6am – the alarm goes. Woken from deep sleep, there is a moment of total disorientation as I fumble in the dark to hit snooze, feeling as tired as if I had only dropped off to sleep moments previously. Where am I? What day is it?

The fog of sleep begins to dissipate, and my eyes start to make out objects in the room. A crucifix on the wall, my backpack wide open on another bed across from me, clothes strewn haphazardly across the floor. My brain finally clicks into gear – I’m in a hotel room in Antigua, Guatemala, having flown in late the night before from Costa Rica. Before the day is out I’ll be in Honduras. Three countries in less than 24 hours. No time to ruminate on this though; I need to get up, shower and take my new group to breakfast before hitting the road for a long day of travel.

The disorientation is normal, a result of sleeping in a different bed, in a different hotel, in a different town, almost every other day. No time this morning to fit in any meditation. Better instead to shower, pack, meet the group and head next door for eggs, tortillas and refried beans washed down with a mug of strong Guatemalan coffee.

My fast broken, it’s back next door to the hotel to grab bags, hand in key, check out, and round up the group while phoning the driver to find out where the bus is.

Bus located, passengers and bags all successfully stowed aboard. “Everyone got passports? Money? Phones? Nobody’s left anything in the safe? – No? Excellent, vámonos.”

It may have only just gone 7am, but the day’s already in full swing.

Welcome to life as a G Adventures CEO.

We drive off, bouncing along Antigua’s cobbled streets as the early morning sun’s rays illumine pastel-coloured buildings, crumbling colonial churches and street vendors setting out their stalls of fruit and vegetables. The sky is almost cloudless, almost perfect, affording us snatched glimpses of Agua volcano, crowned by a nebulous ring of fluffy whiteness, towering over the southern skyline as we exit the city.

The day may have started early, and ahead lie seven hours of travel, along with negotiating border formalities for the whole group. Yet would I exchange this for a return to the screen dream, wasting my days in a mixture of stress, boredom and unfulfilled dreams in a boxy, airless office environment, gazing out of the window and dreaming of what might have been?

Not for all the tea in China.

I am instead filled with excitement and anticipation for the coming 15 days, both for myself and for the group. What awaits us includes: Mayan ruins, jungle-shrouded hot springs, paradisiacal Caribbean reef-ringed islands, sweltering colonial cities, turquoise crater lakes, wave-lapped freshwater island utopias, deserted surf-struck beaches, misty, mystic cloud forests. And volcanos. Lots of volcanos.

Snorkelling, hiking, volcano climbing, zip lining and waterfall jumping. Morning runs on deserted beaches. Boat rides along jungle shrouded canals. Dazzling cathedral rooftops. Monumental Mayan temples. And the chance to forever change people’s lives by showing them the wonders of Central America.

Welcome to the pure life!