On Wednesday of our cruise, we docked in Puerto Progresso, Mexico, where we visited the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. It was a two hour bus ride to the ruins that are situated in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula. Dominating the North Platform of Chichen Itza is the Temple of Kukulkan (a Maya feathered serpent deity similar to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl), usually referred to as El Castillo. This step pyramid stands about 100 high and consists of a series of nine square terraces. The four faces of the pyramid have protruding stairways. At the base of the balustrades of the northeastern staircase are carved heads of a serpent.

On the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, in the late afternoon, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts a series of triangular shadows against the western balustrade on the north side that evokes the appearance of a serpent wriggling down the staircase, which some scholars have suggested is a representation of the feathered-serpent god Kukulkan. One of these days, I’d love to return for the Spring equinox, which gets roughly 60,000 visitors on that day to see the serpent wriggle down the staircase. Fewer people attend the Autumn Equinox because it is often cloudy, and I’d hate to travel all the way, just for it to he cloudy.

Also, at Chichen Itza is the Great Ball Court, the largest in Central America. In the corner of the ball court, our guide Antonio showed us this little Mayan woman who was selling handkerchiefs. She was so cute, I had to take her picture. We bought four of her handkerchiefs. There were tons of little stands selling Mayan calendars and masks, as well as the wooden penis below. It was so beautifully carved, I would have bargained with them for a price, if my mother had not been with me. I actually bought most of my souvenirs from the cruise at Chichen Itza.

Sadly, we only had two hours at Chichen Itza. I could have spent days explore the ruins. After. Two hour bus ride back, we made it to the ship just in time to board, so I saw very little of Progresso. That night the ship sailed around the Yucatan Peninsula to Cozumel. The only thing I can really say about Cozumel is that it is a Mexican tourist trap. In fact, from what I saw of it, it’s not that much different from Florida.

From the vantage point of the ship, it looks like Pensacola or Panama City Beach. In the tourists shops, it wasn’t much different, just the jewelry was cheaper. Mama bought her a beautiful pair of sapphire earrings. I think all I bought was a daiquiri. Although I heard that a lot of people went to the pharmacies, and if I didn’t have insurance and/or needed Viagra, it would have been the place to go. But the proce of my migraine medicine is much cheaper in the United States with my insurance, though I was surprised they sold it down there.

After walking around Cozumel and having lunch, we went back to the ship and I enjoyed some of the eye candy. The gulf was actually pretty rough that night and the boat was rocking something fierce. I barely had any dinner, I was getting a little nauseous with the motion of the ship. So I turned in early that night. Friday was our last full day at sea and it rained most of the day, and since the storm was heading with us to New Orleans, it was raining when we docked in New Orleans as well. We had planned on heading into the French Quarter for beignets and some cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, but wih the rain, we decided to head on home. There’s not much worse than the French Quarter when it rains. And thus, it rained most of the way home until we got to Alabama. Come to find out, it was the first sunny day our home had seen all week.

I loved every minute of the cruise, and I can’t wait to go on another one. Who’s ready to go with me?

We first set out from New Orleans, and looking around us in the terminal, I knew this would be a ship filled with hot guys. They were literally everywhere one looked, but since technically, you are not supposed to take pictures within the terminal, I can’t post any on here. As soon as we boarded the ship, we went to the state room and then decided to sit at the bar and have a drink.

I don’t remember what this drink was called, but it was delicious. It was supposed to be the welcome aboard drink. Looking around the Atrium Bar, I could tell that I was going to be like a kid in a candy store with all the eye candy.

The eye candy was all around, above and in front. The DJ in the bar was a super got guy from Hungary (?). After seeing the international crew on this ship, I’ve decided that I am going to have to visit Eastern Europe some day. They are some of the hottest men I have ever seen.

The first day on the ship was fun, but the motion of the ship turning and rocking back and forth as it twisted through the Mississippi River Delta to the Gulf of Mexico was a bit rough for someone like me who has never been on a cruise before, but after the first night’s sleep, I was acclimated and did fine for the most part.

The second day on the ship was a day at sea as we sailed toward Progresso. A day at sea meant being able to sit around, have fruity cocktails and watch nearly naked hot men walk by and play in the pool. I also spent a little time on the Serenity Deck getting some sun. The Serenity Deck was nice because everyone had to be 21 and older. There were at least four senior classes on our cruise, and it was best to avoid them as much as possible. Drunk teenagers can make nice eye candy, but they get a bit annoying after a while. Besides, the Serenity Deck had it’s own more mature eye candy.

Docking in Progresso on Wednesday meant I was going to get to see the one thing I wanted to visit on this cruise: Chichen Itza. I wrote about this ancient Mayan city last week. Sadly, I missed Mike from Random Thoughts In My Life by one day. He had been there on Tuesday. I’d have loved to have met Mike, a fellow teacher, and his partner. After a two hour informative bus ride there, we arrived at the spectacular ruins. It was hot and humid, but I was truly in awe of the magnificence of the site, and I will discuss more about it on Wednesday, as this post is a bit long already.

Just a note, all the pictures in this post, with the exception of the top picture, are pictures taken by me.

Today is my last full day on the cruise. Hopefully, I will be sitting by the pool checking out some beautiful men.

Today, our cruise takes us to Cozumel, an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatán Channel. I’m not for sure what we will be doing today in Cozumel, but I’m sure it will involve some souvenir shopping.

Today on my cruise we will be in the port of Progresso, Mexico. One of the excursions this day is to the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, a place I have longed to visit and will be doing today. Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.

The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History). The land under the monuments had been privately owned until 29 March 2010, when it was purchased by the state of Yucatán. Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico; an estimated 1.2 million tourists visit the ruins every year. My mother and I will make up two such guests today.

Mayan history and culture has always fascinated me for many reasons. One of those reasons is that historians who research pre-colonial Central American cultures have found evidence that homosexuality was considered acceptable by the Mayans. In fact, noble families would allow their sons to have relationships with other boys as a part of the process of growing up, ultimately leading up to their wives. According to “The Origin and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Societies,” some men continued to date men as they got older. Some scholars are suspicious of the claim that gay relationships were acceptable to the Mayans, pointing out that the source of much of this information is the Spanish conquerors, who may have had a vested interest in making these cultures seem backwards to those in Europe.

In his field work in the Yucatán Peninsula, Walter Williams found the Maya people to be very accepting of homosexual behavior between young men and teenagers. Historically, homosexual bonds were considered normal among young men, a pattern which continues to this day.

Williams wrote “After my arrival in Yucatán, I soon learned that the society provides a de facto acceptance of same-sex relations for males. It did not take long to establish contacts, and my informants suggested that a large majority of the male population is at certain times sexually active with other males. This usually occurs in the years between thirteen and thirty, when sexual desire is strongest, but it also involves men older than that. Marriage to a woman does not seem to have much effect on the occurrence and amount of homosexual behavior.”

A friend of mine sent me this picture as a “bon voyage” for my cruise, and I thought it was absolute perfection for this post. As this post publishes, I will be on my way to get on the ship. I am very excited. I’ve never been on a cruise before, even though I was supposed to go on one back in January. I keep feeling that something is going to stop me from going this time, bus so far so good.

Though I am going on this cruise with my mother, I do hope I can get away from her occasionally to explore the boat on my own (and explore some of the men on the boat). One friend told me, “Have fun. If he seems hot and fun, fuck him for me.” Another friend suggested I find a nice gay couple to have a ménage à trois with. I think both seem like a good plan. I will just have to see how it goes. I am trying to be bolder and more adventurous,this I am trying to get out of my shell a little. That doesn’t necessarily mean sex, but maybe I will meet some fun people onboard.

No Internet access until I get back on Saturday, so I have scheduled my regular posts throughout the week. I have a post set up for Saturday, but if I am able, I will do a quick post when I’m back in port.

Love you all. Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

No matter the duration, each trip is addicting beyond the places, the food, the people and the experience. It is the state of mind and the state of being that I am so addicted to every time I had the opportunity to go see the world and to travel on my own. What makes traveling so enjoyable is the mental state you choose to bring with you while on your travels. It is the exact same kind of mindset that we should be bringing with us through life.

1. The eagerness to get out of bed and start your day

It’s an incredibly motivating and uplifting force when you know you have so much to look forward to in the day and just can’t wait to get started. You might not have had a lot of rest from the previous night, but you still feel charged up and ready to go when your alarm goes off because you know you have a full day of sight-seeing, food-hunting, and cultural immersion to look forward to.

2. The decision to be pleasant to people around you

Because you are on holiday, you might sometimes carry with you a silly grin of happiness with you wherever you go. Sometimes you feel like you have to be on your ‘best behavior’ to people around you because you are like an ambassador of some sort because you are a tourist. Of course, it goes without saying that if you are pleasant, it makes it so much easier for you to get help when you need it.

3. Embracing all experiences as great experiences

It’s an art of being and the art of embracing what comes your way that some people struggle with even on holiday. Some people might feel sour about having to line up for a long time to get into a museum or get upset with how their plans are spoiled by bad weather. If you can stop getting hung up over what it should be as opposed to what the reality is, you might just learn how to be in the moment and embrace it for what it is. Walking in the rain in Paris? Sounds like an experience! Watching an Opera standing up in Vienna? It’s one of those things you have to do once if you are on a budget. Even if you if you have to forego sleeping in a cozy hotel for a night to afford seeing a beautiful city, it makes for an interesting story once you get through it.

4. Taking responsibility for yourself

If it’s entirely up to you to find your way from the city centre of Munich to the bus terminal where you are going to catch a night bus into Bratislava and then find your way to a hostel, you will make sure that you know how to get there and have the necessary information and maps with you when you have to make the trip even if you don’t speak the local language and have never been there before.

There is an analogy somewhere in there about how this should be exactly how we ought to be approaching our life – to decide where we want to go, and make it our responsibility to get ourselves there. We will have to make all the necessary preparations, perhaps ask for directions along the way and try to figure out road signs, but in the end, we will get there.

5. A willingness to be awed and to be filled with a sense of wonderment

It’s far too easy for us to become jaded and to be less than impressed by all that we see around us and to act in a way where we think that we have ‘seen it all’.

Nothing can impress you if you decide not to be impressed. Even the most beautiful of sunsets and the most magnificent of monuments cannot make you feel anything if you choose to be dead inside and numb to it on the outside. When I travel, I allow myself to indulge in some of these addicting mindsets, in hopes that I will one day attain the mastery to apply them as part of my daily life. After all, whether you board a train, a plane, or climb into a car, you’re not only traveling, but exploring the world, too.

This is adapted from a Though Catalog post: http://thoughtcatalog.com/hongjun-wang/2014/01/5-reasons-why-traveling-is-a-state-of-mind/