I came to realize something on our recent trip to Placencia with Larissa and Kyle. I like spending time with tourists. I know that lots of expats here would say the exact opposite...tourists make things too busy, drive the prices up, take away the charm but I have to disagree. After all, we came here as tourists and then made the decision to make Belize home. For the most part, tourists are carefree and fun. They are experiencing things for the first time and that can be joyful! And I don't mind stealing a little of their enthusiasm.
I remember on our first trip to Belize, just over seven years ago, we met a couple on Ambergris Caye. They were probably in their late fifties and they were strolling on the beach hand in hand. We got chatting with them and found out that they were from the US but had lived full time in Belize for almost twenty years. That seemed so incredible to me. At that point in my life I hadn't even considered the possibility. It just hadn't occurred to me that it was possible to pack up life in Canada and come to some place that seemed so exotic...to live! After all, we were doing everything that we were supposed to, right? We worked hard at jobs with the same employers for many years, we were diligently paying off our mortgage on a beautiful house, and raising our daughter so that she would have all the opportunities we received and more. Everything was right on track. But on track for what???
I think that night a seed was planted that eventually grew into our new life in Belize.
And on that note I realized something in Placencia...we have become those people on the beach. We made the amazing move to an exotic land that most people only dream about. Now, I will never say that we are pioneers or incredibly brave but we did manage to break through that wall that can hold us in one place throughout our lives. Making this kind of move twenty or thrity years ago, before internet and all the conveniences that make the world seem like a much smaller place...now that's brave.
I think that night a seed was planted that eventually grew into our new life in Belize.
And on that note I realized something in Placencia...we have become those people on the beach. We made the amazing move to an exotic land that most people only dream about. Now, I will never say that we are pioneers or incredibly brave but we did manage to break through that wall that can hold us in one place throughout our lives. Making this kind of move twenty or thrity years ago, before internet and all the conveniences that make the world seem like a much smaller place...now that's brave.
While we may not be the trail blazers, I think we are part of a growing movement. The world is getting smaller....there is no question about that. We are a generation that is younger than our age and challenges and change are part of our make up. We can live in Belize and still only be a one day flight from our daughter in Canada. Family is just a phone call away, or an email or a Skype. Not much different than when we lived in northern Canada.
So, yes, it may sound extraordinary this new life that we have created. And in a way it is but I still believe that the most extraordinary thing we have done is to have broken down the wall that would have kept us on the first path we started on. Once that wall came down, the world opened up to us.
So, yes, it may sound extraordinary this new life that we have created. And in a way it is but I still believe that the most extraordinary thing we have done is to have broken down the wall that would have kept us on the first path we started on. Once that wall came down, the world opened up to us.