A nice shuttle service in Guatemala

My second good surprise was that the shuttle service called Road Runner – keep this name for your next trip in Guatemala – was way better than what I had experienced before. The minibus was very comfortable, with AC, I had something to lean my head on, seat belts and the drive was very smooth.

The bus driver, who wasn’t very talkative and only laughed when he saw us running back to the car like goats under the heavy summer rain, somehow gave me a few looks on the side. He was wondering what I was doing.

As a highly sensitive person, I sometimes deal with overwhelm in feelings and sensations, especially when I’m transitioning from one adventure to another. So what do I do in this case?

I don’t smoke, do drugs, vape or sniff haha!! Or yes, maybe I do sniff but something very healthy! I inhale essential oils along the way as it really helps me travel. It makes me breathe deeper and the plant’s perfumes relieve all my stress.

After a few hours on the road, the driver dropped me right in front of the Boutique Hostel I had booked, on a sandy road, and I instantly felt relaxed in the place.

Forget rolling suitcases if you head to Guatemala, take a backpack. Because there are plenty of places where you cannot roll anything.

Travel tip

Transitioning from the Forest to the Beach

After sleeping with ants and spiders in the forest on top of Lake Atitlan for two weeks (read the last episode here), I was dreaming of a return to a higher standard of living, closer to the comfort I’m used to as a European.

As adventurous as we can be, when we’ve grown up being used to a certain standard of living, it’s hard to move backwards. As spiritual beings, it’s also good to know that we are designed to head towards more comfort and happiness so it’s perfectly normal to feel a disease when we lose some of that. The sensation is just here to protect us and point to us that we should move towards a more comfortable direction.

Before being able to fully enjoy my stay at Caracola, I realized I needed a few more minutes of adaptation. I wanted to use my flip flops to go straight to the swimming pool when I saw they were covered with mud haha!! 🙂

As it rained heavily in the forest on my last days at the retreat center, the soil was very sticky. So I quickly (and discreetly) cleaned them up in order to be able to show up as a decent guest and that little transition made me laugh. It’s so much fun to experience jumping from one world to another in just a few hours.

Where Local Culture meets Comfort

Caracola Boutique Hotel offered me that perfect little comfy nest I was in need for. I value a lot their initiative because while bringing a lot of comfort and cleanliness, it is still very affordable, which is exactly what the worldwide travelers community needs.

I also loved its architecture very much – I was so amazed by the design! Brenda, a friend from Antigua recommended this place to me for that reason and I understood why. It was made by a Guatemalan architect called GRIS. Look at the pictures to see how pretty and rooted in the local culture this place is.

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I first met Susan and loved her outfit. She was wearing a yellow baining suit and an elegant transparent skirt that gave me the tone of my stay: it was going to be chilled, relaxed and I was so ready for that!

I spent a lot of time in their round fresh pool, letting the sound of the fountain rock me. This very meditative spot made me feel I could let myself go and reflect on my one year of solo traveling that I was just completing, El Paredon being my last adventure before going back to France after 12 months abroad.

Cocori – A big Pool & a Friendly restaurant

Solo traveling doesn’t mean lonely

All my evenings at Cocori‘s restaurant were punctuated by nice encounters. I got offered drinks and several people came to me to share nice conversations or invite me to join their group of friends.

Two girls from Guatemala also gave me their contacts to invite me as a guest in their homes next time I travel to Guatemala. While savoring the best fish tacos I’ve ever had, I wondered what more could I ask for…

Entrepreneurship for Positive Social Impact

I had a chance to meet with the founders of Caracola and Cocori and found they were a great example of entrepreneurship with a sincere concern to have a Positive Social Impact. The partners were initially surfing friends who decided they wanted to offer El Paredon a nice hotel and living space for surfers and travelers.

Their start-up adventure only started six years ago and they went from renting the place to buying it and from hosting 20 people to a capacity of a hundred. Then they went from building Cocori to having a second hostel called Caracola and now they are working on a new one.

What touched my heart is that in spite of their busy schedules, they decided to invest time and energy in sustainability. To make sure they give back to the community, they meet every month to think all together about how they want to develop a Sustainable El Paredon.

Developing tourism yes! But there’s a respectful and intelligent way to do it. Considering locals and helping the whole community benefit from the riches tourists bring should always be a top priority.

The association Sustainable El Paredon (check their website) invests part of their benefits in leveling up:

• the cleanliness of the village, installing trash cans everywhere,
• they also support education in the village by paying local teachers as the government doesn’t support local communities in Guatemala,
• and they increase the safety of the area by paying lifeguards at the beach.

As Europeans, we have to understand that the public space the way we know it doesn’t exist everywhere. So entrepreneurs forming associations to regulate the touristic and economic growth in countries where the government does not invest in building public infrastructures is crucial.

Fun facts

Now before I let you go, let me share a story that’s happened to me there.

I must admit that I made one of the biggest beginner’s mistake a tourist could make in El Paredon and I want to share it with you 🙂

After walking barefoot most of the time at the retreat center, which is a very healthy practice I enjoy, I thought I could take on the same habits at the beach and I started to go from the hostel to the beach without even taking my shoes.

But guess what?

El Paredon is a black sand beach and when the sun is out, it becomes boiling hot!!

So I ended up stuck on a side of the pathway, unable to get back to the hotel!! The burning feeling under my feet was so unbearable that it was making me feel dizzy. So I stopped, planted my feet on a little plant and waited there. After a few minutes, a blond girl showed up as my savior. I asked her if she could lend me her flip flops for me to be able to return to the hotel.

She was so nice and she surprised me when she said: “I can carry you”.
I said: “Are you sure?”
She said: “Yes, I’m very strong.”
And she definitely was, as while climbing on her back, I felt like a little feather.
She carried me back to the hotel so I finally made it.

I was very grateful to her but also a bit embarrassed of my mistake that amused the bar tenders very much 😉

As you travel the world, after one year of solo traveling, my message is that every step of the way, for every issue you will encounter, there will be a beautiful soul who will come to help you.

Traveling can truly restore your faith in humanity.

With Love & Adventures,

Emi

A little joke before I leave you for good! 🙂

Live life laughing!! 🙂