The Peruvian Adventure, Part 7: What I learned

There is nothing particularly neat or tidy about my trip to Peru.

One week since returning to Boston and slowly getting my life, sleep, and digestion back in order, I feel as if I am still recovering from the whole trip. I’ve finally distributed all the souvenirs and folded all the laundry, but I haven’t fully processed all the stories that I have written about here — and other memories that will stay in the journal I kept throughout the trip or that otherwise elude words.

But to wrap it all up — for now — this is what I learned from almost two weeks of of travel in Peru:

1. On trust: I had to trust the car would show up at the airport in Cuzco, even though I was one day late arriving to the city. I had to trust that the driver wouldn’t abandon me in his card or at my hotel in Cuzco and that the shuttles would actually get me to and from the wedding. I had to trust that I was going to get home, eventually. I’m generally of putting my trust into the unknown, but in many cases on this trip, didn’t have a choice but to embrace uncertainty and make the best of things.
2. On the importance placed across different cultures on “seeing the world”: The Swedish, Norwegian, Canadian, British, and Irish folks on this trip all were traveling for 7 weeks, where I was just there for 7 days. I don’t think I could imagine myself doing such a long trip and don’t think I’d be able to convince an American boss to let me go on a trip that long even if I wanted to.
3. On my Spanish: The quality of my Spanish, while depreciated, allowed me to be understood, even if my accent was horrible. Gracias, Sra. Kanter.
4. On my MBA: People like David — and my friend Silvana, who was supposed to be in Peru, but happened to be in Boston at the time I was traveling — remind me that the kindness of Sloanies extends far beyond the Sloan buildings in Cambridge and that the value of my MBA, 2 years later, is priceless.
5. On my childhood friends: When you take care of friends, they take care of you. Ashley, I’m so grateful for you. Thank you for putting a roof over mine and Amanda’s (at the time) very dirty heads. Consider me on-call from Boston for your wedding.
6. On roommates: The speed with which shared experiences can bond complete strangers, especially my roommates, Celia and Amanda, is incredible. I couldn’t have done this trip without you and you both give me a reason to look back on this trip fondly.
7. On Machu Picchu: This is the closest I’ve felt in a long time to something divine. Machu Picchu’s magnitude inspires reverence. I’ll never forget the feeling of seeing it, after days of hiking, through the clouds for the very first time.
8. On Chase Sapphire Reserve: This is the best credit card I have ever had. The Priority Pass lounges and hotel in Lima, booked with points, were among the saving graces of my trip.
9. On ATM machines: Don’t take ripped bills to foreign countries where counterfeit currency is a serious enough problem that you can’t exchange even slightly-damaged bills.
10. On American plumbing: I have a heightened appreciation for toilets and toilet paper since returning to the US. The next plumber I meet is getting a huge hug from me. I’ll know things have gotten back to normal for me in when I don’t go to a restaurant and think, “I should save this thick napkin from dinner for later when I need to use it in a toilet on the next leg of the Inca Trail.”
11. On travel: I need to figure out my next trip. Next time, not during Boston winter. Next time, with less time spent in transit. Next time, likely to a country with more infrastructure and clean tap water. Possibly, next time, with a good friend in tow.
12. On love: I’m not totally healed from the most recent heartbreak and the trip that I thought would be my way of getting space and perspective gave me a little too much time to analyze and reflect (especially being in the company of five couples on the Inca Trail and surrounded by couples to celebrate a wedding). On the bright side, it shows me that what I had was something real and that I’m not closed off to feeling — I’m just working through it all. For now, the best I can do is put one foot in front of the other, like I did on the trek: finding the willingness to push on and continuing to move, even on the hardest days, and with courage and faith that there is something great and wondrous at the end of the long trail.
13. On writing: Keep doing it. Do more of it. Write the book already.

The most peaceful scene I’ll remember from the trip. Paracas at sunset. March 11, 2018