Aspen is often referred to as a bubble; a place in which the most common crime seems to be an under appreciation of the beauty we are surrounded by. Children grow accustomed to the safety of their home, and adults forget to lock their doors. The only way to pop my blinders to the rest of the world, the sunglasses covering up all of the rated-R scenes, was to leave the safety of my home and travel.

This summer I made it my goal to see what the ‘real world’ was like, so I traveled to Peru.

Upon reading about Lima I had learned it was an extravagantly exquisite city deeply rooted not only in the culture of Peru, but also of South America. When I touched down I expected just that. My Aspen expectations of ‘exquisite’ however, left me dumbfounded at the reality of the city I saw.

Most of the windows didn’t have a pane to fit them, and if they did it was most likely cracked. Thick metal bars paneled across the doors on lower levels. The buildings were built low and thick, no grandeur entrances with men to open the doors for you in their freshly ironed tuxes.  There was trash littered across the streets and stray dogs scavenged the sidewalks. Two of them fought, to what seemed to be the death, over thrown out Chinese food. The hotel had no hot water, and barely a drip of cold. There was a hole in the wall above the bed.

The next day I took a bus three hours outside of the city, consistently passing by tin homes radiating the sun back at themselves, chickens gawking about wildly, and locals running up to the bus with jewelry and fruits. There was no AC and it was almost 100 degrees. Dripping in sweat, I loved every second.

My journey continued into a small town named Huayllampi which seemed to only consist of a small boarding school and three tin shacks around it. I was taught by newly made friends never to touch the dogs and to run if a chicken made eye contact with you.

Throughout my adventure I witnessed moments that both took my breath away and frightened me at the same time. There was an autistic boy who had been abandoned by his family due to his condition, so he lived on his own wandering the streets looking for food. He was slapped on the butt when he came too close, and then kept on wandering. I saw a little girl squat outside of her home and pee on top of a stray kitten, who seemed to enjoy the chill that came from being wet in the wind. I was followed twice, once pursued until I had another boy on my trip step in and help. Everywhere I went I was offered either a ride, cocaine, or jewelry.

I also got robbed. My money was stolen as were my pants and socks, so my ankles swelled to almost double their size after over two hundred bites from sand flies (yes, we counted).

While most of my experiences bring me back to a place of fear and discomfort, I have never felt more secure than I did while in Peru. I was secure because I knew I was living. There was no Louis Vuitton around the corner, the police officers were corrupt and stole my money from false toll lanes and taxes as much as any common robber would have. But I had stepped into another realm of the world. With every step I took I saw something that changed the way I viewed my life, and my bubble.

There is a beauty behind seeing the reality of another culture. In Lima it was a blessing to have a home with a roof at all, window panes meant little to nothing. Chickens and dogs were common beings like themselves, just trying to find a way to survive.

It is often said that once you experience a place less fortunate than your own you walk away thinking of how lucky you are. I, however, found myself having a totally different perspective. When I flew away from Lima, lifted off of my temporary home, I was saddened to be returning to security. I live in a way in which every part of my life is scheduled. I eat, sleep, hang out, etc. in the same places I have been for years. In a situation where you never know what will come next you find yourself completely immersed into the moment placed before you.

Blissfully aware of everything around you and confused about what is to come next, this is the way I learned to love to live. This is what I learned while traveling.