From Alison: On March 27 we flew from Vancouver to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and then travelled down the coast by hired car to the small fishing village of La Manzanilla. We have rented a casita from our friends Pam and Larry. Almost the entire front wall of the casita opens up onto a patio with a pool and a beautiful view of tropical gardens and the ocean. We feel as if we’ve found heaven. We plan to stay here for at least two months, probably three, and maybe even four. We need to rest, regroup, and integrate the past months of travelling. We need to stop for a while. We need to rest.
From Don: Saturday March 30. I wrote yesterday that I want to spend more time running towards God as fast as I can and letting my heart open to the greatest extent possible. Maybe that was too ambitious a goal because I woke up feeling groggy and didn’t get out of bed until 10:00 this morning. By noon I’d had breakfast and felt somewhat better. Letting go of all the inner tension I’ve been carrying for so long seems to be a reasonable and achievable goal for our time in La Manzanilla. More openheartedness and more closeness with God also seem achievable in this moment.
Letting go of all the thinking and planning and doing of travel is top of my agenda, if I have an agenda at all. Skimming the leaves off the surface of the swimming pool is the height of my ambition today, and then helping Ali make our supper in the evening.
It is hot here, probably not as steamy as Myanmar in March, but hot enough and steamy enough for me, especially in the downtown area. It’s so nice to have a pool to step into, a cool breeze off the ocean, and the time to do absolutely nothing for as long as I need: to sit, to reflect, to meditate (but not medicate), to let every fibre of my body relax until I’m not holding any tension anywhere. I got weary to the bone and tense in the muscles of my body with all the travelling: so it’s time to rest completely and to relax deeply until I get sane and healthy again. To travel the way we have for most of the past two years has been amazing, but now it’s time to stop, regroup, refresh, relax, revive, and allow whatever arises into consciousness without effort, to guide us to the next phase of our amazing journey.
I hadn’t realized, or hadn’t wanted to admit, just how stressed I’d become with all the travelling, but now that I have that awareness it’s time to do something about it.
From Alison: And we’re in the right place to do it. What has emerged is a keener understanding of our travel rhythm. We’re good for about six weeks of constant travelling – a week here, a week in the next place. Then we need to stop for a while; for more than the two weeks we spent in Koh Samui after six weeks of mad travel around India. I look forward to spending more time in different places like we’re doing here in Mexico. More time meaning two or three or four months, so we have time to integrate what we are experiencing, both internally and externally, and to better get to know the local culture. And even though I have weeks of “work” to get the blog up to date that will keep me well occupied, it feels like heaven to me that we’re not going anywhere for a long time. Don’t have to think about travel plans, or make decisions about hotels or methods of travel, or itineraries or agendas. Just stopping. Heaven.
Photo of the day: Delicacies at the night market, Phnom Penh
All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted.
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2015.
Enjoy your time in La Manzanilla. Sounds wonderful and much needed rest.
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Thanks Pam.
Yes, much needed.
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Whew! Enjoy the restfulness!
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Thanks Fiona.
Hope all in well with you. I’m finally and slowly catching up on the FS season with all the dvd’s Helene made for me. Almost finished watching SA 🙂
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YES!
Love and lots of hugs,
Kay
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YES! I agree!
Love and hugs to you too
xoxox
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How good that you are listening to your bodies, to your souls, and taking time to really relax and enjoy. La Manzanilla sounds so beautiful.
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I guess we’re both getting pretty good at listening – to all the thoughts that arise, and knowing which ones to discard, and which ones to pay attention to. It all just seems to unfold organically (which is not to say it’s never stressful) and every time we stop and check we discover we have everything we need. Blessed. So blessed. We can’t believe how we stumbled into this. Amazed by it. Better than we could have imagined. And it does feel like that – sort of a stumbling along, feeling our way by the tips of our fingers.
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So glad you are aware of your body and spirit and answering the call for rest and relaxation. I spent a number of summers in that area at a village called Pasquales near Tecoman. There are some huge waves for surfing there. I have fond memories of the town square in Tecoman on a Sunday evening, licking Michoacan ice cream and watching the locals. Enjoy your siesta, and keep blogging. {{{hugs}} Kozo
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Thanks Kozo.
Been enjoying a little ice cream ourselves 🙂
We’re in a bay (Tenacatita) so no surf waves – not that we would appreciate them if there were 🙂
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I just looked it up and it looks amazing.
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Yeah, it really is.
The perfect place to be.
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We’ve discovered that over the years, our traveling preferences have changed as well. On our most recent RTW, we were away for 6 months. This was great, but when we returned to the US, we were ready to be off the road. Like you, our ideal trip is a month or so, and we always stay at least one week in each location and we try to rent a studio or apartment. It gives us time to spend some quality time in a place, and it minimizes the moves. Every move, whether across town, across country, or across the world is a hassle and takes energy. A big part of successful travel is knowing likes and dislikes, and we finally had a frank conversation with ourselves about what we did, and did not want to do. It sounds like you are both in a similar place. Enjoy your rest. ~James
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Yes, I think we’re in a similar place – really getting that clarity about what works and what doesn’t. We also like a week in each place when we are on the move so there’s time enough for down days, or a day of what we call flanneuring – just wandering with no agenda to see what we discover. I think for the future we will probably do something like five or six weeks of travelling from place to place, and then stop for two or three months. It’s so important to be clear about how you want to travel in order to reduce the stress levels.
Cheers
Alison
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oh man that sounds so awesome for u guys!
I just had wrist reconstruction surgery, kind of out of it right now…. pain and pain killer drgs. One finger typing; pls forgive errors.
yr plan to have longer stays everywhere sounds wise. especially right there where u are!
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Oh I hope your wrist surgery heals quickly and well – sending healing energy and prayers your way.
Were we are is more awesome than we could have imagined. Not only the setting and the casita, but also yoga classes every morning so we’re getting fit again. And eating mounds of fruit and salads everyday. Feeling very good after a lot of erratic eating while travelling.
Hugs from both of us to both of you
A&D
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thanks for your good wishes and healing energy delivery :).
I thought I’d replied to your email acct… shows how out of it I was.
I’m on the path to healing now, having decided my body was allergic to those opiate drugs. Tylenol now doing a good enough job.
I envy your current holiday situation! Woot!
Hugs
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Good to hear you’re healing, and that tylenol is now good enough. That’s progress.
I think if I wasn’t here *I’d* envy my current holiday situation 🙂
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