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Observations
Greetings! A late installment because I was on vacation, let me tell you about it!
We went to Panama (the country, not the city in Florida) for a week and had an easygoing vacation in Casco Antiguo. I know you’re probably asking your screen, “Why Panama?” Well, you are not the 1st person to ask (more like the 38th) so let me tell you 3 reasons we went to Panama:
Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) alerted me to a flight deal
I wanted to get out of the NYC winter and enjoy warm weather which Panama could provide
We did a quick google search and there were things to do
So we went to Panama and figured out what to do on the way there and kept the trip intentionally simple. It was fantastic! I’ll give you the highlights in case you ever find yourself in Panama City and want some recommendations.
For just $24 per person, you can jump on an express fast ferry from Panama City and within 30 minutes find yourself on an idyllic island with beautiful beaches. We even saw dolphins on our way there!
The island was everything I wanted. Hot sun, shady umbrellas, cold ocean, and $7 Pina Colada Pineapples with two free refills. They refill your drink and if you sit at the bar they’ll bring you trays of pineapple chunks. Like I said, idyllic.
As we sat waiting for our drinks, a local asked us where we live. We told him New York City, and his response was, “Why?” Which, to be fair, at that moment I was questioning as well!
In case it isn’t clear, Dustin and I are decidedly city-dwellers, but when we go on vacation we like to get out in nature. Dustin really wanted to see the rainforest, so we had an uber drop us off at one of the trail entrances of Parque Nacional Soberanía.
Our hike began on a well-traversed trail, shaded by tall trees and easy to keep pace on. We stopped and admired the flora and fauna, jumped at lizards scurrying through the leaves, and exchanged hey’s and hola’s with folks we passed. We looked out for waterfalls, but it was the end of dry season so all the water features were dried up.
About 2 hours and 4.5 kilometers later, we came upon a bend in the trail, which upon further inspection turned out to be a fork in the road. There was a sign with a map and lots of information in Spanish which we were unprepared to translate. It seemed like we could follow the wide trail we’d taken so far to a river, but the trail was long and I wasn’t sure what the situation would be when we got to the river. Was there a road? Would we have to turn around and hike another four hours back to a pickup point?
The other direction was shorter on the map and clearly led to a road, but the path itself was less discernible. I found the trail markers, and enthusiastically steered us onwards through the brush.
After .5 kilometers, we realized we’d chosen the trail with an increased difficulty level. We also realized there was barely any water left in the bottle we brought, and all the physical activity was making Dustin’s blood sugar levels drop (ty diabeetus). He downed two packs of fruit snacks to spike his blood sugar, which happened to be the only packs we brought with us.
We pressed on, occasionally backtracking to the last marker we saw when we found ourselves in a dry riverbed or in a tangle of trees with no clear trail. Dustin noted the time passing and worried out loud about the sun going down. I checked my weather app and cheerily noted that sunset wasn’t until 6:30pm and it was only 3pm, we had HOURS. Dustin, who tracks lighting and the sun's movements as part of his profession, informed me that due to being in a rainforest, we’d lose light before sunset. Sometimes having knowledge is not empowering! It is depressing!
While Dustin contemplated dying in the forest, I was deliberately choosing not to ruminate on a few possible outcomes:
Dustin falling into a diabetic coma, leaving me to decide between dragging him out of the forest (impossible, especially on our current terrain) or the more likely scenario of me abandoning him to find help and try to explain “MY HUSBAND IS ON THE TRAIL IN A DIABETIC COMA,” to someone who probably does not speak English.
Getting lost in the forest overnight and never finding the road out and making the news for being very dumb and very unprepared for a simple hike.
Making it to the road but having no reception to call an Uber and no taxis driving past, forcing us to attempt hitchhiking with extremely limited Spanish. Would ¿Dónde está Casco Viejo? and cash translate well enough?
I was distracted from not thinking about any of the above scenarios by movement in the leaves above our heads. A monkey! Jumping around through the trees! A capuchin in its natural habitat! Seemingly disturbed by our presence there, which honestly, I was too.
After crossing what was left of a creek and a wide clearing pylons ran through, we had completed another 4.5 kilometer stretch and stumbled onto the ROAD! We were giddy to be alive and to reach our destination before sunset. We managed to flag a taxi to take us to our AirBnB, and that ride back is a story for another time!
Meandering around Casco Antiguo was lovely, especially as we got to know the neighborhood better. There’s so many bars, restaurants, and stores to check out along with historic churches, museums, and monuments. Here are some favorites!
Mercado de Mariscos - I’m used to tiny portions of ceviche and when I sat down at one of the many restaurants at the fish market I was stunned by the soup bowl full of ceviche they brought out. It was DELICIOUS.
Masa Santa Ana - This restaurant was next door to our Airbnb and was the only place we could imagine walking to after our rainforest hike. The food and services were phenomenal, and the Google Translate app really came through when our waiter couldn’t quite understand that we wanted to take dessert to go!
Pedro Mandinga Rum Bar - Rum is my spirit of choice and this spot had plenty to offer, plus yummy entrees and a superb flan to finish off the night.
Element - I felt like I was in Disneyland when I walked into this bar, the decor is inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and steampunk vibes. They make custom cocktails based on a few details about what you’d like to drink, and our concoctions were scrumptious.
Sisu Coffee Studio - Great coffee and the Shashuka was an inspirational way to kick off the day.
Mahalo Snack Shack - Our last meal of the trip and it did not disappoint. Also, we found the cocktails at a lot of places weren’t strong and I thought that would be the case here but no, they are actually pouring liquor at this establishment!
Mola Museum - We loved this museum, it’s small but covers the history of the mola and its development both as a garment and art form. It also has some fun interactive exhibits!
Panama Canal Museum - We chose to do this museum on our last day, mostly for the air conditioning, and were surprised by the size and scope of the exhibits. There’s a detailed overview of early trade across Panama, every stage of the Panama Canal’s development, and the recent history as the US relinquished control of the territory. I’m shocked they covered so much history in essentially two floors!
Recommendations
Have I recommended this egg cooker? I love this egg cooker. Rachel Syme wrote about it and I was delighted to receive it as a gift last Christmas. It’s a top-notch gadget! You can get perfectly soft, medium, or hard boiled eggs with the click of a button. This egg cooker is the future we dream of!
Succession is back for the final season (😭) and I am overwhelmed with how incredible every episode has been so far. The other treat Succession brings is Hunter Harris’ power rankings on Hung Up every Sunday night, and I’m very grateful to her Substack chat for providing a space to be obsessive about this show with other people. Community is important!
I should watch the new episodes of Yellowjackets, Schmigadoon! (never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we’d get a 2nd season of Schmigadoon!), Ted Lasso, Beef, Tiny Beautiful Things, Party Down, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, or Sidney Bristow’s return on Apple TV. But I am watching Mad Men for the first time in my life and am fully engaged and can only tear myself away so often! We’re in Season 5 and there is mayhem! I can’t abandon Peggy or Joan’s storyline at a time like this! There’s too much TV to catch up on and keep up with!
Kelly Clarkson is BACK (she never left but it’s been 6 years since a non-Christmas release!) and giving us a whole arc of a relationship this Summer and I am counting down the days till June 23rd. My current goal is to have mine and me imprinted on my brain like the Breakaway album is 😌
Invitation
Recently, a few people I know in different situations observed, “The worst thing that can happen when you reach out to someone is they say no or just ignore your message.” This statement applies to so many different areas of our lives, from careers to friendships and romance (John Paul Brammer recently wrote a wonderful column on this topic). It’s something I’ve probably told someone else as an encouragement to put themselves out there, to use that thought as an impetus for action.
Yet a small very loud part of my brain hears these words and is like, “Yes, 1000%, that is the worst possible outcome. The risk of outright or veiled rejection is not worth the effort so I will stay inside my comfy shell, thank you very much!”
There’s a few problems with staying safe inside a shell. One, no one can fit inside with you (see above illustration), and rarely do we get to do anything worthwhile alone. Two, no one can see you inside the shell, which is both the point and the problem. Three, a shell can limit your ability to grow (I realize turtles are the exception here and my metaphor would probably be better expressed with a hermit crab but you don’t need to get stuck on the accuracy of this metaphor like I am currently).
This invitation is really directed at myself, at that part who believes the world is a scary place I need to hide myself from. Maybe the worst thing that can happen is you learn to live through rejections, both big and small. Maybe the worst thing that can happen is you feel temporarily embarrassed or ashamed, but find out that those feelings don’t last forever. Maybe the worst thing that can happen is you find out someone isn’t ready to meet you where you’re at, and you can keep looking for someone who will.
Or maybe the worst thing that can happen is you’ll return to your shell for a moment before venturing out again.