Privileged

This is what you look like when you have a red eye flight with a new eye mask and neck pillow from Ross and an N95 mask to help prevent the Covid. Kind of scary! But also? Privileged.

(Written while traveling in Belize, a few days after Hurricane Lisa swept through the area. “Not the best time to travel here!” the grandson of our Airbnb host said. He was right, in some ways. But in others? It was exactly what I needed.)

So much depends on where you were born.

In California to a mother who is a preschool teacher and a father who is a sixth grade teacher (like I was)? That will give you one kind of life.

In Belize to a single mother who works as a hotel manager and moonlights as a shuttle driver to earn extra money so that she can afford to pay her son’s high school fees? That gives you another kind of life.

In Guatemala as a girl to a traditionally Mayan family?  In Belize City as a boy to a family that cannot afford to pay for your education, because it is no longer free after you turn 14?

It’s not a sure thing, how your life will go, given any of these beginnings. But some starts sure seem easier than others.

(I do not think I would ever be able to carry large items on my head like the Mayan women we saw at Tikal national park. But if I had grown up with a mother who did that? Maybe I could? Maybe it would be natural?)

Here is the thing about traveling: it reminds you that many people (most people) did not have the advantages you had, growing up in the United States (in California!) with two college educated parents who loved you and always assumed that you would go to college, too. It also reminds you that while you are not in the one percent of wealthy people in the US, you are certainly near the top compared to most of the world. You are privileged beyond belief.

You are privileged to travel on a U.S passport. You can go anywhere you want, basically. Save the money and off you go. Not so for the folks that we met in Guatemala, in Belize. The security guard at the store where we bought our hurricane supplies said that he applied for a Visa to in the U.S in August, but was denied.

“It’s hard to get visas,” he said.

Baby and (pregnant?) Mama monkey at Tikal. We saw monkeys, toucans, coatis, ancient ruins. Our Airbnb hostess had never been there. Because if you are Belizean, maybe it is not so affordable or easy to cross the border into Guatemala?

I said that I was sorry to hear that. Which was true, but the words felt empty, as I stood there with my bags of emergency supplies, things that were not in my travel budget (candles, matches, a flashlight), but that I purchased because I have resources: a credit card, cash to pay a taxi driver to get us back to the Airbnb again as the hurricane was rolling in. The guard was kind, though. All of the Belizean folks I have met have been. He dialed our cab driver’s number on his phone to let him know that we were ready for pickup (because it looked for a time like he had forgotten us).

He also told me that there are many Ukrainian refugees in Belize now. They have been welcomed, he said.

When a hurricane rolls into town, so much also depends on where you live. Down low where the floodwaters will come? Up high where you will be safe?

This Category 1 Hurricane was an annoyance for us.

But our Airbnb was up high on a hill, and the manager was thorough and kind and checked up on us, even after the power went out. Even after the water went away.  She brought us extra flashlights and matches. Our little suite had a propane stove, so we were still able to cook and have hot tea.

So much depends on where you were born.

It determines if natural disasters are frustrating (All the tourist activities and restaurants are closed because of the hurricane! Who will feed the gringos?) or a permanent life disruptor. It determines whether you can get an education and healthcare when you need it, or if you suffer with conditions that would be treatable and curable if you lived somewhere else. It determines if you have the resources and ability to travel around freely, or if you have to stay home.

I think in my ordinary days I forget how privileged I am. Travel is a gift that helps me remember. It makes my world bigger. It makes it more beautiful.