In the beginning....

Above - we made it!   

There we were, sitting in the afternoon heat, under the shade of the surburban garden in Merida, Mexico.  Taking the time to take our time.  Drinking beer and iced tea and eating nachos.  The hum of traffic  was just audible in the distance, and yet we were surrounded and overshadowed by tropical plants, which seemed to be growing as we watched them.  3 different iguanas, one massive, many lizards and 2 hummingbirds and a street cat were regular visitors.  Another beautiful visitor was a metallic green beetle, which when we tried to take its photo from close up revealed itself to be a metallic green STINK beetle.  Overripe gorgonzola never smelt worse... eeeugh!  There were raptors circling above us in the vibrant blue sky, which 5 minutes previously was hurling down rain in torrents.  If this city was this fantastic, what would it be like in cloud- and rainforests?  In other cities and villages?  In and under the oceans and on top of mountains?  4 months ago, we were sitting together in the chill of an early February evening in the garden of our house in Brighton, England, eating thai red curry.  We were feeling restless and curious to know if we could rent out our house to tenants, sell most of our 'stuff' on ebay, or give it to charity shops, fit all we needed into carry on backpacks and go?  One-way tickets to somewhere, and then on to who knows where else!  Curiosity and idle dreaming turned into research and planning.  Anna's job as a National Health Service Speech and Language Therapist meant that we had to pick a date and focus.  2 months' notice, and then.... no income.  My work as a self-employed carpenter meant that I could up and run on a whim.  So..... we needed a date and a first destination.  When you get to thinking about stuff like that, you're reminded of how massive the world is.  We'd spent time in Central and South America in the past and loved it, and Anna said one night,

 'OK, how about we go to Mexico on 28th May, make our way to Oaxaca, rent an apartment with a kitchen for a month or so while we learn proper Spanish?'

How could I argue with that?  We are just sure that we don't want to look back some time in the future and think that our dreams feel that we let them down.  Turns out it's not that easy, but it's oh, so worth it.

The lush garden of our gorgeous rented historic house in Merida, Alan can't work out where he is!