where I belong
And where your love has always been enough for me
I’m not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong
I don’t regret this life I chose for me
But these places and these faces are getting old
So I’m going home, well I’m going home
Yesterday someone commented on a blog post I did, telling me, in effect, that I was a whiner. I spammed his comment, not even bothering to engage in any sort of dialogue with such nonsense, but it was actually a perfect setup for this post, which I’ve had in mind for sometime. The fact of the matter is, life on the road is just that. LIFE. There are good days and bad days and cranky days and ecstatic days. As we have gone along we have shared so many stories of wonderful times and pictures of magical beaches and exciting adventures. While all we’ve shared is absolutely accurate, there is another side to overlanding…. the other reality.
We had to escape. San Diego was sucking us dry emotionally and financially and with the addition of a rainy weekend forecast, we knew it was head out or lose our minds. The answer: Joshua Tree.
These days our life has become consistent in it’s inconsistency. Our days are mostly spent circling San Diego. We have been here for 12 days. We have spent nights in 7 different locations. Our nomadic lives have taken on an even greater transiency .
At this point we hope the T-rex just eats us already!
La Ventana ~ a conflicting mix of emotions will forever come into play when we hear that name. For La Ventana is perhaps both the best and worst of our time in Baja. It is fair to say that the town itself was not our favorite, yet our two weeks there were two of our best in the company of wonderful family and friends. And while the day to day took on a comfortable pattern, La Ventana is also where we said our final goodnight to Porter. La Ventana will always be bittersweet.
Never fear. We are not actually living in Los Barriles. We did, however, end up spending more time there than any other place in Baja. More than three weeks during three different time periods. So I guess, basically, we were living in Los Barriles!
We were in Los Barriles. Still. We ended spending more time there than anywhere in Baja, for several reasons. But right then, as much as we were enjoying the town, we were searching for solitude.
