20 people packed into one shuttle is a lot
You can get surprisingly comfortable in a one by one foot seat even with only six inches between you and the next seat and two bags at your feet
Pro: hanging out the window
Bonus: not illegal and drivers don’t care
Con: border crossings are the worst. Looks like two stops within one hundred yards of each other. The first to exit one country, the second to enter the next and they can both take as long as they darn well please in the process
Con: bumps = bad for writing
Pro: lots of time for music if your friends are feeling generous (mine were)
Perspective is everything. Google may say the trip is only going to last 15 hours, but if it happens to triple in length, that’s cool too.
Pro: getting to catch a glimpse of both El Salvador and Honduras. They’re both gorgeous, but also they each have their own kind of beauty and it was enchanting to watch the country side change as we went through them.
Pro: even if you can’t journal, the scenery and wind in your hair and amazing jams make you constantly grateful to your creator and keeps you in contact with him.
Con: when your air conditioning is mainly dependent on the breeze through open windows, stops can hot and quite sticky.
Pro: When in said stops and the stops are caused by traffic, not people unwilling to stamp your passport, it provides a great opportunity for a Bible study and worship jam on the side of the road.
Pro tip: Watching Beauty and the Beast on a smart phone in the back seat of said vehicle can be done in both night and day, but if done in day, I would recommend using a large covering (in our case a scarf) to cover heads and screen in order to block out the glare.
PSA: if you are white while you’re doing this, not to mention speaking/singing in a different language, people tend to stare. We’ve also noticed people tend to film us as well.
In summary, there were a lot of experiences had, a lot of times to throw out the original plan and flounder a bit until we found a new one, and a lot of emergency cash used. So, yes, I loved it. I thought it was a blast.
Much love,
TL
