Time to go again!

My time at home has coming to an end. On to the next adventure!! I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do such exciting things this year. If I had been accepted into the one Master's program I had applied to, I would be doing that right now! Everything happens for a reason I suppose. Sure, if I had been smarter, I would have applied to more than one school. But maybe part of me knew that there were other things to do this year besides going to school!!

While I was in the ashram doing the Yoga Teacher Training Course, I felt like that was exactly where I needed to be. The skills I learned in my TTC will be so useful to me over the rest of my life, and they will be more immediately put to use in my journeys through Central America. My "yoga of travel" includes:

1) Non-attachment to possessions : I packed a few days ago, but I am thinking of unpacking and eliminating 1/4 of what I have and then re-packing because I know I will be grateful to myself for packing a light backpack! But I have to also be prepared to lose things along the way. Of course I will take every precaution that this does not happen, and I shouldn't be overly preoccupied with this, but I need not hold on to everything with an iron grip. I only have two hands so thats a little tough anyway.

2) Non-attachment to plans : Not everything is going to go the way I plan. Its still worth making plans, but I have to be ok with them not always working out. It will be good for me to practice going with the flow, and to adapt, adjust, accomodate.

3) Maintain a practice : When you are traveling, every day is different. I think it will help me to stay grounded if I have some practices that are consistent every day, no matter where I am. Not that I will be able to do an hour and a half of yoga practice every day, but I can try for at least a couple rounds of sun salutations and 15 min of meditation.

4) Live in the present : Traveling is the best time to practice being present, because everything you do is new and different from what you did the day before. Especially backpacking and touring around, travel teaches you that it is about the journey, not the destination.

5) Practice loving kindness : When you travel you are always meeting new people, so its a great opportunity for me to practice seeing and honouring the divine in each person. I hope to volunteer as I travel around, but one thing I am cautious of is "volunteer" opportunities that really just take the foreign volunteer's money and gives them a warm fuzzy feeling in return for not doing much at all. So I will look around for better opportunities. I am aware the "eco-tourism" in Central America is sometimes not as environmentally-friendly as it sounds, so loving kindness also applies to the activities I undertake in my travels, loving and respecting the land and the people who make their living off of it.

I have collected a range of tips from friends who have traveled through this area, but I am always looking for more suggestions so if you have any, let me know! Also, if any of my TTC classmates have other reflections on yogic travel, please share!!

Adventure Plans for 2014

If you are on this blog, you probably have some idea of who I am and what I am doing over the next 5-6 months. First, I am going to the Sivananda yoga ashram in Nassau, Bahamas. I will be there until February 5, when I will return home to Canada all blissed-out (and tan). 

Two short weeks later (Feb 18), I will be flying out again to Mexico. From there I will begin my journey south through Central America. I have been busy reading guidebooks and establishing a route. You can see it if you click the link on the right 'Central America Travels Map' or get to it here. 

I have figured out how to get an icloud photostream album set up. This way, any pictures that I take will automatically be uploaded when I am connected to wifi. You can get to this album by the link on the right 'Kelly's rogue adventures photostream' or here is the link. Hopefully the wifi connections will be strong enough for this to work... Right now it has some beautiful pictures of my sister that I just discovered on my ipad. Don't worry Kendra, I will take these down. Soon.

I will also be updating the section in the footer of this blog titled "Stay Tuned For" with my future plans as they are established. Right now, my general plans for my Central America backpacking trip are as follows: 

Feb 18: Fly to Cancun  
End of February: Mexico (Tulum) 
Early March: Belize, for Caribbean cayes ('keys'), and the western jungles and caves 
March: Antigua, Guatemala for spanish classes 
Early April: Honduras - Bay Islands for scuba diving 
April: Pacific coast of Nicaragua for surfing & volunteering 
May: Costa rica, for everything there is to do in Costa Rica
June: Panama, flight home in early June from Panama City 

For my friends and family reading this blog, if you would like to join me on any portion of my trip, please let me know! I am kind of nervous about traveling alone, so it would be great to have someone to share these awesome experiences with!!!