I Miss Sweating

I actually miss the intense humidity of Tikal, Guatemala. I traveled there for my May Term in May 2017. We mainly stayed in Antigua, but over the course of one weekend, we flew to the jungle of Tikal and stayed in gorgeous huts around a glamorous pool.

The only downside at the time, was how much walking outside for a simple two minutes made you sweat. The amount of perspiration that accumulated on the body in such a short time was chaotic.

Don't get me wrong though. We all complained about the heat, but none of us took refuge in our air conditioned shelters. Instead, we sat around the pool and stared up at the tall, tropical trees that were filled with a plethora of colorful birds and interesting little mammals.

Our hike into the jungle, on a journey to explore the high Mayan pyramids, lasted four hours. So you can imagine just how much we were all sweating. But it was hard to focus on that when our surroundings were so eye-catching. We even got to seek out two parties of howling monkeys scream at each other.

When we found the pyramids, we were granted the chance to climb to the top of the tallest one. The image above is the picture I took when I sat on the highest temple's stairs. We weren't allowed to go inside, but sitting there was enough.

Those trees were enormous- let me remind you. But we looked over them and peered into the depths of the sky. My photo was taken just before the sun began to really set. But we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of the sunset before making our two hour trek back.

My only regret is that I didn't go with any family or loved ones. But traveling alone did help me find a sense of independence that I had long needed to dig up. Traveling alone, through the jungles and volcanoes and mountains and shores really gave me a sense of strength I never before had.

I miss flying from place to place. I never minded being in an airport alone. I felt tall and strong and capable.

I miss the outdoors and the heat. I miss going on runs through the outdoors. I hate treadmills. Staring at nothing just doesn't make up for the effort. Perhaps that's not a good reason but, I miss running outdoors. I miss exploring outdoors. I miss being out, apart of the more beautiful side of nature.