On the road in La Repubblica Dominicana

Traveling on the cheap is a practice in patience. I write this while waiting for a little shack to open up so that I can figure out if, when & how I will get to the lodge i am supposed to arrive at this afternoon. Rancho Wendy had a pretty professional looking website; written in proper English; with detailed directions on how to reach from all major city centers in the Dominican. And yet, the guy behind the counter keeps insisting that none of the Caribe Tours bus lines stop at my destination. Thankfully, he offers an alternative-Transporto del Cibao; which is actually little more than a piece of plywood sticking out of a doorway...oh & they don't open until noon and it's 10:15. Much of travel is waiting. My entire day so far was waiting. Woke up, got ready. Waited for the other girls to wake; waited for breakfast; waited for my taxi; waited for my turn at the counter and now waiting for the next office to open. Most of life is spent that way and not just on the small things. As kids we wait to grow up and as adults we wait for those accomplishments that we yearn for: job, house, marriage, kids. Ultimately we grow old and wait some more for our final destination; whatever we believe that do be. What happens in between the destinations is the meaty part of living. We always feel like we need to be doing. So we listen to music, read a book, write a blog post; anything to keep us from just existing in a place with no purpose outside of waiting; of just being in a moment. The simplest thing- Do nothing. Just be here.-is the biggest challenge in life. But this trip is about meeting those challenges. So I will log off and just be and experience the heat that threatens to overwhelm me; the creeping anxiety of not knowing exactly what I'm doing; the nervousness of being alone in a foreign place and the thrill of feeling that spark of adventure.

Below: The bus "office"in Santiago; in the bus-chickens in a pillowcase; mosaic street art in Santiago,sun setting over the mountains at Rancho Wendy.