I’m in Colombia at the moment and it’s great. I’m right at the top of Colombia and have already traveled through Cartagena and Playa Blanca and I’m currently in Santa Marta. This is the hot part of Colombia where beautiful beaches are surprisingly hard to find, but the people are lovely and backpackers are everywhere.

The problem is whilst my body is here in Colombia, my mind is elsewhere. It’s with a Latino man, my Guayaco specifically, who is currently working in Ecuador.

I’m headed back into Ecuador in about 2 weeks to learn Spanish in Cuenca. I’m excited to get back into a city I loved and finally get some formal Spanish education so that I can hopefully speak with more fluency. Once I’m done learning, I will then meet up with my Guayaco on a beach somewhere on the coast of Ecuador.

The problem is I wish I were getting on a plane tomorrow. I can’t and the logical reasons of needing to wait a few weeks to meet up again make complete sense. I need to learn Spanish and whilst I am my Guayaco man is working. It’s peak season for him so he needs to be working as hard as he is whilst the season is busy.

But I still desperately just want to get on a plane and head back to him tomorrow. My mind is not here in Colombia at all. Every morning I wake up and think f**k it. F**k the money, f**k the plans, I just want to get on a plane.

Making things worse is that I’m sick at the moment. I had a cold last week, and right now I have a stomach bug. Thinking about it logically, this is a very good time for me to be sick. I’m in a nice hostel literally just using up time until my very cheap Viva Colombia flight to Medellin departs in a couple of weeks. It’s okay for me to be sick here, but it also makes the longing to be down in Ecuador worse. Tonight I would like nothing more than to crawl into bed and watch movies with the Guayaco man I miss.

This is another element of being a traveler. Missing something or someone this much is new for me. I’m usually very happy to pack up and move on, leaving those I met to live their lives whilst I continue to live mine. This longing to get back to someone is unexpected and difficult. But I just need to wait it out. Hopefully this stomach bug will leave me, I’ll feel better soon and be in more of a mood to explore this amazing country.

So for now I will suck it up, get well and enjoy the next few weeks I’m here in hot and steamy Colombia, because it will be over soon and I need to make the most of it.