I have been back a little over a month now. Back at work, back to the life I lived before, and still adjusting. I am trying really hard to not readjust. I had such an amazing time. Met amazing people, both locals and fellow travelers. Saw amazing things. Ate amazing foods. Both my view on the world and myself have changed drastically.

On the plane before I left I made a list of the things that I wanted to accomplish during my trip

• have an amazing time
• spend time with myself
• explore who I am
• explore South America
• explore different cultures
• meet people
• hang out with someone for a short bit
• learn from other travelers, hell other people

I accomplished each and everyone far beyond my expectations.

Have an amazing time.

This one is pretty obvious. I had the best time of my life.  There were so many times when I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face, even if I wanted to. The Galapagos were amazing.  The group of people on my boat were great.  I ended up staying in Ecuador longer than I had planned because I was having such a great time.  I did so many amazing things in Peru; hiking, camping, jumping off bridges, met amazing people. Just a great time all the way around. Chile was also amazing. Hiking in Pategonia was breathtaking. Taking a 27 hour bus ride from Puerto Varas to Punto Arenas on Teierra del Fuego was actually a lot of fun, and not as bad as I first imagined it to be. And Argentina, oh Argentin.  Even though I spent the least amount of time there in my trip, that is where it all came together.

Spend time with myself.

I definitely had the chance to spend time with myself. Sometimes it felt like it was too much time.  I got to do a lot of thinking and I guess one can say soul searching. It was an interesting process at the beginning, and got easier as time went by. It allowed me to accomplish the next thing on my list.

Explore who I am .

There is still a lot of work that has to go on here. This is one thing that will be an on going process for the rest of my life, and I am okay with that. In fact I look forward to it.  One of the great things about traveling alone is that one can do whatever one pleases at any time.  What a great feeling.  This is one of the things that I am struggling with now being back home and working again, but that is all part of the process.

Explore South America.

Oh good god, just check out the map.  I think I could probably write multiple blog entries about this, oh wait, I already did. But there is so much more. Even thought I didn’t see all of it, .

Explore different cultures.

One of my favorite things during the trip was to get away from all the touristy places and hang out where the locals hang out, especially where they eat. One thing that I learned, which I sort of already knew, is that human beings are great people. Everyone is so kind, loving, and sharing.  Yes there are some bad people in the world, but the majority of people are not, and they are not that hard to find. Whether they live in a tiny village in the mountains, or the jungle, or whether they live in a large city, we are all pretty much the same. I wish we could all see that.

Meet people.

I met so many people on this trip, both locals and fellow travelers.  I had so many interesting conversations with so many people, ranging in so many topics. Topics ranged from local politics, to world politics, to love, to sex, to dancing, to music, to the strange man across the street, to the simple things in life, and what makes people laugh.  I loved going to a bar and just chatting up some locals. I wish I could do that as easily here.

Hang out with someone for a short bit.

I ended up doing that more than I imagined. My friend Jens met me in Quito when I got back from the Galapagos, and we traveled through Ecuador for a little over a week, until we got close to the border. He stayed to work on a farm and I continued South into Peru.  I traveled with Sarah, who I met in the Galapagos, for over two weeks in Peru. Started out with hiking and camping in Huaraz, or the Peruvian Alps as some call them, to the Nasca lines, to Colca Canyon, and finally ending our journery in Cusco. We had hoped to see Machu Pichu together, but she ran out of time and did a shorter trip. I stayed behind and did a five day hike. I then radomly ran into Tom in Chile. We had hiked, along with Sarah, in Peru. Tom and I ended up traveling over a month together, ending both our trips in Buenos Aires.  I love you guys, and will forever be greatful for being able to spend time with you, and make my trip that much better.

Learn from other travelers, hell other people.

Wow, I am not sure how to expand on this one. I am still figuring out all that I learned and experienced from other people. Thank you.

This was an amazing trip. The travel bug has bit me big time, and can’t wait to head out again and explore this amazing planet that we all inhabit.

This would be the last stop on my trip. I love this city. I think it is one my favorite cities. I could really see myself living there. I was fantasizing working for a US company while living there. I could party all night, wake up late do some work, and then party some more.

I really got used to having dinner after ten and then going out to the wee hours in the morning. My latest night, which was the second to last night of the trip, ended at 10:30 in the morning. Met some friends for drinks, and then we went out to dinner. Left the restaurant at on,e when we noticed that the only other people there were staff sitting at the bar. We then went to a bar until closing. Then danced tango at Salon Canning until four and headed to another bar. We weren’t ready to go home yet. We talked until we noticed that the sun was up and then ordered another round. By that time we had already been drinking coffee with beer chasers. Something that I really liked. It was kind of awkward stumbling home in the bright sunlight while the city was already in full swing.

¡Ah Mi Buenos Aires Querida!

I spent two nights in Iguazu and had a really great time. The falls were amazing. The town itself was okay, but it had a really good night life. Spent about 10 US on an all you can eat parilla and then spent the night dancing at Cuba Libre, a club with three different floors with different kinds of music. But no Salsa. Weird.

I stopped here for just one night, before flying out to Iguazu to see the falls. I came back after Iguazu for a few days.

My friend Tom said, “Ushaia is perhaps the most beautifully situated city I have ever been to.”, and I would have to agree. The landscape surrounding Ushaia is simply breathtaking.  Everywhere you look, you see snow capped mountains.  Amazing.

Tom and I arrived Friday night.  We took a bus down from Punto Arenas, with Matias, an Argentinian we met at the hostel there.  We sat at the back of the bus eating cheese, crackers, and drinking a bottle of malbec, while Tom played the guitar. It was a fun ride. I was so happy that it was a full moon that night, so that I could see the mountain range on the way down.

Matias went to his aunt’s house, and Tom and I went on a hunt for a hostel. On the third try we found a place to stay, which ended up being really comfortable. It had heated floors, which was great since its pretty cold down at the end of the world in June. We had dinner at the traditional Argeninian time, 10:30ish. Actually that may be a bit early.  We then ended up at an “Irish Pub”, and drank a really good local micro-brew, Beagle. They had a blond, a red, and black. I was drinking the black, but couldn’t tell if it was a porter or a stout. Either way I was really happy to not drink lagers anymore.

On Saturday, we explored the town, which is pretty small. On Sunday we went on a hike in the national park.  It was a pretty easy hike, but it was gorgeous.  On Monday Matias and his friend, Sergio, took us on a hike to Laguna Esmeralda.  That was an amazing hike, even though the trail was covered in snow, ice, and water. My feet got soaked but they were okay as long as we kept moving. At the lake we drank mate and had lunch. It was an amazing hike. We had plans to hike up to a glacier outside of town and then take a boat tour on Wednesday, but it rained the whole day, and we were not in the mood to get wet again, so we hung out at a coffee shop.

On Thursday we took a plane to Buenos Aires. I stayed for one night and flew to Iguazu the next morning.