We gave up everything for the simple life. Part II

In my first post (Part I) I said I would tell you more about why we chose Guatemala to move to after selling our home and nearly all our possessions. So, that's what I'm going to do here. Fist, the reason we moved internationally we to fulfill the dream we have had for a long time. Our goal was to use that time to figure out the next stage of our lives while soaking in another culture. We really wanted to feel like we LIVED somewhere else, not just visited on vacation. We wanted to live like locals, make local friends and make the place a home to ourselves.
We chose Guatemala and more specifically Antigua, Guatemala as hour home base because in all of our travels around the world it was the place we felt like we would want to stay for an extended amount of time. It's inexpensive so we could live really well there and there are so many places to visit nearby that are incredibly beautiful and so much rich culture. We immediately made terrific local friends and felt at home. Went we weren't out on adventures we were planning our migration to homesteading life on the farm in the mountains of Virginia.

If you are thinking of spending some time in Guatemala, I'll share some areas you just can't miss. I hope to go into each one in more depth later. First off, Antigua is an absolutely the most picturesque Spanish colonial town in the wold. In 1733 an earthquake struck the town and it was completely abandoned. It wasn't until the late 1800's that people started to return. So the city in many ways is exactly as it was in 1733 with huge cathedrals still sitting as they were when damaged by earthquake nearly 300 years ago. Add to this incredible architecture the surrounding volcanoes and it's completely amazing. There are 3 volcanoes surrounding this one town and many more in the country.

Next we have Lago de Atitlan (Lake Atitlan) which has been described as the most beautiful lake in the world since it was made known globally in the 70's. Imagine a pristine, crystal clear lake that's nearly 2000 feet deep and surrounding by volcanoes on it's shores! The shoreline is dotted with villages and each one has it's own personality. There are no roads, you just take boat taxis everywhere you go.

Lake Atitlan is truly breathtaking!

Chichicastenango is another village worth visiting. It hasn't changed in hundreds of years and is known for a huge market full of hand made crafts and wonderful food.

Monterrico beach is a black sand beach with some great inland mangrove you can take a boat tour through. You can also work with sea turtles depending on the time of year. This is an incredibly laid back area without a lot of development so plan on spending a lot of time relaxing and just soaking it all in.

The people are exceptionally nice in Guatemala and made us feel at home. Some of the nicest in the world I guarantee you. These are all the reasons we love the country.

Be sure to follow us. Next up is our move back to the states to a farm in the Appalachian mountains where we live in a barn while building our dream home.