Tag: Guatemala

Rather Than

September 30, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

Tossing around stories with friends for Happy Hour or during dinner following all too familiar office politics, I kept an optimism that maybe countered the arbitrary criticisms leveled from my boss. Maybe the natural optimism came from a young lifetime of hoping and daydreaming.

I always felt like there was more to everything, so much more to come. Maybe all the books and novels in my arsenal did that too. After the fairytales, into the stories, through the essays and falling out of the plays, there was some underlying promise of relief, release. Good times. Deep laughs. Good meals. A dive into all that my senses could soak up was my trained escape from a heavy day. A lot of goodness could be outlined by the security and fun I had in a childhood of fun with siblings and a family I could trust with my quirkiness and true thoughts. My already fantasizing mind was filled with optimism to counter my criticisms. My backdrop of support, affection and progress stood up to bad experiences and mistreatment.

This was the norm I became increasingly aware of when I embarked on my own, from large campus and graduate from The Ohio State University to eventual work life in DC . I was pretty excited about both. Work became increasingly less exciting, however. I know there is something more.

Turns out a lot of work holds space for office politics and underpayment. I saw this come about even if it was not already present and it didn’t seem to be so bad. It hurt my boss’s mind that I could be discredited and only be temporarily discouraged and angry. I knew that my progress and sustainability really was based on the need to be okay and the hope that my good times would visit me again and again. My dreams had shown themselves to be kind to my reality, so I swallowed a lot of the work stress.

Even just letting the workday wash away from me in my apartment after work or at the gym was a lot to start to let go. Eventually, I wanted more. I needed more freedom while I also worked on doing something meaningful.

Stretching out on the sofa or cuddling into my armchair, eating my favorite meals, I got to relax maybe just for the evening or for two whole days before Sunday dread and Monday morning. Everyone at work looked forward to Friday, a telling tale of this not being the ideal environment or way we would prefer to spend our time, although there were varying levels of getting into the activities of the job. I would not mind and enjoy some parts, while dreading other aspects of my work. Is it just natural?

I could no longer do it. I needed to go away for a while, maybe forever and I found myself back in San Juan, then Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama City. I needed to take these trips again, away from the toxic work environment, working on my own to get back to myself and not fighting through infringing work ideas but rather more of me, getting to know me and focus on me, being independent, working on my own, being my daydream.

Level

June 30, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

I am just in transit. I am excited to go back to the US for a while to carry back more of what I have learned and to simply be, back where I am from.

I will keep you posted or mention some things here and there. I plan on keeping my good memories but also on accepting my need for more or to be better while also regrouping. I am surprisingly relieved to be without my duffel bag upon return which is incredibly weird because it was taken and an integral loss as well. Yet, I feel much lighter and reflective thinking about what I did salvage in my little purple suitcase, still with me and which still rolled steadily along with me during my last days in South America, Central America and Mexico (the duffel was at least still in my accommodations up to the last couple days, as well). My purple maleta is still here and also excited to visit her girl’s roots as well.

I do want to hit every continent. We will see. I always think that. Nothing wrong with going with a natural flow and nothing wrong with trying out new plans and new dreams and especially finding out they have already been very much a part of the former life I had led. I did say I would go back to Guatemala. I did say I truly want to be with friends and family as well, and perhaps a growing family). We will see, maybe even figure some things out.

Telling Time

May 31, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

I plan to go back to Guatemala.

Although, I left the country for Mexico about a month ago and I really enjoy myself here, the Central American country stays on my mind. 15 days was not enough to do all I wanted to do, which also would include a lot of days, just being there not having to do anything, freelance work or otherwise. The capital city specifically lingers with me, and I just want to linger there.

Can a person instantly adopt another comfort zone? Is it possible for a person to feel like she stands out while feeling welcomed at the same time? Yes. Apparently. Both.

People were not too prying, just nicely curious and not so much in circumstances where you are also just a passer-by, a shopper, dining in, strolling. They are just notably kind and receiving.

Being a nomad in a lot of Latin America has generally felt similar, mixed with hanging out with travelers and locals between work and volunteering and my own preferred sight-seeing.

I cannot detach myself from the high relaxed vibe I feel wandering around Guatemala City (Ciudad de Guatemala) for a couple of hours, working from a coffee shop and even exchanging pleasantries and jokes in the grocery store. I can easily get used to working from this capital city, and of course, you know, I am already more than okay with not having a boss. Just mere deadlines.

I love the city of people who are native to the place. I loved how accessible many of the stores and restaurants were to my neighborhood. I was in Zone 1, but in consideration of Zone 4 for next time. I enjoyed hanging out there. I Ubered to Zone 9, to a more touristy area one day and loved that it still wasn’t touristy, just ritzier. Btw, the flirtation is welcome as well.😉

Most likely, I see myself returning to Guatemala City. It was the sleeper hit I was not expecting because I really enjoyed Panama and Colombia among new places I had never been as well as my familiar Peru where I have been planning to stay.

I simply did not know what to expect from a city and country I had not yet considered among the stops. I had heard good things on YouTube mainly. The visitors were not wrong, and I now have more of a sense of how stress-free and productive I could be there.

I still must be vigilant, especially now as a solo traveler. I remind myself to be discerning and I guess at my more mature age and with more experience,  I enjoy myself while deferring to my instincts. Even being somewhere twice now, like Colombia, I have faced a familiar scam of being overcharged.

Yet again, Guatemala? There is so much more to eat (both cooking at home and eating out). There is a lot more ideal weather to sit in. There are more libations and cappuccinos to sip on, and I need a lot more time to hang out with the local people and expats.

I may not go back immediately but, as I mentioned, I am quite enjoying myself in Mexico again. I just got back to my accommodations from VEGAMO restaurant in Mexico City and once again, I am just reminded of all the unique places, hospitality and conversations each country has to offer. This is my first time in the capital, and I want to stay at least a third of the time I stayed in Merida. Time to take my time.