A Few Things I've Learned

This trip is, has, and will be one of the defining moments of my life. I have learned so much about other cultures, about myself, and in a phrase have "grown up" to quite an extent while traveling around. In all honesty, planning this adventure in my friend's apartment in Brazil I was scared out of my mind. Travel? For months on end? By myself? What would I find getting off a bus into an entirely new and foreign environment? How could I leave so soon after arriving, just when I was starting to get the feel for things there, to do it all over again? Going away to college taught me how to depend on myself, but this trip brought it to a whole other level. It is one thing to go away, live with other people, shop and live and survive in a culture you are used to. But it is entirely different to be stuck in another country, lacking ability to communicate, unfamiliar with how things work, trying to find food to eat when you don't know what you are buying (which has ended up amazingly well and disguntingly horrible). And what if something doesn't work out? What do you do when something comes unexpectedly out of the blue that wasn't in the guide book? That, my friends, teaches you about yourself. What you are made of. What you can get through. Paraguay was the first real place I traveled, and while so difficult at the time, was so good for me in the end. Barely grasping spanish, being so completely alone in culture, skin color, social position, etc. from all those around me, not even a traveler to share experiences with, was hard. Not all my experiences, indeed the majority, haven't been this extreme. But to start out it was hard but rewarding, and I can take just about anything in stride these days.

One of the many other things I have learned while traveling is that I really, really like mountains. It is a passion. My first indication probably would have my desire to travel from Brazil all the way down the bottom of South America just to see and trek in Patagonia. Though I made stops along the way, that was around 72 overall hours in busses, one leg being 36 hours straight. Next indication would have been the two weeks I planned on staying there turning into about 4, then the 3 weeks I planned on taking to Bolivia taking about two months. Trekking had taken over my travel, and I was loving every minute of it. Finally, it was blindingly obvious that after 3 months of solid trekking, with an aching body, having survived freezing nights, snow storms, and winds strong enough to knock me over and blow away my tent, I felt depressed and dejected upon mailing home my tent. Other than a few choice moments in my life, including the time I ate an entire box of cracker jacks and didn't find a ring inside, it was one of the saddest days of my life.

Now I am possibly about to sacrifice half my trip to spend more time in the mountains. The Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash in Peru, various parks and peaks in Ecuador, then a sampling in Colombia, and I will be satisfied. I don't care how far I get after that. While Mayan pyramids, Carribean beaches, and all the culture that would await in Central America would be awesome, I would never forgive myself if I passed up the amazing opportunities offered in these mountains. Just check out some of the peaks and scenery available. Hopefully all will turn out well and I can complete the journey home, but for now, I am focusing on over a month of trekking to do in Peru, perhaps the same in Ecuador and Colombia, and scaling some peaks and volcanoes over 20,000 feet, maybe even skiing down a couple. I am absolutely, entirely, and completely in heaven.