The middle way - or how we decided to move to the jungle
by GirlPlusTwo

It all started almost five years ago. Newly pregnant and stuck on a deserted island, not trapped but by choice, on a vacation of sorts. We made friends in candlelight, the electricity on the island shut down at dark and the only place to go was the common room of the guesthouse. They were there with a deck of cards and we had a flashlight and we played games late into the night.

They suggested we go western into the jungle, a route we'd not planned on taking. Go, they said. You won't regret it. Just go. Call it traveler's karma, but when you hear the call you listen and the next day we headed west. We arrived after a long and dusty bus ride in a small town and from there headed up to a small village in the jungle. Our plan to stay one night evolved into a week and as we sat in the dark with the pulsating sounds of night creatures all around us we started talking. What if we, could we possibly, how would we.....and by the time we left we'd made a decision. We decided to do whatever it takes to move back to this place.

It sounds crazy, but as the years progressed and we returned a number of times our decision never wavered. When the time was right we were going to leave everything we knew about our lives so far and see about carving out a life in this place. In the last five years we've visited several times, including a month on maternity leave. We bought two acres of land from a collectivo driver we'd met on one of our trips and later found a place nearby to rent. We've paid off all of our debt and saved some money and are in the process of selling everything we own. We've both quit our jobs and all the security that goes with it. And next month we are moving to Central America.

The main question I am asked is why. Why would we want to leave a relatively comfortable existence and move our family out of the country, facing uncertainties around every corner from health care to employment to isolation. I always nod my head in agreement because I know this is crazy. I hear what you are saying and I agree. But I know we are doing something unique, that we are onto something here. And I know it's hard to understand why.

We are moving because we want our daughter to experience life outside the USA. We want her to learn more than one language and see that life is more than what you can easily buy off a shelf in a store shaped like a box. We want to teach ourselves to grow our own food and to live more sustainably. We want to put our years of domestic poverty work into use in an international setting. We want to get off the production and consumption treadmill. We want to raise chickens and see more of the world. We want to challenge ourselves to live more fully in the moment and seize life for the gift that it is, a grand adventure filled with peaks and valleys and also dirt and quiet and fear and heat. We want to see who we are and who we might become in a place that will shake us up and hopefully also hold us close.

So we are nearly off, but between now and then we've got a house to empty and belongings to sell. We need to buy some mosquito netting and consult a map. Because five years after we got off the deserted island the dreams and plans have collided with the truth. We are moving to the jungle and we have only the tiniest of safety nets beneath us.

Related links: Flights of whimsy in a recession heavy world

Snippets IV: Life and Death

My trip to China

 

 

Submitted by GirlPlusTwo (view blog) on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 8:22am

Comments

 

Wow!

 

Congratulations! I understand the impulse, but haven't the means or the guts. Hope you'll keep writing about it.

- Lisse

@ Home in the World: International Adoption and Other Travels

Submitted by Lisse on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 12:37
 

thanks!

Lisse,

thanks!  I will definitely keep writing about it - both here and at my own blog.   

Submitted by GirlPlusTwo on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 12:57
 

Good Luck!

You are a brave and wonderful woman and it has been my honor to get to know you. I can't wait to see how your adventure unfolds.

xo

Submitted by PunditMom on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 13:46
 

I can't believe it's almost

I can't believe it's almost here. I'm in awe of your commitment to do this for your family and I look forward to following the parts of your journey that you choose to share. If you ever want to swap chicken-raising tips, you know where to find me. ;)We're upping our backyard flock to four in the spring. Baby steps...

My best to you all!

Submitted by threeandholding on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 13:50
 

absolutely awesome

This is exactly what my husband and I talk about doing, getting back to the land, but are no where near doing.  I'm so happy that someone as great as you is getting to do just that.  I look forward to the updates.  Happy New Year and 2009 is going to be amazing for you.

Submitted by Motherbumper on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 16:27
 

I'm smiling

I love reading your reflections on the move and am very excited for you!

Submitted by Deezee on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 17:02
 

It's so exciting

I'm so excited for you, and honored to be one of many witnesses to your big adventure as you write about it here and on your blog.

 

Tiny Mantras
http://tzt.blogspot.com

Writearm
http://www.writearm.com

Submitted by tzt on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 18:43
 

A fantastic plan

Sounds like you have made good plans and know what direction you want to take in your llife. good luck, I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing. 

Read the latest at http://fabgrandma.blogspot.com/

Submitted by FabGrandma on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 19:01
 

all of you

thanks ladies...i expect I'll be asking a lot of advice...help about chickens, canning, etc...am glad to know I have a community to go to even if it's all over the world.  and y'all always have a vacation spot!

Submitted by GirlPlusTwo on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 19:51
 

Wow!

I'm so impressed.  It's the sort of thing I wish I had the guts to do, but I don't.  Especially with a kid.  I'll be reading along. :-)

~ Amber

www.strocel.com

Submitted by AmberS on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:10
 

:)

 

And I will say, once again, how amazing it is you guys are doing this and G and I sit here cheering y'all on and have just begun talking about dates to come visit. xo

 

www.defiant-muse.blogspot.com

 

Submitted by Defiantmuse on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 08:45
 

so happy for you

Even though there is uncertainty your writing tells me you're very sure that you're doing the right thing for you and your family.  Everything happens for a reason, just remember.  Can't wait to read more...=)

Submitted by findingatman on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 18:45
 

Queen of the world

 Oh what a life you'll give her. Have given her. Are giving her.

xo 

Amanda

http://lifewithbriar.blogspot.com

http://toddlywinks.blogspot.com

Submitted by mama2bna on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 08:26
 

I don't know if I'd have

I don't know if I'd have enough courage to start such an adventure, but I sure love reading about your move.  :)

Submitted by Dana J. Tuszke on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 11:37
 

Still Distracted

I know you already know this but I admire you so much. 
So much.

Maggie, Dammit!

http://okayfinedammit.com

Submitted by maggiesnow on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 11:53
 

It's a Fake Existence Though

You say you'll continue to blog about your life, meaning that you'll have access to the net, which is something that 80% of your neighbors likely won't have.

 I guess you're not trying to be authentic, but I've been there: We own a family home in Central America and solely by virtue of even knowing how to consult the net for anything, we've already placed ourselves far outside the "reality" of our neighbors. It's basically "playing house."

My kids know about want, and know a second language due to this second home, they know what it's like to shower inconsistently in cold water with tarantulas in the backyard and eat chickens killed fresh. They know how very lucky they are t o live in America.

Your neighbors will have a very hard time taking you seriously- do you know what there brothers and fathers have risked- stowing to the US on steel train tops in below freezing mountain temps to get to the border and send money back? And here you come, out of America, CHOOSING their life like it's a game? What a joke! How nice it must be to choose back and forth, to be able to give up everyhting as play while their men die in a risk to send back 100 bucks a month. You've obviously talked to no one but privelaged americans about this.

Your intentions are honorary, but you are making play at the lifestyle of someone else and swapping lives like it's a GOOD choice to live how they live, when they would give their left thumb (or, in their men's cases, their LIMBS) to have your life!

 

Submitted by SoCat on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 18:45
 

SoCat

I hear you. It's one of the things we wrestle with too - how lame it is to do this when so many people would give anything to change places and the priviledge that comes from that.  Interestingly enough, quite a few of our neighbors do have internet, and not just the expats, but that's just splitting hairs.  I appreciate you sharing your thoughts - I've spent the last decade working amongst our society's poorest families, I know firsthand domestic poverty and know it doesn't compare but it's offered me a wealth of practical knowledge on how to accomplish much from nothing.  So we going into this with not only a selfish desire but also with the goal of assisting in development efforts regionally so that we can do what we can there too.  

Submitted by GirlPlusTwo on Sun, 01/04/2009 - 16:12
 

well hello there!  love

well hello there!  love seeing your picture.

 this is great, and congrats on the gig here, and dude, anyone who knows anything about you knows that you are not "playing house" and that you're fully aware of the dichotomy of what you're doing.

 brava.

Submitted by Painted Maypole on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:11