We got back last night from our trip, and I don’t even know where to begin processing the experience. It. Was. INCREDIBLE. Went beyond my wildest expectations.WAY beyond. From the raw beauty of the country, to the kindness of the people, to the experiences we got to have along the way, it’s certainly a trip I will NEVER forget.

I’m having trouble comprehending all the feelings that are running through my head. I’m trying to put the emotions into words, and I’m having a really hard time. I’m just SO grateful for the experience, and I’ve come to realize how much I appreciate the little things, like hot water and reliable electricity. And being able to flush toilet paper…

I had zero expectations going into this trip. I wasn’t even completely sure I wanted to go, to be honest. I didn’t know what in hell we were going to do with THREE AND A HALF WEEKS in a foreign country we knew nothing about. We had kinda looked around a bit on Trip Advisor and sorta guessed as to where to go and how long to be in each place. We very much went on gut instinct and not much else. We decided on a few places, at least, got mostly-cancel-able reservations, got our major transportation in place, and off we went!

What we found, everywhere we went, was a warmth from the people and the culture that I, at least, didn’t really realize existed. I grew up in a Latin family, completely exposed to the culture, but never had I been so immersed in a whole country of it. From the guys drinking outside the liquor store that chatted with us for hours in Medellin, to the taxi driver who called the hotel clerk at home to make sure we knew when the soccer game was, to the other taxi driver that became our personal tour guide, to the owners of Tribe Guesthouse in Palomino that took such good care of us and gave us such great information and guidance, to the guys on the sailboat that chatted endlessly with me while Matt jumped from the boat into the ocean repeatedly, to the guide on the trip to the indigenous village that asked me a million questions about how to say this or that in English vs. Spanish, to the delicious music spilling out on every corner in Cartagena, to the customs agent at the airport stamping our exit visas who asked if we liked his country and was genuinely pleased when we told him we loved it….. Everyone actually CARED. They are proud of their country and they are grateful that tourists are finally coming and they want to represent their culture as accurately as possible. And they want us to love it.

Then there was the sheer physical beauty of the place. The approach into the Medellin airport is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen from the air. There are hills everywhere, and it so GREEN. And there are mountains seemingly higher than the plane is flying… It was amazing. The rivers in Palomino are spectacular. Giant rocks, clear, cold water… Not to mention the Sierra Madre where they all start towering over the town, on which you can see snow on a clear day. The blue of the Caribbean some of the places. And Cartagena… Cartagena stole my heart. The buildings, the flowers cascading off the balconies… That might have to be a post on its own.

Needless to say, it was an amazing experience that’s going to take me awhile to sort through and process. For now, I have an amazing feeling of peace and gratitude that I haven’t felt in a long time. So as I process, I’m going to write more and try to get all the feelings down in writing. More stories are coming, so stay tuned!