A Realisation & a Dream for Central America

If there is one thing I've come to learn from travelling Central America and one thing I will take home with me, it's the knowledge and realisation of just how fortunate I am to be Australian. Now I don't say this in a pretentious way, nor in a way that may come across as saying Australian is the best nationality.. No, cause I don't believe that. But I do believe we are given a head start in life, with a lot more chances and opportunities. 

Growing up, my family wasn't the most well off. We certainly weren't poor, but we were definitely in that middle class. As a single mother of 4, my mums money could only stretch so far. So I often got my sisters clothes, we ate the same 7 meals, we budgeted week to week and we rented our houses. Vacations and travelling overseas weren't something we knew growing up either, opting for cheaper, though just as fun, camping trips instead. Though we weren't the best off, we were never not given the opportunity to follow our dreams and heart's desires. If we wanted to learn Mandarin and Irish dancing, mum found a way to make it happen. If we wanted to learn computer coding, which required a new laptop, mum worked hard to make it happen. If we wanted to play touch football and learn gymnastics, you bet, mum was on the grandstands cheering us on. I wasn't sure how she made it all happen as a single parent, but I was forever grateful she did. I know now, though, that if circumstances were different, say we were born in Central America, life would have been widely different. A single mum of 4 kids, we'd be pushing to put food on the table, let alone any extracurricular activities. 

Travelling central America and talking to those that grew up here, that still live here, one thing became very clear... They didn't and still don't, have the same opportunities in life as I did.. And admittedly, before this trip, with my lack of knowledge, I took those opportunities for granted. I didn't understand just how fortunate I was and still am. The same concept applied when I spoke to them about travelling. I had vocalised my intense desire to explore new countries, they too would often share the dream of setting foot on new lands. We would talk at length about the places we wanted to go, what we wanted to do and imagined what it would be like when we did go.... However, there was one major difference between their travel dreams and mine. What was the difference? The difference is that it is unfortunately highly likely that only one of us will ever experience those travel dreams.

For the majority of those living in Central America, they would be considered extremely lucky to have visited more than a handful of countries in their entire lifetime... Whereas I've travelled to nearly a quarter of the world's countries in the last 5 years, and it's becoming a lot more common for other young Western adults to do the same. Why is that? Why isn't it the same? We'll start with the fact that in Australia, with our comparatively high wages, great lifestyle and ample opportunities in all aspects of life, travel is and probably always will be, a hell of a lot more accessible.

I'm an Australian on an average wage, sharing living expenses, and making wise money decisions. In doing so, I can afford to travel at least once a year, twice if it's shorter 2 week trips. I'm talking, Bali, Hawaii, Japan, Russia, anywhere my heart desires. For someone in my shoes though, travelling isn't an unachievable dream, it's a lifestyle decision. All it takes for us is a little tightening of the budget, buying fewer new things and taking your own lunch to work . Wham bam, before you know it, you're on holidays! For a Central American however, it's a lot and I mean A LOT harder to achieve those dreams. The monthly income for the average Central American is said to be approx $350usd a month, though I suspect many would be well below this figure. So even if they were sharing living expenses, as I do, there wouldn't be much money to go around. For those living here, food always comes first and takes a huge portion of their wage each month. Add on rent, water, electricity, education and medical fees.. By the end of the month, there really isn't anything left for leisure. It could take them as long as 10 years to be able to afford a holiday! Add on the fact they're only given an average of 10 days off per year, any substantial travel, longer than a few weeks, they may as well forget about it. 

When I learnt this, everything suddenly became a lot clearer. I now understood why they couldn't simply pack their bags and travel. That it wasn't as simple as the people not spending their money wisely, as is the usual case back home, instead there simply just isn't any money to do it. For the older generations here, travel isn't as much of a concern or desire. They know the life of working, buying land, and retiring. It's what they grew up with, what their parents grew up with and their parents before that. They don't know a life any different to that... That's their normal. For the younger generations, though, with the rise in social media, they can see that there is more to the world than their home towns. They too want to see the beautiful beaches and leaning towers. Canals lined with flowers and bridges as far as the eye can see. They too have the same dreams I do. They too have bucket lists they wish to tick off. Knowing that travel isn't on the cards for 99% of them, except for that extremely wealthy 1%, invoked such a strong feeling of unfairness.. 

Unfairness that 99% of them won't get to see all the amazing places that this world has to offer. Unfairness, that because of something out of our control, I was born in country A and them country B. That where we were born, dictates just how easily one can travel. It's not fair and for lack of better words, it really f*cking sucks. It sucks that this is the reason, as it was pointed out to me, that I'd never met a Honduran travelling before. (Have you?) The people here are beautiful, incredibly kind, hard working and welcoming! They have an overwhelming amount of knowledge and they cook a tonne of damn tasty food. We could really do with the sharing of their attitude and skills across the world. We can learn from them to be happy with what we have and to not take everything in life for granted. Honestly, even just a touch of perspective could do us all good... Now, you're probably reading this wondering where I'm going with this.. And to be frank, even I'm not entirely sure. I guess, firstly, I wanted to share what I've learnt during my time here.. But secondly, and more importantly than that, I wish I was able to do something that would enable, even a small population of Central American's, to travel.. The teenagers in high school, or the college students, perhaps? 

I'd love to do something that allows them to travel and shows them how incredible travelling is. Show them that there is more to the world than just one village, city or country. I'm not sure yet what I can do to achieve this, but I did meet two people who were inspiring change, maybe I could learn from them. They were my tour guides/ CEO's. 

They work their asses off every day to show not only me, but the people they grew with and the children from their home towns, that travel isn't necessarily an unachievable dream. That if there's enough passion, dedication and hard work put in, travelling to far flung shores is entirely possible. And I believe it's incredibly important to be able to look up to role model, who looks like you, who talks like you or maybe even comes from your same town. In doing so you have that extra little driving force, saying, if they can, why can't I?

So maybe I could be a role model of some sort, but I feel that would be best left to the locals.. Maybe start a fund that would allow travel to be possible for young adults. Maybe I could teach English, in doing so making them a better candidate for the tourism industry? Honestly, I really don't know... I just hope I can find a way, or the world changes enough that allows everyone, regardless of where you're from, to travel.

That is my dream... That is my hope for the future.