Patagonia in 12 Days

I'm not usually one to recommend rushing through travel. I am so grateful for the gift of time in the past year to savor and experience all the wonderful places I've been able to see. However, after realizing I needed to get back to Santiago rather quickly to get started on various work projects, I had to plan a pretty strict itinerary in order to see the parts of Patagonia on my list. I thought that my itinerary might be helpful to share with others as well as it would certainly fit well into a 2-week vacation taken from the states. Patagonia is such a vast area comprising the southern area of both Argentina and Chile, there are so many beautiful places to see and things to do. The best time to visit is December-February as it is summer, and don't let the icebergs fool you, it really does feel like summer! You can start on either the Chile side or Argentina side, but since I was coming from Buenos Aires, I started on the Argentina side first and flew to Ushuaia, Argentina for my first stop.

Ushuaia

Ushuaia, known as the southernmost city in the world, is situated on a bay bordered by a mountain range to the north and the Beagle channel to the south. It is also where you can take a boat trip to Antarctica, but this is extremely costly and takes no less than 9 days (another trip!). Once I arrived, I opted to take a boat trip along the Beagle Channel where you stop at various smaller islands to see some of the indigenous animals and take in a spectacular view of the famous lighthouse (although this is actually not the most southern lighthouse I was informed). The following day, I took a bus to the national park where I was fortunate to meet two very nice Irish girls also traveling who I hiked with for the day and then later realized we were staying at the same hostel in the next town the following night. From Ushuaia, I took a morning flight to El Calafate, Argentina.

At the end of the world

El Calafate is a wonderfully quaint town with spectacular landscape. I really loved the hostel I stayed at here and found everyone to be very friendly, we even had an asado the first night I was there which was a great opportunity to meet fellow travelers, drink lots of Malbec and practice some Spanish. One of the most popular tourist sites to see is the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the only growing glaciers in Patagonia. It is also known for its spectacular ruptures caused by the pressure of the ice that creates small water dams in the lake and causing the ice to break off in grand, loud displays. It was a spectacular site and everyone cheered each time we witnessed an intense rupture. I did sign up to do a day tour of the glacier which included a guided mini trekking on the ice. I don't always love touristy attractions, but this was one not to be missed. The shear size of the glacier is really astounding.

Ice trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier

The next morning I took a bus to El Chalten (about 3 hours away). El Chalten is a small mountain village at the base of the Torre mountain, and its more famous neighbor, the Fitz Roy mountain. A small village indeed, there is basically two streets of quaint restaurants, hostels and lodges and the paths to both mountains start right from the town. The first day I hiked the Fitz Roy path, about 8 hours roundtrip, with a new friend I had met in Calafate. On the second day, I ventured out myself on one of the other shorter paths, and pretty exhausted, jumped back on a bus returning to El Calafate for the night.

View of Fitz Roy from the hiking trail

The following morning, I boarded a bus to Puerto Natales, Chile (about 5-6 hours) a small city in Patagonia Chile which is the primary tourist stop for those venturing into Torres del Paine National Park. I checked into a hostel and then hurried around town to rent camping equipment and purchase my food for the upcoming 5-day, 4-night trek I planned to take in Torres del Paine, known as the W trek. I was both excited and nervous for the trip as I figured it would be challenging (and certainly something I had never done before) and also I was a bit apprehensive to embark alone. Luckily for me, groups of travelers start the trek each day so it is quite easy to meet people that will take the same path as you for the duration of the hike. I was even more fortunate that I found some new friends I had met in El Calafate, the nicest couple from England, who offered to let me join up with them. We ended up having a great time, albeit extremely challenging. I really don't think I've done anything harder in my life to date. I think carrying everything on my back was really the hardest part, especially since we walked sometimes 25+ kilometers in one day! Even with the pain and exhaustion, it ended up being an experience I am so glad I took. The landscape is breathtaking and the adventure of the trip itself was a blast. Needless to say, I have never enjoyed a shower and warm bed as much as the night I returned back to Puerto Natales.

Torres del Paine

Camping for 1

unreal scenery

The next afternoon I hopped on a Sky Airlines (the best to use while traveling in Chile and surrounding) back to Santiago where I am now getting settled and putting together the pieces of my "living abroad life." I am excited to share what more is in store in the months ahead...

Sunrise the final day at Torres del Paine

Solo Traveling: Lonely or Liberating?

I first found out how much I enjoyed time to be alone when I moved into my own apartment in New York City. There, amidst the the craziness of NYC and the West Village buzz, I could have my own space to do what I wanted, when I wanted. It was certainly a freeing concept. I love being around people, I have always worked well with people and I have lots of friends, but there is something to be said about giving yourself some time to decompress, or read, or cook or really whatever you need to do for yourself. After getting comfortable with the concept of "being alone" I became more open to activities or events I would do by myself, whether it was a race in the park or going to a movie or sitting in a cafe. Sometimes, it was nice to have some internal peace and just be. I think many people have a lot of issues with being alone. Perhaps they get bored or anxious, but I think that really has to do with getting to know yourself and being comfortable with yourself. Yoga has helped me with this skill immensely. As I become more in tune to what's going on inside, physically, mentally, emotionally, I am able to better understand what my body needs. Perhaps it's a loud night out with a bunch of friends, or perhaps its taking a few minutes to meditate alone, but whatever it is, I am respecting myself. This notion of being alone has certainly come into play as I've been traveling and I have found that often people first ask if I'm traveling alone. This is an interesting concept to most. "That's so brave!" or "Aren't you lonely?" But I honestly have to say, I love it! You have the freedom to literally decide what you want to do at any point on any day, and it's not just about having a selfish itinerary. I enjoy the time alone to observe and reflect on these amazing experiences. Sure, there have been times where I've seen a ruckus family or a laughing group of friends or a couple sharing a moment, and maybe I was feeling a bit lonely that day so it does make you miss your own connections to the people back home. But, I have also found that being alone forces you to be even more outgoing. I can't even count how many more conversations I've struck up or people I've introduced myself to that I might otherwise have never met...and what's better than meeting new friends around the world? Maybe nothing, except taking a few minutes each day to be alone :)

A new year, a new adventure to begin

Well, it's 2013....amazing how this year has flown by. I feel like just yesterday I was packing up my New York City apartment in order to set out on a life-changing journey. One year later, I'm in South America, maybe to live for awhile, and with a new perspective and some new life goals as we move into a new year. A lot has certainly changed....

I arrived in Santiago a few weeks ago to begin settling into my new life and putting the pieces together of job prospects, apartment hunting and networking connections. After re-acquainting myself with some of the familiar spots, I headed to Buenos Aires to visit friends over the Christmas holiday. Being a predominantly catholic country I was surprised at how "un-christmas like" the city was. Few lights adorned apartments, stores were not bombarded with decorations and trees, people didn't seem to have that anxious holiday energy. Perhaps the Christmas frenzy exists only in the US? After a few sweltering days in the Argentina heat, we headed to Uruguay for some R&R in Punta del Este, one of the most famous southeastern coastal vacation spots in the country.

Punta is known to many as "the Hamptons of South America" where the tanned and beautiful roam the beaches by day and the clubs by night. This is certainly the case, but we opted for a more relaxed week of soaking in the sun and touring the various parts of the city and neighboring areas. Our residence, Casa Pueblo, was a vacation all in itself as it is a famous house of a Uruguayan artist, now a hotel, museum and restaurant attracting tourists to some of the best sunsets I have seen in my life to date. For new years eve, we attended a beautiful house party, where the DJ tunes gave way to dancing into sunrise of 2013.

Casa Pueblo

After a week of sun and fun, we divided up as a group and I continued on with my friend Jaclyn to another beach town, Punta del Diablo, just 3 hours north of Punta del Este along the coast. For those familiar with the New York city summer retreats: If Punta del Este is to the Hamptons, Punta del Diablo is to Fire Island, totally my vibe. The sleepy beach town is filled with holiday house rentals, loosely structured cabanas adorned with hammocks, hippie-like hostels and a strip of restaurants and bars in the "centro". Unfortunately, due to the high season, we weren't able to secure a place to sleep (aside from the beach) so we spent the day and then headed to Montevideo where we spent the next 2 days soaking up a few more rays along the city's coast.

Punta del Diablo

Now, back in Buenos Aires after a fantastic and relaxing start to the new year, I'm packing up my backpack once more to head south, very south, (to the end of the world to be exact) to begin an adventure through Patagonia. Sending much love to my friends and family around the world and a happy new year! more to come soon....besitos!!