Where ya going til tomorrow?

I am writing this post - which might appropriately have been entitled 'Interstate Love Song' - instead of packing. Tomorrow I am due to leave this wonderful, complicated country for who knows how long. And for everything that's fun and exciting and interesting about wandering, sometimes it is just really hard.

Last week, I took an overnight trip to the historic Mexican town of Taxco. It was hard to pack an overnight bag (the absurdity of which was not lost on someone who has spent about 2 nights at home in the last week). It was hard to drag myself onto the metro to the bus stop (again, insane for someone who normally works the metro like a boss.) The problem is, although I'm driven by the excitement of finding new places and meeting new people, sometimes I find a place and people that I just really love. There is something to be said for the familiarity of a complex and difficult city; there's more to be said for the quiet love and support of wonderful friends. Happily, I enjoy both in Mexico City, and that makes it a very difficult place to leave.

I nonetheless took myself off to Taxco, to explore a new area and to find some quiet space to think. I found myself on a bus that smelt suspiciously of off milk, showing a traditionally terrible Mexican film.  And after a loud run through The Veils' Nux Vomica, which I deemed suitable dark and eclectic for my mood at the time, I found myself back in my groove, enjoying the bucolic Mexican scenery and the company of Stone Temple Pilots.

Before long, to the soundtrack of the wonderful acoustic version of 'Plush', I found myself rounding a corner to be confronted by the beautiful sight of Taxco from the North. 

I spent a delightful few hours wandering the winding streets of Taxco, rode a cable car to enjoy a beer overlooking surely one of the best views of the City, and meandered through endless silver shops. I sat on a terrace overlooking the beautiful Santa Prisca cathedral and ate a Sopa Azteca and a mole. And I found the time to myself to think and reflect on what it means to wander. It was a delightful visit to a delightful place.

lovely Taxco

reflective cerveza spot

Santa Prisca

Ultimately, though, I admit I was pleased to get home. To my friends, to familiarity, and to my very happy life. Because a life is what I have accidentally created here, and that's very difficult to leave. I guess the great irony of travelling so much, is that meeting so many new, wonderful, people and places to fall in love with, means that leaving is never going to be easy. 

My philosophy has always been that the world is small though. And so tomorrow, onwards.