Finally we got to Guatemala!! :D One and a half days after what was initially predicted we landed on this green land. Too bad our bags couldn't share the same enthusiasm!
After the stop in Houston we got to the baggage carousel too late and our bags were already gone. As we were assured that they would be checked-in with us in the morning flight we went to our Hotel with no worries on our minds. And it actually felt quite good not to carry them everywhere around! I think I thought for a second that it would be good to have that feeling for a bit more time! Maybe someone was paying too much attention to me!
When we got to the baggage carousel in Guatemala we waited and waited and waited until all the bags we could see on the carousel had passed by us 4 or 5 times. Post claim and another assurance that it would come in the next flight that would arrive that night to Guatemala City. "It must have been something about the time of the flights" I thought. I now recognize that I was in the first stage of loss, Denial! In the mean time, on our multiple calls to the bag tracking service of United we were assured several times that the bag would come on the next flight and at some point they even told us that it was already in transit and that the bag would be delivered to us in under 12 hours. As you can guess by the title of this post, they didn't arrive! In these calls I went through all the other stages of loss, Barganing, Anger, Depression and I think I have just reached Acceptance!
At this point you might think "But they still had their carry-on luggage, right?" Yes, that is completely true! Besides the clothes we were wearing we still had this:
It was more than nothing, but not much more than that! No extra clothes at all, no toiletries at all! I even forgot to take my camera out of the backpack which I always take with me on the plane! At least we still had the tablet (that I am using right now) :)!
So, coming back to the title of this post, how do you actually survive with so little so far away from home? Well, with a bit of flexibility, a bit of extra-shopping in local shops that might not have exactly what you are used to, the kindness of strangers and a free spirit to enjoy the non-materialistic side of life :)! A change of clothes and essential toiletry were our first priority and so far, we haven't bought much else. When we buy things like a small bag we tell our story and people smile in desbelief because they think we are only saying that to get a better deal (of course we kind of use our story for that as well ;)). But neither of them believe that what we are carrying with us is actually all we have! Sometimes I can't believe it myself!! But the truth is that some things are much easier this way! Going on a chicken bus we don't have to worry for putting our bag on top of the bus, it is much easier to pack things when we want to move and, of course, we don't walk around with a huge backpack around!
Of course we do have to launder our clothes nearly every day, buy a few things almost everyday as they are needed and the photos... I really miss my camera!! Oh well! Thankfully, mobile phones are now much more than just a device to actually call someone! :)
This is really another level of travelling that I was not planning to have but that it is quite interesting as well. And a large life lesson! And what a way of commemorating the 50th post of this blog!!
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