“Not all who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

I have often used that quote.

Thought it quite clever and fitting in fact.  But today I think that maybe I am actually a teensy bit lost. Or at the very least, like my luggage, just slightly misplaced.

Last night, after two days of buses, taxis and planes, I arrived at the Vancouver airport. Alas, my suitcase chose to go to San Fransisco, or perhaps it circuited via Bejing?

I don’t know. I do know that I got home and it did not.

However, United Airlines has just called to say they’d be delivering it soon. This is a good thing.

I wonder if, once my gear arrives, I will feel slightly less disoriented? Because, though I am here and almost feeling like I never left (like I’ve slipped seamlessly into my ‘usual’ life) another part of me is still living in a very flexible-Mexico state of mind.

What I loved during this past five weeks was the seemingly endless stretch of time that lay in front of me. It was, at first, rather terrifying to behold. The first three weeks in Oaxaca City with no, absolutely nada, demands on my time, was disconcerting. But I found my feet, my writing took hold and used up hours and hours of each day. Time stretched like the gooey insides of a perfectly toasted quesadilla.

No cooking. No cleaning. No one to see. No place to be. Just time…

And this is what I want to hold onto; to remember that I can immerse myself in the writing and that there will still be plenty of time to do the other things I love.

I need to rid myself of the thinking that there’s not enough time. 

And now, once again, simply by sitting down and starting the process of writing this post I have found my way out of the misplaced-maze from whence I started.

You knew it was inevitable right? You knew I would never come back from a trip without a travel announcement.

So here it is. This is what I have learned;

It’s all about priorities. There is as much time as I want to take. I just need to claim it.