How life should be lived.

Tough and extreme, Patagonia.

It’s been just over 6 months since I first landed in Quito, Ecuador. The day I first set foot in South America is still as clear today as it was back then. I’m now in North America, somewhere in Colorado and still find myself daydreaming about days I spent in school learning Spanish, nights I spent in Patagonia wondering if my tent would last the night in the hurricane force winds. I miss countries, people and time. Everything is still so clear but I look at the calendar and still ask myself where did the time go. I guess it flies when you’re having fun.

With everything in mind, time and all, I have been busy moving between continents. You all heard from me after a great month living out of my tent and travelling through Patagonia. That month was challenging but also amazing. So amazing that I still find myself talking about it, but I guess the story following Patagonia is missing. I moved onto Buenos Aires after Ushuaia.

Buenos Aires as a lot of people know is Argentina’s capital and I had planned to spend a bit of time there, relaxing and embracing the culture. I arrived all hot and bothered at 2am after a somewhat pleasant flight. I couldn’t have planned it any better, I wanted to experience the Argentinian flare at its best and BA was just that. I loved that city more than anything, it was so young but with the beauty of a mature city, so European, so Italian and so familiar. The reality of BA is that everyone in the city is related. That makes for a proud city full of proud people willing to go out of their own way for each other.

Buenos Aires had a lot going for it and I never found myself bored, especially when I could learn the Tango and walk between the city's streets doing nothing for hours. BA is the Paris of the south and it has some of South America’s best hangouts, but Tango like nothing else defines the city and defines the country. I made a friend who’s lived in the city for years and absolutely loves it. She taught me to Tango, which was great, and just about easy enough. I remember learning to Salsa back in Ecuador and that was great too, but you see Tango, it’s different and is WAY more fun, more sophisticated. It’s sort of a shame I haven’t practised much since then, but I bet I could still pull off a few moves.

Crossing the border back into "Land of Cheap" Arg-Bolv.

As great as Argentina was though, it was expensive. I ended up leaving earlier than expected by heading up through Bolivia with a friend of mine. I crossed into Peru to visit some friends, then back to Ecuador. The reason I moved so much was only because I had so much time, I was meant to spend a few weeks in BA meeting with charity workers, but that didn’t work out. That in turn gave me time, time to travel. I hit up all the usual spots back in the countries I was familiar with and I enjoyed meeting people I’d met before, and I also enjoyed speaking proper Spanish (Spanish in Chile and Argentina is different).

My hat being made!

Passing through Ecuador meant I had the chance to make some house calls, I went back to Cuenca where they made the hats and they actually showed me the whole process which was cool, and also convenient since I had to pick up a new sombrero since mine was stolen in Bolivia. Yeah, I loved that old hat, but the new one is great. So I did Ecuador, again, but still with time, the hard part was deciding what to do next, I had played with the idea of visiting Colombia several times but I was in a country I loved ohh so much, but then had the opportunity to explore another country. I pondered crossing the border north to Colombia.

Colombian breakfast.

“Beautiful women and Beautiful country”. I couldn’t ignore such an honest opinion and since I had time to be the explorer, I moved on through (I was also kind of persuaded by a cheap flight to Central America from Colombia). Another border and Colombia by night, I arrived and set myself down. Crossing over from Ecuador was easy, I was welcomed with open arms. Nothing could have prepared me for the sort of country Colombia was. I’m sure we’ve all heard stories and shied away from even the thought of visiting the country, “It just isn’t worth it”, but you know what? It is.

 Now to be honest, my time in Colombia wasn’t as trouble free as I make it sound, but whatever. The Colombians, to me where a great example on how to live life. After crossing another international border, I grabbed some grub and found my place for the night. The next morning I went on to Cali, the city of Salsa. Now this bus ride taught me something that has stuck with me ever since.


On this bus, people always smiled and always greeted each other but once it got going, we would continuously stop along the Pan-American as police would come on board. I was in Colombia and my Spanish was as good as it could be, all the local gossip was easy to understand and despite that the stops were unusual for me, not to mention frustrating since that first route was not advised at night. I ended up arriving at 2am, but I was safe. On top of that, I gained a lot of respect and patience, only because Colombians were so open. They had nothing to hide, the police would enter the bus and wish everyone a good afternoon and it was with immediate effect everyone, including myself, would reply with a smile. The police checks where usually swift and everyone went on with their day. To me, this repeated experience made the Colombians stand out.

Rainy days in Colombia.

I can only guess how annoyed I would have been at home from being stopped for nothing, but in Colombia it’s as if there are better things to stress about. I guess that can explain what I did, but can you blame me, I got stuck again. New people and rainy days.The rainy days were always the best.
A day came when I had to leave Colombia and get to Central America, I went on to Panama and Costa Rica and they were adventures on their own. The best thing I did was probably spend a day on a beach in Costa Rica before flying out and over to the US. A next to empty beach, in Central America a rarity and I loved that.

Pimped out!

One more thing though, I've come from riding some really funny buses over the past six months or so but nothing really matched the latest, and my last Latin experience on the "Diablo Rojos" of Panama City. The red devils are awesome, and are old US school buses but better, pimped out and blasting out music. What takes your fancy? Reggatone? Salsa? Dance? Just wait for the right bus. It’s kind of a let down though because I arrived in the US two weeks ago and have seen some school buses, but for some reason they don’t look as cool?


But yeah… It’s clear to me that Latin America as a region was different and the way of life seemed to form a pattern as I travelled through and around each country with each person I met. I love the Latin culture and how it always involves family. What will always stick with me is how Latin Americans, or at least those in South America work to live and to me that sets them apart from a lot of other cultures, capitalist countries, where people usually live to work. It all sounds fine and is just a mix of words but it really makes a huge difference. Latin Americans greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, or even a hug. They always have time for everyone around them.

That lesson is hard to forget and now I am in the US and missing Latin America, a region I fell in love with and that I always found myself someplace, stuck for longer than expected. My definition of stuck, though, is a sense of freedom, a freedom that let me explore cultures that I was comfortable in. I admit it, I was stuck in Latin America as a whole and in separate stages. I was stuck in Ecuador, I was stuck in Bolivia, I was stuck in Colombia. I was always stuck by choice.

Stuck? Yes, by choice.