Tag: South America

Far-reaching

January 26, 2026 by Cassandra Johnson
Feeling within the capacity to be strong enough
Knowing well the reserve of willingness and resilience
Feeling the mirage of perceived limitation
all the time, knowing the goals obtained. As well, projected.

I started talking to my new coach just one week ago and connecting with her again this week, I knew we were a good match. Being yourself without having to prove yourself is one of the nicest places to be.

Safe space lies in authentic encouragement and likewise, in the acknowledgment of skills and accomplishments. Being seen.

Being encouraged to continue to do work that aligns with my passions is satiating. I thank her for the tools to progress even further and to be kind with even the personally coping steps that landed at my past goals, just the same.

Interested in upcoming published work? Click here to add your email.

Unlocked

December 31, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

The stumbling blocks along  the path. Duly recognized.

No reason to be ashamed when what is true is that you made it through.

 A past survived. No need to let go when the world continues to hold on to you.

[May 2026 publications, additions]

Life lessons. Varying. Aptly recognized, I now have more information to take on my next project plus travel endeavors. Maybe there is an enhanced way to complete my translation, teach a student, and travel to South America? There may be parts I can skip altogether.

Without reinventing myself. I can embrace the highlights and the issues I have had to improve my steps and continue helping local and international communities.

Recognizable

October 28, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

It is nice to implement the resources I have and primarily, just to remind myself I have them.

The support has always been there. My family and friends want to see me win.

Mutually, we want to support each other’s journey. Beyond empathy, we want to see the joy we have along the way and alternately, that we can recover when necessary. Any nemeses and enemies of mine are a lesser challenge armed with them. On my worst day, I can now audaciously face the challenges against me, including the challenges of a system built up against us.

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.

Work Play

March 31, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

When I became friends with a woman in Bogota, Colombia from Mexico City a few weeks ago, I told her how I fell for Merida and Oaxaca, Mexico. She said I should visit Mexico City, the next time I am in Mexico. She extended her place to me if I do.

Her last night in Bogota, touring and my last night among several, we went out for what we said would just be one drink, her cerveza and my margarita. Whereas this story would mean it could have evolved into a longer outing as did some of my nights in Lima, Peru and Medellin, Colombia, I now spend so much more time freelance translating and doing my side hustles and not so secretly… not minding this fact at all, plus talking with her for hours in our hostel was a more cost-friendly highlight to me as well.

It is notable to mention how our drinks turned into one very economical Cola Pola and empanada each. I teased the server in Spanish saying I would have his free Margarita. (not really of course, and completing the aforementioned order above, before taking our seats).  We had easy fun, sharing our lives thus far in the time we had, and realizing we currently both work a lot and had not drank so much recently. In other words, our tolerance had lowered significantly, much to our tipsy, good-humored surprise.

As I would mention to her that I don’t have a boss, I got that she instantly got it, more than many who hear I have this project or translation to do and just consider work to be … very understandably, the drag it readily tends to be.

I also need distractions, varieties, rest and fun but notably, the accommodations and surroundings have become so much more conducive than my jump off digital work in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As I go back through Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. I am more apt at gauging when and how to be productive. Motivation is not fluid. I don’t pretend. I rough it sometimes too. I just know myself better.

Mostly, in this case, when I can gravitate towards something like a nice café, veggie-option restaurant, mall, coworking space or just across a kitchen table from someone like her, I am happy.

I am satisfied.

Yesterday’s Post: You can stay with me

You can stay with me

March 30, 2025 by Cassandra Johnson

Country to country. Now I enter the hostels and hotels expecting to meet travelers from all over the country I am visiting, and from any country.

Everyday life is different now. The funny thing is I am enjoying this but also looking forward to visiting home too. More ironic, I am a resident in name only, for I am officially traveling full time. Though my mission, this objective, has taken many deviations, I am still working to the same point. I want to travel and see a lot of the world as I dreamed about as a young girl while still, (from my latter goals) I want to live abroad for half of the year and back home for the other half. Getting to spend six months hanging out with friends and family is just as exciting as being a digital nomad for another part of the year *touring and hanging out in these places too. In fact, I want them to come with me and visit me often. Chris was part of it too.

My other normal began in 2010/2011 when I participated in Pisco Sin Fronteras and followed up with intermittent travel abroad to several other countries from the US on limited vacations. New normal is not bad in that I can now be away for such an extended period of time, but I am also reminded of the need for options. So I have a lot more work to do and per Doing A Thing, I am getting more done, welcoming a potential additional job while figuring out which climates and features suit me best for work and socializing. While Peru is my first choice, being in Colombia and other trips is informing me more. We will see.  I have a bit more work to do, in order to also spend a lot more time not doing so. 😉

Did I?

June 30, 2022 by Cassandra Johnson

Did I say goodbye to William properly? Parting sometimes had its challenges with the way we were moving in out of our own schedules and the schedules of the buses, flights and hikes we needed to make it to our next cities.

I had booked an abbreviated tour of Colca Canyon to his full day hike. I have a misty memory of it seeming way too early to say an official goodbye and when you hope to see people again in the next leg of your continental travel, goodbye gets even murkier. Many of us were not returning home just yet so couldn’t our paths continue to coincide. Feeling a bit of resistance to old routines and responsibilities, doing the work of giving our time to organizations continued to be more appealing.

We were equally reluctant when “see you later” was so much easier. Still knowing this might be the last time for then or for a long while, sunglasses doubled as protectants and a means to hide the abundant red eyes. One of the hardest times was leaving my first Peruvian home when the one exiting made their official goodbye speech during the regular weekday morning briefing.

We did our best, not too bad, treating the person to a special time maybe in the form of their favorite part of the city or their favorite local cuisine. Sandboarding was one goodbye and fortunately I did get to reconnect with those friends but there was always a worry.

I think the rub was not particularly always knowing how the next partition of travel would turn out, what days would correspond, where we would unwittingly linger, and where we would be mesmerized by more friends to add to the social media rolodex.

I think a lot of us must have worried if this would be the last time. Once the volunteering and backpacking was done, how often and how far would we be able to return. Staying in touch and follow up visits have not escaped us as much as we might have thought and the last time I made it all the way back to the very beginning of this adventure was not too long ago. I  think too long – but still a hopeful glimpse in how it can always be possible.

Sideways

June 29, 2022 by Cassandra Johnson

William seemed particularly obsessed with his book on traveling through South America on a shoestring budget. This struck me because the guide seemed more like what would be appealing to me, but I was not as moved.

Once I was all set finding a great deal for a flight and lodging to my first South American country, I was considerably satisfied.

This is not to suggest I no longer get hyped for great bargains. I just consequently found I do not mind some spending room as well, especially when the service or product is well worth the marked or bartered price and let’s say it is not: I can only work with what I know and forget about driving myself crazy otherwise.

Priceless is also not just a cliché. The dividends I’ve gained in relationships and generally living abroad are nothing to which I could ever assign money.

His book was intriguing to me however, but before knowing him, I turned my attention to National Geographic and/or Lonely Planet and my beginner travel guides turned from easy accessories into their own kind of mementos. After consulting one or the other before heading out to covertly or not so covertly, (depending), examine them during my stays, they became a reminder of the experiences, getting to be a weathered reminder of the physicality of actually getting to be there.

Fortunately, William came to be interested in my National Geographic Peru edition too. I had it pretty much tucked away during my disaster relief efforts, where I met him, where he asked at the time when I was I was coincidentally leaving for Arequipa, why not go together.

I was learning firsthand about the city and my nearby areas, including the scenic routes and getaways, I was flipping through the guide again now that we found ourselves in Arequipa. I was looking at him a little sideways when every place we ate had to be a good deal. I wanted him to be careful. I wanted him to know there is a lot of good cheap food but some days, sometimes, food and other deals are hit or miss. Plus, I give him credit, he did not mind spending on official tours and hiking. Maybe I could ease up😊 but I kind of liked teasing him.

I knew spending just a little more in addition to some pampering and splurging had its place too, especially now that we were taking a bit of a break from roughing it. (We were not always roughing it, of course) Social life was still good, chill, relaxing, exuberant, saying more about what we actually needed to have a good time and even before leaving for this trip and being with the rest of the group, there was sitting by the pool at a nearby resort, walking by the nearby ocean in our own city, a trip to the central market, pasta dinner and ice cream by the sand dunes. Pisco sours at the local bar. Luxuriating is also therapy. Perhaps, I could convince him. Perhaps, we were afforded even more of a thrill now for not always having it and following long days of work. For now, I would need both my deals and my excess.

By chance

April 30, 2022 by Cassandra Johnson

Kat said I should stay in the room with fewer people. (At this time in our life, fewer people meant 4) The thought seems so funny now. What seems so small when I look around my spacious apartment today was suddenly luxury in contrast to the other rooms available.

Back then, I grew accustomed to situations that were mainly just housing/homes in the midst of a lot of outside activity. There were hostels with just enough room and shared bathrooms and shared responsibilities and maybe circumstances did not matter so much then because we were younger (not necessarily young, some of us but not all, but just being younger in general) and maybe because we knew how fortunate we were to be in a situation where we could help others, maybe because this was temporary, and maybe just because we were on a mission. We could forget luxuries and space and privacy we had left in our originating homes.

Instant acceptance and understanding came through just Kat’s messages alone before we got to this in-person decision. Much more than the instant relief we were receiving from being impromptu traveling companions, I knew she was more than cool and gracious in the current goals we shared, and in our breaks (her from school life and me from work), we wanted to do something else that we felt needed to be done. We opened ourselves up to learning more about this region and naturally ourselves. Neither of us had a background in construction but were afforded the opportunity to be around a few people who happened to have this and to use our own unique skills and training in various ways.

I took her up on the room offering. The vacancies were proposed to us at the same time and her perspective made sense. Our first night was spent in a temporary space at a nearby hostel and there was even less room there. Yet, our hosts were gracious and sweet. We were happy to be safe and warm after a stiff bus trip. During that night, we had walked back over to hang out with the rest of the volunteers in the main house (more in Pleasantly Confused). We were surprised, we did not even need to meet the expectation we had to grow into our initial condensed space. We were quickly given the options of the proposed four-person room and her more occupied one just one day later.

She would be there for a few weeks to my intended six months although now I know I would be fine in a number of spaces, either way. In so many ways, I would be okay in a number of spaces and a bit stronger for being open to what was offered. What I saw was not always pleasant but added to my disposition and a lot was indeed beautiful. Kat had coincidentally helped me to the best place for me at the time, to one of my closest friends, who I will always adore.

I could have automatically disregarded my own comfort (as I sometimes tend to gravitate) and there may have been a different story and an opportunity missed but I was learning to take care of myself a little better while taking care of others. We need to be able to do both.

You May Go Home Again

AUGUST 29, 2019 BY CASSANDRA JOHNSON

You may always go home again. Yes. Despite the near contrary expression, I believe this to be true. Whether it be your home away from home, where you were born and raised, or just where you feel most yourself.

9 years after volunteering in Pisco, Peru, I was there again and welcomed with open arms by people I knew and to whom I’ve remained connected. I was welcomed by new “curious friendly” * stares as well. Truthfully, the latter was just as reminiscent of the comfort I found my first time in South America overall. I won’t say all is rosy, but the overwhelming majority of experiences are very receptive ones.

As I also travel back to Ohio to visit, I know going home to family is solely being wherever they have landed. You can always go home to family, to the loved ones that love you, no matter where they may be. The affection is multiplied by my brothers’ welcomes and from the extended family through them.

Changes, in my perspective, only reside in how we should grow. We should not want to be the same. We should want every day to be wiser and more comfortable in our own skin, but we can also know the significance of homes as foundations that can help us grow. Also, true for our passions. We can tell where we feel the most at home by what makes us come alive. Where we find our heart with people and energy is where we find our home and we should always be traveling there.

*Benny from fluent in 3 months

The curious friendly stares he describes are a good description of some nice experiences when abroad

Photo Credit: Pete Linforth on pixabay.com