[Written on 02/21/23]
Since traveling, I found I haven’t developed a routine of writing. There will be weeks where I write everyday and weeks where I don’t write one word. While this last month consisted of not writing very much, I felt the craving within my body for my pen and paper. To express some of my all-consuming thoughts, to help digest hard ideas, or simply to pair words with pretty photos from Chile and Argentina. So it’s later than I would have liked, but I’ve given myself the time to write now.
I’ll start with the end of the world. Ushuaia is mountainous and extremely windy. It’s more developed than I imagined as well but I found it underwhelming, which makes sense because there’s not much to do there besides tours. I just enjoyed zooming out on Google maps and seeing how close I was to Antártica.
There was a point in Ushuaia when Julián and I realized we needed to be back in central Chile in less than 2 weeks. Having taken our time going down Chile, my mindset switched gears to go slow but that wasn’t the case in Argentina, we had to get up the country, and fast!
So, after running through every possible plan, we decided it best to take out some of the Patagonia towns and just go to El Calafate to see the all enormous Perito Moreno glacier (yeah, the one that’s actually growing)! After one of the worst bus rides of my life from Ushuaia, we finally made it to the insanely touristy town of El Calafate. It took me 2 days but I finally understood why everyone said you only need to see the glacier and then get out of there. The town is tiny yet packed with foreigners!
The glacier, absolutely beautiful.
The next phase in our plan was to fly into Mendoza because if paid with cash, the ticket was cheaper than a bus ride and 3 days faster, hah… So we jumped back up to central Argentina and I was excited to be in a familiar place again, or rather, to see familiar faces. I learned that it’s not always a good idea to mix different parts of your world together. My volunteer work in Mendoza was very different from my time traveling in the Patagonia with Julian and the two parts of my trip didn’t mesh well together…
Nonetheless, my heart was warmed from my Mendoza friends. I got to see more of the city than before and even go to the base of Aconcagua. Going back meant that leaving again was even harder because I saw people that I thought I was never going to see again. Goodbyes are always the hardest part for me.
It was a bittersweet goodbye one evening in Mendoza. I was sad to leave but grateful to have been there again. I was also heading to Santiago to see my parents after 6 months of traveling. My heart was full with emotion that night.
I got to introduce my lovely parents to Valparaiso where they walked the same steps that I did months before and met people who are dear to me. This was an exciting week but I definitely didn’t account for the heat that would be there in February. I think they were glad to escape some winter back home!
We also got to explore Bariloche, Argentina together, all with fresh eyes. This was a nice change of pace from the busy cities in Chile. We ate asados, Swiss chocolate, and French fries until we couldn’t eat anymore! The city is also filled with breweries which was fun. The days flew by with them but was a much needed recharge for me.
And then the goodbye inevitably came and felt strange because I felt like I should be leaving, going home with them. I have such a short amount of time left traveling, about a week in Chile before my 2 week job in Puerto Rico. So my mindset is “ok you’re going to be traveling a week by yourself and then switch gears to work mode and then home.” I’m trying to enjoy this last week and reflect when I can. Take time to observe and appreciate little things like making a friend at the busy Santiago terminal when your bus is 2 hours late. I’m in no rush to finish my trip, no hurry to rush my life, I want to slow down. That’s why I’m going to La Serena and San Pedro de Atacama. I’m going to spend time on the beach and under the huge starry sky, taking my time to take it all in.