Paul is probably in Medellin, and I assume the Southern Boys of Mexico (Mateo and Brian) are in Cartagena. I haven't heard any of that definitively. I'm on my way to Bogota for at least a day before heading up the coast towards the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
My last trip took me and the Civic to the end of the road in Panama, to the furthest southern point on the upper half of the Panamerican Highway, where the road finally meanders through the jungle to end abruptly and unceremoniously at a river's edge. On the other shore of the river lies the wild and savage Darien Gap, the dense jungle allegedly traversed by drug smugglers and rebel groups hiding out from the national government.
I made it to the Darien in August, and decided against ferrying my car to Colombia. I was pretty tired after six months on the road. I decided to head home and be bored for a bit.
I returned to the US convinced that I was finished with traveling, if not forever than at least for a long while. I sought legal jobs half-heartedly, unsure of what my next move would be. The College of Southern Nevada called and asked if I might be willing to come back and work for a semester. I agreed on a lark, threw a few pieces of clothing into my car, and headed down to Vegas planning to spend a week or a month starting off the semester. I ended up staying for three months. I hadn't brought a belt with me, so I rolled my pants at the waist for most of that time.
The three months allowed me to distill and understand the lessons of my road trip. I was driving to Brandyn's house one day when I pulled the car off the road to scribble the following in my notebook:
Side of the road near Brandyn's, 6:11PM, 9/15/2013:
The most important thing we can do is conquer our fears, and
The great conquerers of fear are Creativity and Ingenuity.
I look forward to the novel, uncomfortable situations that await me on this trip. I look forward to meeting the ingenious and creative characters that will people this story.
-TH
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