Guatemala

Exploring the villages

Nothing inspires me more than taking time to explore. Touching down in a place I've never been is my perfect creative storm; everything is different: the colors, the climate, the people, the routine. It forces you to be open to it all, and inevitably, that openness is where the inspiration lives. I am so grateful for our recent family trip to Guatemala. It mixed in everything I love about travel, and I got to share it with my family, which is its own kind of gift, even when planning a trip that caters to everyone can be exhausting. This one was different.

Jade & the Living Stone

One of the highlights was taking a stone carving workshop with my daughter. Jade is a raw material indigenous to Guatemala, and the Maya believed it was a living stone and used it in funerary practices to protect the soul in the afterlife. I loved learning that.

I was just as fascinated by the backstrap weaving process and the natural dyeing techniques I learned about, especially the deep connection to nature and the lunar cycle. Harvesting plants during different moon phases actually changes the resulting dye color; harvesting outside of the full moon, for example, produces lighter shades. Honestly, I could have stayed in that workshop for another month. I met so many artisans doing incredible beadwork, weaving, and embroidery, and I felt the weight of tradition in every piece.

Hiking Acatenango

Alongside all that inspiration, we added plenty of adventure. We joined a group for an overnight hike up a volcano, reaching 13,000 feet, a real accomplishment considering we live at sea level. It was invigorating to push ourselves physically, and the reward was watching a volcano erupt in the distance, which was as exciting as it sounds! But the eruption was really just the icing on the cake. The highlights were everywhere: meeting people from all over the world, the stray trail dogs that hiked alongside us the whole way up, and bunking with my family in a rustic cabin at the summit.

We also spent an afternoon riding ATVs through old lava fields, some patches still warm to the touch, a strange reminder of how alive these volcanoes really are.

Lake Atitlán

As the week went on, we made our way to Lake Atitlán, a deep crater lake ringed by volcanoes. We visited villages around the lake, drank some of the best coffee I've had, connected with local artisans, woke up to birds singing, and spent afternoons paddleboarding and swimming. I already look forward to returning one day to dive deeper into the tradition and craft of this beautiful country.

Every place I travel, whether close to home or abroad, I find the same impulse: to put meaning into an object or idea, and bring it home. Sometimes that meaning isn't a thing at all; it's what you carry back after immersing yourself in another culture.

Home again, Elaine