It’s been 3 months since I first left for Mexico to try my luck at solo travel and language learning. I’ve had a week back at home after an awesome wedding in Vermont1Shoutout Alex and Ben! and it’s a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned and how I’m going to adjust my trip moving forward.
Blogging
As I described in Chapter 1, I came to this trip with a plan: immerse myself fully in Latin American culture, and to use that immersion to improve at Spanish. Immersion could take many forms – tinder traveling, hitchhiking, couchsurfing, volunteering for odd jobs. I emphasized that I would try to avoid hostels for more immersive experiences.
The key mistake I made, however, was trying to take on too many goals. I wanted to reach full fluency in Spanish, learn to salsa, accustom myself to greater vulnerability, push my adventure travel limits, work out constantly, develop my creative writing muscles, and maybe, just maybe, build a following through the blog and instagram.
But with too many goals, I didn’t have enough time to focus on all of them, and instead of doing a few things exceptionally well, I did many things ok. I didn’t have time for couchsurfing requests, so I mostly stayed in hostels. I was constantly rushing to get blog posts out, so I didn’t put any time into growing a following, or honing the writing.
I said in Chapter 1 that I would give up any of the smaller goals to achieve the main one – becoming fully fluent in Spanish. For that reason, this will be my last blog post.
The reasoning is simple: blogging takes up a lot of time, time that doesn’t support my overall goal of becoming fully fluent in Spanish. Since it doesn’t support my primary goal, it’s by definition unproductive.
Estimating conservatively, I’d say that I’ve spent a week’s worth of work days writing out my different chapters. For a trip that so far has only lasted 12 weeks, that’s a significant amount of time, and moving forward, I’m excited to use that time more productively.
I won’t be giving up on writing entirely, but I will refocus. Thus far, I’ve spent lots of time meticulously capturing the details of day-to-day happenings, a base to start each blog post. Moving forward, I’ll concentrate on reflective journaling. While I’ll still jot down events, my emphasis will be on putting those events into a larger context – noting insights that come up, thinking through how I could have reacted better in specific situations. To make this even more synergistic, I’ll try to journal in Spanish, which will be excellent subjunctive practice.
Part of this pure reflection time could also be spent asking myself the big, pressing questions I’ll need to sort out by the time I finish this trip. What do I want to do as a next job? Where would I want to live? How will I balance finding work-life balance with finding the right cause and the right role to work on? The more time that passes, the more these questions loom; I may as well start thinking seriously about them now.
Travel and Spanish Strategy
As always, my travel and learning strategy is intertwined, since I’m using travel to support learning.
As I mentioned in Chapter 12, moving forward, I’ll need to put in more of a concerted effort to make progress in Spanish. I want to commit to an hour of deliberate practice, minimum, each day. Of course, I can always do more. Deliberate practice will come in many forms: working through grammar exercises, active listening drills, reflective writing, reading increasingly challenging works. Critically, it must be difficult – I’ll be proactively working to improve.
While immersion alone is not a panacea, more immersion will certainly support my language learning goals. The level of immersion I achieve is dependent on how I get around and meet people; my travel strategy2Actually there is a 3rd part, detailed in Chapter 2: packing! I’ve refined my pack based on what I did and didn’t need on the first leg. The biggest change is the addition of a Kindle Paperwhite (a perfect christmas gift – thanks Mom and Dad!) Having a Kindle allows me to download any book I’d like moving forward, rather than relying on book exchanges. Another killer feature – I can bring up the dictionary definition of any word with a tap. Perfect for learning new vocabulary in Spanish-language books..
Originally, I wanted to avoid hostels as much as possible, but they’re incredibly convenient to book, so I’ve slept in hostels most of my time. This actually worked out fine, mostly because I met plenty of Latin Americans with whom to practice Spanish. However, moving forward I want to immerse myself more through Couchsurfing3Here‘s how it works. and Workaway4My personal favorite of the travel/volunteer platforms; more information here.. These activities present their own logistical challenges – it is far more time-intensive to find a host than to book a hostel – but I’ll have more time now that I’m done blogging, and it will be worth it.
Few things have supported immersion more than Tinder. Originally, it was the only way that I was practicing writing in Spanish (by texting), and it has consistently been a fun way to meet locals. Moving forward, I hope to use it evenly more productively: to find dance partners and continue improving at salsa and other dances.
Hitchhiking was something I initially had high hopes for. I’ve always seen hitchhiking as the purest form of spontaneous adventure, the ultimate vanguard. I mean, even Steve Jobs said so in his famous commencement address (the relevant bit starts here).
However, I have barely hitchhiked so far, and I don’t plan to in the future unless I absolutely need to, as in Chapter 11. It just goes against my nature. I’m obsessed with making the most of my time5Quick anecdote from when I was learning Spanish via Duolingo, way back in college. Duolingo practice can be easily knocked out in any pocket of free time; just open the app and practice wherever. I used it accordingly – even when free time doubled as bathroom time. I’d sit on the toilet and listen to that robotic voice ask “donde esta la biblioteca,” regardless of whoever might be in the next stall. That’s who I am: I care so much about optimally using my time that I try to have productive bathroom breaks, and revel in the ridiculousness of those situations. and unproductive waiting is antithetical to who I am. To stand on the side of a road for an undetermined amount of time waiting… it’s just not me, especially when there’s the option of a guaranteed ride and a schedule to work around.
Thanks!
A huge thank you to all of the Mexican friends I’ve met along the way so far. I was immediately welcomed into families, friend groups and social circles wherever I went. Given that I’ve lived most of my life in southern parts of either Texas or California, states that border Mexico, I knew shockingly little about the country before I visited. Everyone I met was eager to show me their cities, and answer any questions I had.
I still have a lot to learn, but it’s been fascinating to see the dichotomy between what I’ve experienced and how Mexico is portrayed in American media and news. We are lucky to have Mexico so nearby, a country so different from our own, filled with incredible cuisine, kind people, and a self-deprecating, ironic self-image that I still can’t quite grasp. Despite the tensions between the two countries at the policy level, I’ve encountered no ill will, only gracious hospitality.
Thanks also to the fellow travelers I met along the trail – sharing the adventure with other foreigners rounded out the experience, and exposed me to yet more perspectives. Whether chatting about Dutch environmentalism, Norwegian extreme sports or Spanish social safety nets, I enjoyed all of the thought-provoking discussions. And the drinking – definitely the enjoyed the drinking.
Thanks to all the blog readers – if reading these posts has been entertaining, stimulating or thought provoking, I’m thankful. I don’t check the site for comments frequently, so if you’ve made it this far, send me a direct message or Whatsapp text. Honest feedback and/or constructive criticism are always much appreciated!
The adventures of the past 3 months have been a good example of what I’ll continue to do. I volunteered with a family, dated a girl, made innumerable friends, found entropy, learned reggaeton bangers, scored epic waves, pushed my comfort zone, seriously studied Salsa, and notably improved my Spanish.
The adventures of the next 9 months will be different, but similar. Instead of surfing the Pacific coast of Mexico, I might go on a 4 day hiking trip in Guatemala, or work at a bar in Nicaragua. Instead of traveling with winking street performer Angel or dating future hostel owner Itzel, I’ll meet other cool people who will shape parts of the trip.
You get the idea. These 3 months have been a fair cross-section of the experience – feel free to extrapolate from here.
