One of the hardest things while traveling around the world is the days when you are in-between places. There is this strange time where you need to check out of your hotel and before you can move on to the next location. Most hotels will allow you to keep your bags in a back room during these times in limbo, but then you have to wander out from that hotel into the strangeness of the town that you find yourself in.
Now, I know it sounds strange that you might be without a hotel room for a couple of hours should feel weird while on vacation. But there is something a little unsettling not having a place to go back to whenever you want to. I know that my stuff will be safe because I have never experienced a problem when living life like this, but it does not feel right to have all of it hidden in a dark corner of some closet with piles of other people’s luggage.
Despite this unease, it is still a nice way to take in a city for the last time before moving on to your next place during vacation. The latest place where I have found myself in without a home has been Cartagena, and so far, it has been a lovely place to visit and get to know. I spent the first night of my most recent vacation there before heading off to one of the islands, so the original plan was not to get to know the city first, and then experience this day at the end, but to have this day before going off to the most relaxing part of the trip.
We were staying close to the old part of the city which has been around since Sir Francis Drake raided the city and forced the inhabitants to build a wall to prevent from it ever happening again. The colorful city that these walls hold have a feel of Europe combined with Africa all combined with a Latin America vibe. I have never experienced anything like it before, and it was fun wandering around its windy streets knowing that I would have to cross the wall if I was willing to escape. And if I was bored, I could walk along the wall itself, and see how they were able to defend themselves in the 16th century from pirates and unfriendly nations.
It was not an ideal way to spend a day, but I was able to make the most out of the experience. It gave me hints and clues about what I wished to do when I finally made it back after my island experience. I was able to get a brief overview of one of the world’s more interesting cities, and it would not have happened if I was not without a hotel room during that day. The experience will happen again where my luggage has place to stay but I do not, and I hope that I find myself in a place like Cartagena the next time that it does.
