Sex, Travel and The Pandemic

Ecstasy, Volcano Eruptions, and The Mystery Virus

It was a long ride. An uncomfortably long ride. I sat in the front seat jammed in the middle of the van driver and a Chilean woman. I am sure you're wondering why a six-foot-five male was even allowed to sit in the middle front seat of a passenger van. Well, it was a carefully orchestrated plan between the Chilean woman and I who had decided that taking turns was the best idea for maximum comfort.... considering. And as the gentleman that I am, I opted to go first.

To put it bluntly, it was the worst few hours that my ass had ever experienced. What made matters even worse was just how incredibly bumpy and winding the route was.

There was even a point where the van had to drive through a rocky stream. I don't think my ass has ever forgiven me for that day.

I was able to take my mind off the journey by chatting with the Chilean woman next to me. She was an older woman, either in her early 40s or late 30s. However, she looked like she could have easily been in her early 20s. She was a spicy and energetic Latina and incredibly stunning. I could have only imagined how she looked when she was younger.

The Chilean woman's name was Rosita or something along those lines. She was quite talkative and energetic; did I mention energetic? How could a woman her age have this much vitality? She told me a lot about her life and how she ended up coming to Mexico. Sad to say, the conversation is now lost in time.

After a few hours of the long and ass-wrecking ride, we stopped out at a buffet restaurant in the middle of nowhere Mexico. I kissed the sun-drenched ground as I came out of the bus. There was no greater relief in life, comparable to a cold brew on a hot Mexican day.

It was during our time at the buffet restaurant that everyone on the bus really mingled with each other. We were the only people at the restaurant the entire time which could have been a little suspicious. What was such a restaurant doing in the middle of nowhere? It almost seemed like the restaurant was boxed up, placed on a truck, and transported to a random and deserted place for the purpose of feeding us weary travelers before being boxed up and transported again somewhere else to do the same service for some other famished and weary travelers. I didn't question it much since the food they had really did hit the spot. They had all manner of Mexican and Latin American food. Tacos, Milanesa de res, frijoles, arroz con leche and on and on.

It was all you can eat, and I definitely ate all I could. I felt like Naruto ravenously inhaling away at a bowl of ramen.

At the restaurant, everyone on the bus mixed and mingled with each other. I met almost everyone, all of us bonding over our shared hatred of the van ride.

It would not be an exaggeration for it to have been described as the world's smallest passenger van. It was a miracle we all even managed to fit into it with all our luggage.

There was one girl I had met on the van ride journey who really got my attention. If you were to ever picture the life of a real adventurer, she would be what would come to mind. She was a talkative young Swedish part Norwegian girl named Tina who left her home in Sweden to see the world and never go back. I think she's still traveling as we speak. Without much of a job, she used her savings to kick start her adventures, not looking back since. She found odd jobs here and there, stayed with friends, and used her general command of the Spanish language to weave her way around any obstacles. Her travel destinations consisted less of the highly desired touristy destinations and more of the roads less traveled, small towns and cities. Most of us on the van ride were heading towards the beautiful resort destination of Lake Atitlan. She, on the other hand, was on her way to a small Guatemalan city hours away from any tourist hotspots. She had left us somewhere along the trip while I was napping. I opened my eyes and looked back to find her seat empty. It wouldn't be the last time I saw her though. We would reunite weeks later and form a close bond in the Guatemalan city of Antigua.