What does an avid traveler do when stuck in quarantine? I open my travel journal and start to travel in my mind back to places I've been. I've written books, but I've never shared my journals. This is my heartfelt gift to share the memories I hold private and dear. The writings in italics are my actual journal entries. The plain text is information I think will help the reader follow the spaces where I didn't journal.
June 24, 2017 Seattle, WA
We are one week away from a trip/journey of streaming miracles. Everything leading up to this journey points to greatness. We (Jason, Sophia, Eloise and Penny) will fly from Seattle to Cusco, Peru in one week. Penny is almost two years old and has no idea the adventure she is in for. Sophia is 14, on her way to her freshman year of high school. This is a BIG summer for her--regardless of this trip. She is on the precipice of adulthood. The true teen years of awkwardness, awakening, angst, pushing boundaries and finding where she might fit into society. The perspective she will gain from being immersed into an ancient culture will be invaluable to her growth over the next 4 years of high school. Eloise is 12. She is spunky and sassy. Seeing and experiencing Peru will be equally as important to frame her teen years.
I just turned 40 and feel as if I'm on a spiritual, synchronistic path of enlightenment and I am realizing the true power of the light I carry. Jason is my soul mate, the father of Penny, step-father to Sophia and Eloise. He is a new father, his responsibilities as a human have increased and he is realizing a love of life that can be much deeper than I think he thought was possible. This journey will most likely be the most transformative for him...and I think he thinks he is just along for the ride....and so am I. I am very excited for the ALL of us!
I want to give a little background as to how we ended up going to Peru. Jason and I owned an art gallery for 5 years. It was named Mind Unwind and was an interactive, creative space. I liked to explain it as 'A playground for the creative imagination.' We had a little bar inside called The Treehouse Lounge that was open in the evening for people to come drink wine and paint or be creative. We hosted many art events and positive social gatherings that sparked a lot of connections and spirited ideas. During one event we were having, a girl came up to me and told me that someone had told her to come to our gallery to meet me. At the time, this was pretty common for me. A lot of people had come in to meet me for one reason or another and it was always fun to see and hear why each person was drawn to our space.
Her name was Tasha and we started talking. She told me about her jewelry that she made, she showed me pictures and it was beautifully crafted jewelry. While we were chatting, she saw the hummingbird tattoo I had on my forearm. She pointed it out and told me that her boyfriend hosts a trip to Peru every year that is called 'Stream of Miracles' and they always saw hummingbirds on their trips. She said they were the biggest hummingbirds she had ever seen. I was instantly awed and professed how much I wanted to go on one of those trips. This encounter was three years prior to our trip. Each spring as they were planning their trip, Tasha would message me and ask if I wanted to go. Each year, the timing wasn't quite right. I was pregnant with Penny, then the next year, Jason and I got married, but this year, 2017, was the year we would go.
July 1, 2017 El Salvador
We are about half way from Seattle to Cusco. we are on the 2nd of 4 flights SEA-LAX-SanSalvador-Lima-Cusco. It's a pretty long 24 hours with a toddler and two teens. penny finally fell asleep, so I have a chance to write. Eloise had a minor panic attack at Sea-Tac, but after vomitting in the bathroom right before we loaded, she has been totally fine. Sophia and Eloise were super excited to fly into LAX because that is where all the 'movie starts' live and a lot of their favorite You-Tubers. I think they realized pretty quickly that the smoggy brown sprawl of urban decay wasn't as glamorous as they thought it was going to be.
Almost July 2nd, 2017 in some timezone. Lima, Peru
All my lovelies are sleeping, Jason is snoring. I am realizing how amazing my family is to go on this adventure with me. This trip was for sure my idea. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be going with my phenomenal family of five. I'm one lucky mamma. I'm also VERY tired.
End of July 2nd, 2017 Cusco, Peru
After 26 hours of travel, we finally made it to Casa de las Gringas. It's a hostel in downtown Cusco. We have a private room with shared kitchen and bathroom spaces. It seems like there are around 15-20 travelers staying in this hostel when we arrived. It's winter in Peru, so it is very cold. Our room has no windows, it is open air and there is no heat in the hostel. Jason rents a space heater for the kids from the manager. We were shown our room and we immediately slept for 4-5 hours (even Penny!). Penny slept in her pop-up tent in her snowsuit, despite the heater. The rest of us were sleeping in our coats and stocking caps. When we awoke, we met our group for the next 10 days. Tasha had her newborn with her, but other than her, we are the only ones traveling with children. It's a diverse group: Travis and Tasha, the organizers. Tasha is the reason for connecting us to this trip. Travis is a musician. There is a woman in her late 20's (possibly 30's) who is a corporate accountant of some sort; Happy Jon is a nurse; Vince, a psychologist/healer with his wife who works a corporate job; a gal from Ireland who is a singer and I think a bartender; an IT programmer who lives in Redmond originally from India but grew up in New Jersey. Leslie and her identical twin sons, Mark and Simon are our hosts who perform the San Pedro Ceremonies at their Mountain home that we are headed to in the morning. Here is our itinerary:
July 2nd: Arrive
July 3rd: San Pedro Ceremony at Leslie's Mountain home with Q'ero Limpia
July 4th: Pisac Market & Animal Sanctuary
July 5th: Sacsaywoaman Tour and Ayahuasca Ceremony with Kush
July 6th: Dispatcho ceremony with Q'ero ; Rappe cermoney with Travis ; Ayahuasca with Kush
July 7th: Free day in Cusco
July 8th: Back to Mountain house for San Pedro Ceremony with Leslie
July 9th: Closing Circle
July 10-12th Macchu Pichu train & tour
*********THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME***************
Comments