South America In Review: Recap & Reflections

Recap:

• Backpacked around South America for 6.5 months by myself (Feb-Aug 2012).
• Visited 9 countries (Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Colombia, Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay).  I originally intended to go to Venezuela, but due to time, money and safety, I will visit the country later.
• Visited sites such as Patagonia, Machu Picchu, the Galapagos, the Amazon, the Uyuni Salt Flats, the Andes, and Lake Titicaca.

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Ready to go with my backpack - Feb. 2012

Even before I accepted the fact that I was returning to the US, I’d been thinking about my whirlwind experience in South America and what the journey meant for me.  The first thing that I noticed is that I returned much more confident in my ability to cope in all types of situations and I’d become more tolerant of small, daily “annoyances”.  This is not something to take lightly.  

If you’re not sure what I mean, I’ll give you some insight into my trip day-to-day.  Just imagine waking up every morning in a new bed, locating the bathroom,  learning the kitchen and then having to decide what you want to do, how you want to do it and with whom.  People changed their minds, temperatures changed constantly, and some people gave you half-truths or just answered your question with something, so as not to feel unhelpful.  Most days, you went out with a heightened sense of awareness, accepting that you stuck out everywhere you went - if it wasn’t the pale face, it was the giant backpack -  yet trusting those around you and going with your gut feel in order to enjoy your experience - all in Spanish.  

Research is constant and meeting people with new ideas and opinions never ends.  Bus rides are from 20 minutes to 20 hours and sometimes there are delays up to three or four hours.  Sometimes there’s not a bus.  You’re exhausted, yet exhilarated all of the time and this makes it sometimes difficult to sleep.  Plus, you never know when you’ll get to be anywhere again, so you have to weigh taking care of yourself and taking advantage of the opportunity to build relationships with people and see as many sites as you want and can.  It’s like being on vacation for 6.5 months, but since it’s so long, you have to take care of those things that you let slide during vacation...like sleep, exercise, healthy food, flossing, reflection time, and “work”, my blog.  You end up choosing between another fried bread and meat combo or spending a little extra of your budget on that vegetarian restaurant, at the price of sacrificing a museum or souvenir.

Somehow with all of this, I found South America easy and exhilarating and much easier than general life.  Being an analytical person, I had to figure out why, so I made a list.  

Why SA was so easy:

• I had an overall vision of what I wanted and where I was going
• I was driving everything and making the majority of the decisions
• The expectation was that things would change and I would have to make new decisions based on that new reality
• The trip had built-in flexibility
• I had the expertise/confidence/comfort level necessary to modify plans when circumstances changed
• The impact was limited; it just affected me and maybe some other travelers
• There was no real negative alternative; I could turn almost everything into a positive
• I had a lot of positive experiences to counterbalance when something went wrong
• I had a lot of intense and accelerated experiences
• I was meeting people all of the time; we had a common goal
• I had a lot of forced down time and alone time, which allowed me to decompress and reflect
• I had projects that I thought were meaningful to deliver to an audience; my blog!
• I had a guidebook and had done prior research
• I had plenty of resources (e.g., people I would meet along the way)
• I had the same domain and expertise as other travelers

Coffee in Puerto Varas, Chile - March 2012

Now, if doing that sounds like fun to you and as fun as it was to me, you must pick up a guidebook on your favorite region, buy a backpack and call me or if close by, take me out to coffee.  I would be more than happy to share the excitement and to give you a few tips.

Now to do a little more reflection...

Next Time

What I won’t bring:

• Dress or skirt
• Flats for dancing, as flips flops will suffice
• Mosquito net
• Makeup - who cares?

Backpacks and stuff in Chile - March 2012

What I will bring:  

• Thin wrap for swimming (or just buy one in Brazil!)
• Swimsuit with tie around neck (optional tie, at least)
• Headlamp
• Swiss army knife or other knife for cutting fruit and veggies
• Small towel, but one size larger than what I took
• Small purse the size of a money belt (or buy one in Bolivia or Peru)
• Small computer, only if continuing blog and for downloading pics
• Music (mine was erased from my iPhone due to an upgrade before leaving; made me become very creative during long bus rides)
• Knot-tying lessons, for hanging hammocks

What I would change:

• Bring even less
• If writing, bring a cheap computer (and light) because everyone has wifi
• Send postcards
• Buy no souvenirs
• Encourage others to travel with me
• Write about current news, not just personal experiences
• Take even more risks!

Where I would go that I missed:

• Argentina - Bariloche, Antarctica from Ushuaia
• Brazil - São Luis and sand dunes, Florianopolis, Pantanal, São Paulo
• Bolivia - Bolivian jungle, Santa Cruz  
• Chile - Easter Island
• Colombia - Tayrona National Park, La Guajira, Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City trek)
• Ecuador - Rio Napo
• Paraguay - The Chaco region
• Peru - Huaraz
• Uruguay - Punta del Diablo
• Venezuela - Angel Falls

Blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos - June 2012

Where I would go again:  

• Galapagos (if someone else pays for me!)
• Rio de Janeiro
• Patagonia
• Buenos Aires
• Countless other places...

What I would do:

• Skydiving
• Diving
• Canyoning
• Portuguese lessons
• Dance classes

Lessons Learned

• I can survive anything
• I have to travel
• Living out of a backpack is easy, easier than living with a bunch of stuff.  - What will I wear today?  It’s hot, I guess my only pair of shorts! -
• Gestures work; try and people are receptive
• Rude people are everywhere, but there are more nice than rude
• I love good coffee
• Spanish and a few Portuguese words made me the liaison for other tourists
• Traveling is one of the easiest ways to make friends
• I’m a bit of a food snob or maybe just sick of rice and potatoes...veggies, please!
• Everyone is addicted to caffeine - Brazil and Colombia - coffee, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - maté
• Latin America knows how to party and I’m not used to that...1-5 a.m. is normal
• There is nothing that sleep and food won’t cure
• Learned more about me and about US; increased worldview and understanding

Skills sharpened or acquired:

• Decision making with little or too much information - You have to make a decision about what you will do and where you will go everyday.  This is not for the lazy!  
• Writing with little review time  - For my blog, I had to use the internet when I could find a cafe and when it was open.  I couldn’t spend hours proofing due to time and money.
• Incrementalism - Blog and travel review.  Seized opportunity to write or research.  Never knew when I would get access to internet or info.
• Networking and data gathering - Every day, I met new people and would receive information from them on the latest and greatest. Changed plans according to new data and new people.
• Flexibility - New info or new culture; always ready to readjust reality to meet new situation.
• Adaptability to new cultures - Yes, every country is different and you need to pick up on that quickly.
• Keeping current on news - Kept informed on South America and US so would know what’s happening where I was going and to make the best decisions.  Also, everyone is watching what the US is doing.  I needed to keep up on the news in order to answer questions, provide opinions, etc.

Favorite Memories - People, Places & Fiestas

These are in no particular order.  There were many others, so please feel free to email me if you feel that I left one off!
People

• Meeting and interviewing women of Tatakuna, at Proyecto Horizonte in Bolivia
• Drinking maté with Fernanda and Celeste, from Buenos Aires
• Working with volunteers at Proyecto Horizonte in Cochabamba, Bolivia

• 

  With Laurie in Peru in a slanted little café - May 2012

  Staring at tarantulas and geting over my fear of spiderwebs with Laurie in the Peruvian rainforest
• Talking travel with Emily and Habib in the Brazilian Amazon
• Chilling in bus with Daniel, Uruguayan bus driver, while waiting to cross border and drying my soaked backpack
• Hanging out with Karin and trekking to Christ statue during Semana Santa in Sucre, Bolivia
• Staying with Eliana and learning about her and her sisters during a citywide transportation strike in La Paz, Bolivia
• Going on “date” in Cordoba, Argentina with guy from Uruguay
• Traveling with six throughout Chile -  Leo and Saulo from Brazil, Eva from Switzerland, Emma from New Zealand, and Ernie from Latvia
• Exploring Valdivia, Chile with Lúcia

• Talking nonviolent communication with Leslie in Ecuador
• Pasta in a bottle with Facundo and Sebastian in Cordoba, Argentina
• Chatting with a family on a trek in Iguaçu Falls park
• Running around and up to the tallest hills of Santiago in one day with Andrea in Chile
• Talking politics and culture with a family in the Tatacoa desert in Colombia
• Being adopted by three older couples traveling together in La Piedra, Colombia
• Morning chats with my Bolivian brother, Aldo
• Cruising through Chilean seaside with Juan and Juanita
• Evening tea with my host mom in Bolivia
• Running to find my bus to the airport with Nancy, Sebastian and Facundo in Buenos Aires
• Late night chats with Ryan in Medellin, Colombia
• Experiencing real Argentine barbecue with Luciana and Daniela
• Chill nights on Galapagos with Leslie, Aurelie, and Marcos

Places (Events)

• Climbing Fitz Roy outside of El Chaltén, Argentina
• Mating dances of the blue-footed boobies in The Galapagos
• Hitchhiking on a milk truck in rural Ecuador with Leslie
• Drinking espresso and eating eggplant gnocchis at Cafe Brasilero in Montevideo, Uruguay
• Floating down the Amazon river in hammocks with Inês, Ben, Michelle and David
• Conquering Wayna Picchu and her fear of heights with Laurie
• Purification in waterfall during Inti Raymi outside of Otavalo, Ecuador
• Viewing penguins in Tierra del Fuego with Diana
• Trekking through Quilotoa and meeting the “woman with dogs” in Ecuador
• Pão de Azuçar, stroganoff in Ipanema, and the beach at night with Bruno
• Exploring the Peruvian Amazon with Laurie
• Chivito at El Viajero, made by Eugenia in Montevideo, Uruguay
• Gazing at stars and drinking hot chocolate with an astronomer with Ida and Aaron in the Atacama desert

Fiestas

Host mom's birthday party in Bolivia - May 2012

• Partying with Bolivian family and eating - host mom was the best cook!
• Beers with Irish and English girls in Ipanema, Brazil
• Partying in Ilha Grande with sisters, Raman and Simi (bonfire, singing, falling in the water)
• Picnic, market shopping, sushi with Rosalind in Encarnación, Paraguay
• Partying and pizza with Pablo, Lawrence, Eva, Laura and gang in Puerto Natales, Chile

Enough about me, here are some general cultural reflections (remember, these are generalizations and vary from place to place!):

• Potatoes, rice and meat is what’s for dinner.
• Everyone understands “neutral Spanish”, but each country has its own vocabulary.
• Time is flexible; learn that 3:00 p.m., usually means 3:30 p.m.
• If someone says they are late because the bus broke down, believe them.
• Coca cola is king.  It costs less than water and has more flavor.  
• Most cities are modern, but the wild is untamed.

What we could learn from South America:

Lively plaza in Potosí, Bolivia - April 2012

• Celebrate more and work less; life is to be experienced away from the workplace and computer.
• Greeting each other with a hug or kiss on the cheek isn’t a violation of personal space and it sure breaks the ice.
• Bring back or create more public squares and spaces; South America has the infrastructure for community engagement and people take advantage of it.
• Invest in public transportation - I could get around almost anywhere in South America without the need for a car, including national parks.  The system is so robust that in some countries, it’s actually much less expensive and more comfortable to travel on bus instead of plane - the seats recline to a 45 degree angle and there’s a footrest.  Taking an overnight bus after cocktails with a friend is an excellent route, trust me.

What South America could learn from us:

• Work more and celebrate less; I won’t single any country out, but I think it would be nice to place a little more focus on the problems of today and how we can change them to make tomorrow better.  With a fiesta every other day, it’s difficult to do this.
• No woman likes a macho man; receiving “piropos” or catcalls from male strangers as I walk down the street is attention I could do without.  It gets you nowhere anyway, I promise.
• Infrastructure is extremely important for the success of a country; keep paving those roads!
• Plastic is convenient, but it takes a toll on the environment.  There needs to be a convenient way to dispose of and recycle this properly.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed sharing this experience with me and I hope that you’ll consider exploring South America.  If you do, be sure to talk to me about it!

Next: I want to continue this blog to tell stories about my upcoming adventures in the States and about future travels. Please let me know if you're also interested in reading. Please comment or send me a message to my email address to let me know!

Muchas gracias,

Ashley

ashley.lacy@gmail.com

P.S. I am also adding some of my videos from the trip onto my youtube account. You can view a few below. If you want to see more, you can always subscribe to my youtube "channel". Enjoy!