Wandering Mind Written Down

2025 Q3 Part 1 – The Summer Trip Plan

2025 began with two thoughts in mind: pay off the car note and travel again. My first goal was simple to achieve since there’s no choice but to pay that monthly car note, unless i didn’t mind having it get repossessed and then consider myself homeless if I didn’t have my good old Jeep Grand Cherokee (or any car, for that matter – and no, I’m not living in my car but I love driving around a lot).  So paying off the last couple of grand was a no-brainer.

The second goal began to feel a little shaky and questionable because along the way, I got distracted.  Initially, I was looking into maybe taking three trips for 2025 – two full week trips and one extended weekend trip with no exact destination in mind, well, except for the third trip, which as of today would be a drive to Vermont and New Hampshire during the month of October.  I enjoyed the trip to Minnesota during the fall season in 2024 (story for a different time) that I wouldn’t mind doing something similar for 2025.

About the distraction. Limited skills (need to keep myself grounded and humble)  and big dreams of what I would like to do with my photography after allowing myself to take a step back in continuing to sell products with my photos (another story for another time) and not being content with how outsourcing through a third-party vendor’s production cost made it difficult to make a profit soured that experience.  I opted to temporarily close down my online shop and move on. Serendipity and my curious mind were converged when one image taken but ignored for half a year made me wonder ‘what if I bought the basic equipment to do production myself instead?’ and I wrestled with this idea for a bit. 

The money I had saved for what might have been an extended weekend trip during quarter 2 of the year ended up going towards the purchase of supplies and equipment, which I hope pay off in the long run.  No regrets, but don’t forget, this isn’t the story of that new venture idea but a reminder that there was a distraction. And so, there was no option for a trip during the first two quarters of 2025.

With spring only a month away from coming to an end, the thought of where I will be traveling kept fluctuating; on one hand, I could make a return trip to beautiful Montana and visit marvelous Glacier National Park, which I initially fell in love with back in 2014 during a solo trip, and then maybe take the next step and keep driving north into Canada and visit Banff National Park with a possible stay in Calgary.  An absolute dream trip.   On the other hand, there was and has always been the opportunity to go visit Mexico – but more importantly,  the town of Juchipila in the state of Zacatecas, where my parents were born and raised.  The last time I visited was in the summer of 2022 and prior to that, there was an approximate 18 year gap in which I hadn’t returned to visit.

Mid June finally entered the picture and I finally made up my mind on where to plan my first trip of 2025.  Gathering all my planning resources and figuring out my budget, I first jumped on the United Airlines app and booked my flight from Houston (IAH) to Aguascalientes, MX (AGU) for an eight day trip, then I jumped over to the Enterprise car rental app and booked  an SUV rental in order to make the approximate 2 hour drive from the city of Aguascalientes, Aug to Juchipila, Zac. Finally, and because sometimes throwing caution to the wind isn’t always ideal logic, I booked a stay at a Marriott owned hotel in Aguascalientes to spend the night and then head out on the drive the next morning – and yes, I used the Marriott Bon Voy app for that reservation. Because my flight arrives around 7:30pm which means that by the time I arrive to the vicinity of Juchipila (or more importantly, La Mezquitera Sur which is my true destination) it would already be dark  in the middle of the drive.  Always play it safe!

Today is July 6^th, which means I have approximately 3 weeks left for the trip and a lot of options to still plan ahead for. At the moment, I don’t know if I’m more excited about 2025 Quarter 3 and the trip I’m taking during it or the fact that after a few weeks of trying, I’m really feeling a groove into wanting to write again.  With or without an audience.  It feels good wanting to be creative and even better to share my storytelling.

Q3 to be continued…