Traveling to foreign places is not only a great opportunity to explore and learn about other cultures, it is also a time to learn about yourself and how you deal with places, people and situations as a stranger in a foreign land. A recent trip to the Oaxacan coast provided plenty of opportunity to learn about other people - or at least make assumptions and fabricate entire storylines about unsuspecting passersbys - and time for self reflection as well.
Prior to this trip, I had been experiencing a good deal of anxiety about flying and had limited my travels to astral projection only for the last couple of months. So what was so special about this trip and why make an attempt to overcome the anxiety of airports and not just settle for astral projection?
In short, coconuts and love. Also mangos and papayas fresh off the tree…and laying in a hammock on a tropical beach under the shade of coconut palms. Mostly love. While there’s no doubt that astral projection would have been the more sustainable option and allowed me to avoid feelings of anxiousness associated with traveling, getting out of my bubble and overcoming the anxiety seemed the better endeavor, even if it meant taking a sedative to create another bubble to deal with leaving the first one. And overcome it I eventually did.
When I got off the plane in the tropical paradise, I encountered a human of the female variety who appeared like an angel (because of being backlit by the blinding sun) and spoke English in a crowd of non-English speaking humans. Spending several months a year there, she knew a lot about the town and was a wealth of information about the entire area. She also told me several times not to ever use the tap water and to make sure to only use bottled water to brush my teeth and not to get the shower water in my face. “My hotel said they have filtered water,” I told her. She replied, “Don’t do it, bro. Just don’t. There’s no such thing here.”
We chatted a bit more on the collectivo she found to take us to the hotel but between the overnight flight and sedatives wearing off, it was a bit foggy. Her hostel was one of the first stops and while getting off she reminded the driver of the hotel I was going to. Perhaps it was a combination of the heat and lack of sleep but I felt like I knew I would see her again and was looking forward to it.
Ten nights, two towns and three hotel rooms later, I brushed my teeth inadvertently using the tap water to both rinse the toothbrush and my mouth. As I spit the water out, I realized the horrible mistake I had just made…and there she was. I had a vision of Emily. She was saying those words again but this time in slow motion, “don’t do it, bro!”
It was too late and the damage had been done. Aweful as I felt I had to laugh a bit because I knew I would see her again. I just thought it would be in-person and under different circumstances.
Is there a moral to this story?
It’s not always wise to heed the advice of strangers, but when the stranger happens to be the only one who understands you, is familiar with the area, and appears like an angelic being even if it’s a result of being backlit, consider it your burning bush and get ready to take notes.