Guatemala: Where It All Began
By Cpt CLRogerson, World Traveler and Salty Sailor
clrogerson.travel
It was 1993. I wasn’t going on vacation. I wasn’t even going for the travel. I was headed to Guatemala on a mission trip to build a church dormitory and a home for a widow.
That was the plan, anyway.
What I didn’t know then—what no one told me—was that this trip would change my life. Not just because of what we were building, but because of what was being built in me. A foundation, you could say. One made of awe, perspective, and a restless itch for exploration that’s never quite gone away.
First Impressions (and Volcanoes)
Guatemala greeted me with heat, color, and a level of sensory overload I wasn’t remotely prepared for. I had no real frame of reference for Central America. But within days, I was sweating through the jungle, marveling at the generosity of strangers, and wondering how I had lived this long without knowing how good fresh tortillas taste when made by someone who’s laughing at your Spanish.
And then there was the volcano.
I saw my first live, lava-spitting volcano on that trip. I’ll never forget standing there, a bit dumbfounded, watching the red glow pulse under the night sky. I wasn’t sure whether to be terrified or hypnotized. (I settled on a bit of both.) We spent the first day in Antigua, a beautiful mountain town where I got my first taste of a new (to me) culture and I found out how different driving can be, the lack of guardrails and the sheer number of roadside memorials on mountain roads seemed ominous. We had a slow down as we passed yet another tow truck winching a car out of the valley. Obviously we made it but it was the start of an adventure. From there we flew north to San Benito “Airport” and on to the charming island town of Flores where we stayed for the rest of the trip.
Airstrips and Airplanes (Barely)
Landing in Petén was a moment all its own. The runway looked like something out of a Cold War spy movie—crashed planes shoved off to the side, their airline names hastily painted over.
They looked suspiciously familiar.
“Isn’t that...?” someone whispered as we taxied by a rusting fuselage.
“Aviateka,” I thought to myself. “Same logo. Different paint.”
We laughed. Nervously. The way you do when you realize travel isn’t always neat and tidy, but it sure as hell is memorable.
History I Didn’t Know I Needed
I’d never heard of Tikal before planning that trip. I had no idea that hidden deep in the jungle were some of the most incredible Mayan ruins in the world. But one morning, we were there—climbing temple stairs, staring out over the canopy, listening to howler monkeys in the distance, and wondering how this place wasn’t on every postcard I’d ever seen. Fun fact, You’ve probably seen Tikal too, it was used as the rebel base in Star Wars!
Turns out, history has a way of humbling you. You realize just how small you are in the timeline of the world—and how much you’ve yet to see.
Jungle Hikes and Clear Blue Lakes
I hiked through my first real jungle in Guatemala. The air was thick, the trails were muddy, and everything felt alive. We swam in Laguna de Petén Itzá, a crater lake so blue it looked photoshopped in real life. We took a boat to the far side of the lake where we were greeted with concrete waterslides through the jungle, splashing down into the lake below, once again, no safety rails.
I was introduced, not so much to new foods but to new ways of preparing food. The spices, citrus and fish that still had their eyes was very different for a mid-west kid who had just taken his first flights both literally and figuratively.
Why It Mattered
I came home from that trip sunburned, tired, and absolutely hooked.
Not on travel, per se, but on the feeling of discovery. On the way people live differently. On the idea that maybe, just maybe, the world was a whole lot bigger than I’d imagined—and it was time to start seeing it.
Guatemala wasn’t just my first stamp. It was my wake-up call.
CL
About Cpt CLRogerson
Once a corporate exec and full-time dad, now a travel consultant, licensed captain, and unapologetic wanderer. Cpt CLRogerson helps others navigate the transition from work and responsibility to freedom and adventure—whether by land, sea, or airstrip with questionable safety records.
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