What I’m Doing in Guatemala

This summer I found cheap plane tickets to Guatemala, so I decided to spend my January in the city of Xela (a.k.a. Quetzaltenango).

When friends ask what I’m doing in Guatemala, my answers include:

  • brushing up on my Spanish with 2 hours a day of one-on-one tutoring
  • working on a new writing project, with fewer distractions than I’d have back in the U.S.
  • developing new Unschool Adventures trips
  • hanging out with my long-lost friend David, who lives in Xela, and making friends with other travelers and expats
  • enjoying living in my own 1BR apartment on the third floor of a nice building overlooking the city (price: $450/mo, which all my new Xela friends tell me is terribly expensive…ha! $450 would buy me a nice parking spot in San Francisco)
  • escaping the U.S. winter in favor of the sun, mild temperatures (high 70 / low 50), and longer days of Central America

But the real answer is: I’m doing the exact same things that I do back in the United States.

Something I love about my location-independent life is that work, travel, and vacation all sort of blend together. Here in Guatemala I don’t feel the need to “see the sights”, hike volcanos, go out every night, or check off any boxes. I’m not traveling around the region. I’m living the same life and doing the same work that I do when living in the U.S., with a few fringe benefits like inexpensive food, housing, and Spanish lessons.

I’m not traveling. I’m not on vacation. I’m just here, being Blake, in Guatemala. It’s really nice.

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My 1BR apartment overlooking Xela


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