This is the part where I kick myself for not keeping a consistent blog of my Journey! (No, you cannot read my Journals!!) Oh well – here I am six months to the day after arriving in Belize. Yup, I arrived on Christmas Day 2014 after an uneventful overnight in Houston (from Seattle).

From the Belize City International Airport I hopped on a puddle jumper to Dangriga where I quickly realized my Taxi was a no show (the gentleman who called to check could hear a party in the background – it was Christmas after all so I couldn’t be too upset!). Luckily I met a woman on the plane traveling to Hopkins so we were able to share her Taxi.

No matter how exciting it is, travel is also exhausting for me so I was pleased to not have to think about where to go for dinner. The owner of the Cosmopolitan Guesthouse where I stayed is a Chef at a nearby restaurant so I went and enjoyed a scrumptious 6-course meal on Christmas night. What a treat!

Unfortunately, I also got viciously bitten by the sand fleas (silly me didn’t even think about bug spray) and woke up multiple times in the night over the next couple of days scratching my legs and hopping in the cold shower to alleviate the itching. I finally walked into the village to the herbal place and the owner’s husband made me a nice herbal concoction for my bites. It was fun walking back to the guesthouse with green herbs all over my body! Three hours and a shower later I could see and feel the difference of the bites. Hooray for herbal healing!

On December 29 I made my way to Placencia where I have been ever since minus a few quick overnight or day trips to San Ignacio (a favorite place), Belize City and Caye Caulker. I have gotten online to book a plane ticket to the States a few times and each time I do, I get distracted or have a stupor of thought and don’t end up booking one.  I strongly feel I am not to leave Belize anytime soon, so I am listening to my inner guidance (you’ll see that is a theme for this whole Experience)!!

There is a lot to say about uprooting from your “comfortable” and abundant life in the U.S. (Kirkland, Washington to be exact) and moving almost sporadically and haphazardly to a foreign country. Most of the time I forget Belize IS a foreign country!! It doesn’t feel foreign, but maybe that is because I feel I truly belong here, or rather I feel I am supposed to be here. I don’t always feel like I belong – YET.

I chose Belize because I feel safe here, the energy is expansive (especially compared to Kirkland), they speak English and in Placencia, you can drink the water. I didn’t know anyone in town before I arrived. I didn’t even know for sure I was staying until a week before I was supposed to fly back to the States. I really had to do some self-talk when it came down to the wire – the actual decision GO TIME.  I had set everything up when I left that I wouldn’t have to return if I didn’t want to. I sold my house, sold most of my furniture (except my piano), put my car and belongings (after a major purge – donating, trashing or keeping – in storage.

I told the owner of the hotel, Jacki, that I wanted to stay and the next thing I knew she had found a one-bedroom apartment for me in the Village to sub-lease. I hemmed and hawed.  My Spirit Guides (intuition) screamed “STAY!!!” at me. Finally – here is where the self-talk came in (you really have to ask yourself the right questions AND answer them!) – I got serious, and calmed down, and asked myself “What is the worst that could happen if I stayed?” and came up with two answers: 1. I could run out of money. 2. I could hate it. Since I knew what was waiting for me at home (Washington Winter (which didn’t amount to much last year apparently!) and a job that didn’t make my heart sing AT ALL) I figured I had nothing to lose by staying and Everything to gain. I said YES to the apartment then canceled my plane ticket then got my phone unlocked and a Belize phone number.

Another two days went by while I mulled over quitting my job. Even though I felt like this job was a comfortable rut – velvet handcuffs or golden prison (whatever you want to call it) – I was really GREAT at my job. I had to psych myself up once I wrote my resignation email. It was a total Rocky moment but without the Eye of The Tiger playing in the background!  I was dancing around like a boxer though!!  It was ironic that I had a place to live and canceled my plane ticket – my WAY home for crimes sakes – yet hitting SEND to end my “career” made me hesitate. Well after much “holy cow what am I doing??” out loud to no one but myself I finally did it. Then came a surge of ENERGY and EXCITEMENT and RELIEF and FREEDOM!! HOLY COW I DID IT!!! After all the “talk” from the last couple of years of going on vacation and not coming back…I FINALLY DID IT!

Soon after I posted what I’d done on Facebook, I got emails from my co-workers (who had heard about this dream every vacation I went on) saying they were proud of me and congratulations (apparently the news made it down the whole office of cubicles). That felt good! While I may have wondered a lot the past couple of months what exactly I am doing here, I have never once regretted my decision to stay and see what this Adventure brings.

They say at the end of your life you regret the things you didn’t do more so than the things you did. I would wholeheartedly agree!  So… GO DO that thing you are afraid of or hesitant to do!  GO NOW!

It would take forever to sum up the past six months. I reserve the right to reach back into the recent past to share other good stories, experience, adventure or learnings in blogs down the road. As a brief recap – I spent the first 2-3 months in vacation mode and energetic detox from my job and old life. I seemed to keep meeting tourists and so the PARTY never ended (really unlike me if you knew me before – typically couldn’t go out two nights in a row and wouldn’t drink more than once a week, if that!)!

Things really slowed down when I moved out of the Village in March. I had to ride my bike (my new mode of transportation) into the village for groceries and fun. I had to plan so I would arrive safely home before dark (you don’t want to be on the streets here after dark – drunk drivers, crazy drivers, and the road is not lit) so it took a bit more planning to go out.

Now I go out once or twice a week at night (walking or riding the bus into town while light out then taking a Taxi back) and maybe once or twice a week during the day depending on what needs to get done (laundry, shopping, eating, beach).  I’ll also go out if the house gets too hot (no A/C).

I enjoy my morning run and work out for exercise and found a gym to start building up some huge muscles (haha).

I believe that Everything happens for a reason and in the right timing. I have met some amazing people who have been an integral part of my experience here so far, no matter the level or depth of connection. From reconnecting with the Crystal Healer I met in March 2013 in Maya Centre to the water taxi worker that helped me submit my Work Permit application and since has said I can come work on his fishing boat (me a deckhand?  Fisherjylly?  Fun to think about!)… To other ex-pats making a go of it here to recently meeting a gal my age who has never been out of the U.S. and came to Belize to check it out and possibly move here in September (Get here, Lisa!).

So far the only things I am not digging about Belize are the Bugs, high heat (above 95) and humidity. The jury is out on the cultural differences (still researching, especially their love relationships).  For the most part, Belize is exactly the place for the Simple Life I was looking for and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the energy here – it is soooo expansive!

Recently I have been missing a few things from home.  It feels weird to say that yet Placencia doesn’t feel like my ‘home’ yet — so let’s say I miss these things from my old life in the U.S.:
Driving the Blue Stealth Bomber
Listening to my music (forgot to download it to my new laptop before I left – CRIMES!)
Favorite colored BIC writing pens
My various notebooks of deep thoughts or information from classes/my business or empty ones for future deep thoughts or Journal
BOOKS (sometimes you just need a page to turn – ooooh Deep Thought!) though I will report I am handling my Kindle like a champ
The Afros – disco band I LOVED to dance to
Supplements and herbs, essential oils, maybe some toiletries or food not readily available here
Buckwheat pillow
Quilt (it has been cool enough to cozy up on a handful of days!)
Wake-surfing!

I’ve realized lately that others seem to be more proud of me for this Move than I am.  Maybe that is because I am living each moment – the Wanting, the disappointment of it not happening previously (ode to Costa Rica), the trying to figure out how to do it, to making it through the Purging My Old Life process, to putting that last item in storage, to actually grabbing my balls (figuratively speaking) and staying.

So….drum roll…YAY ME!!!  Here is to the first six months of my New Life!!  I’m looking forward to more Adventures, lessons, and connections with other like-minded souls!  And here is to consistent blogging (the crowd goes wild)!!

#JYLLIZE and #ROAR