Sorry if I worried you, Marie! I`ve just posted another blog and will write a new one now - it is tricky to get to good computers sometimes but I really need to make an effort to keep in touch well. All my best!
awesome Haven't heard from you for about 10 days...hope all is ok with you..enjoying your blogs and comments...surely an adventure of a lifetime...Peace, Marie
Thanks Uncle John! I will try to upload photos one of these days but it is such a frustrating endevour here even to download them to CD and have backups. Ick. I hope you are well and enjoying summer in the Pacific Northwest. Don`t say you never will take this trip! You could well and might just love it. Chao!
Our journey continues through you Thank you, Emily, for taking us on your journey. It's one we will never take, but through you. More pics please, when you can.
Thanks Nana and Grandpa! I am having a great time still and will update this again soon. I promise that I am being careful and staying safe and definitely running into some great adventures in spite of caution. Love you loads.
Que stupendo! Hola chica - Que buen description. Quiero ir a Iragassu tambien.
And speaking of ponchos, I found one in a closet marked "Canadian rain poncho" so I guess I will wear it with gusto in Peru soon. Travel-on companeros y buen viaje.
Hey Carole Leah! My route is a bit circuitous, yes, and wasn´t especially planned out before I left so I have been able to be spontaneous with things. Starting in Buenos Aires, I headed up the coast of Uruguay of course and am now going to loop back to Bs As after meeting with my friend Mary-Dan this Saturday at Iguassu Falls. We will head across Argentina to Santiago together when she flies away back to Canada and then I will go up to Bolivia I think, through Chile and Northern Argentina. After that it´s Peru and Bolivia, possibly Ecuador also and back across the Patanal to Sao Paolo for my flight home on August 23rd. That means that I leave Brazil tomorrow and then come back in 2 and a half months or similar. Anyway, anything could change and I am by no means seeing everything in South America on this voyage!
I am shocked that Uruguay is not more popular as a destination - I adored it. If I had money burning holes in my pockets I would buy land or a home or similar in Colonia as it is only a one hour ferry ride from Bs As and I think that adds accessability and value. Plus it´s gorgeous and already set up for tourists, but mainly tourists from Argentina and other parts of Uruguay. I notice loads of differences between countries, not just the language but the culture, the people´s attitudes towards the world, and on and on. It will be interesting to compare other parts of Argentina with the capital as well because I am sure that there will be major differences in smaller towns and other cities. I have been traveling for going on four weeks now and there is still loads and loads to experience! Thank you for you good wishes!
Thanks for the good wishes, Auntie Josie! I hope all is well in your neck of the woods with you and yours. Everything you said in your comment was absolutely right - I am just trying to keep experiencing as much as I can.
there and back I'm interested in knowing more about your larger itinerary. Are you circumnavigating the continent? Have you noticed differences (besides the obvious language) between the countries? We don't hear much about Uruguay. Why not?
Glad to hear you are safe and meeting great folks. Keep writing!
the envy of all Hi darling Emmy, you are so great to venture forth. Keep your eyes very open, don't miss a thing and try to keep an open mind. We tend to think or compare 'other' places to our own and there are many surprises out there. It's the people, always, the people. We are all travelling with you, Have a super day to-day and then there's always, to-morrow. sending love and hugs Aj
Impressive I guess this means you are over your passing out phase eh? If you could stay up the entire night there... how come you couldn't even stay up until 1am here?! Huh? HUH?!! lol Needless to say, I'm impressed...nice work!
It really is an amazing trip. You both will have to come wandering down here some time! Uruguay is truly not to be missed. Thank you for the positive thoughts!
Hi Marie! I am definitely a Peiffer with loose feet. I get greedy about it, eh? Wanting to adventure in this amazing world of ours that is simultaneously so big and so small. I am definitely careful with health concerns - I don't eat meat so that helps a lot I think. Thank you so much for the good wishes.
Thank you for your good wishes, Carole Leah! There is indeed supposed to be Uruguayan rain sometime soon - how did you know? Ha ha. At least, that's what the lighthouse keepers were forecasting in Cabo Polonio. I'm now up the coast a bit and it is quite nice out, with just a few clouds but nothing too ominous. Nothing except the name of this place - Punta del Diablo - is ominous, that is. Anyway, I hope you and your family are all doing well - I would love an update on your life! I suppose the younguns are still in school as they don't get this beautiful four month university summer yet, eh? Give my best to everyone.
Hey Mum! I hope that I am selling Uruguay to everyone... it really is underappreciated in the world and not enough people come here. It is unmissable, though. I'm so glad I made it. Definitely stoked for MD to come, and perhaps some other visiters also? Hmmmm? I am trying to soak up as much of the local culture as possible and take adventures as they come to me. Love you loads.
Hi Adam! I am indeed having an amazing adventure - lots of smaller adventures all compiled into one massive one, really. I'm being careful too, of course. And you don't have to do this trip when you're a whippersnapper like me! Anyone can. Seriously. Just get a good backpack and head off. Thank you so much for the good wishes and thoughts!
Hey Reid,
I am definitely taking good care of myself and being safe and cautious but also having amazing adventures. I have to do it now when I'm not working, eh? And age is not real - don't you know? It's just made up so I might be young but I manage pretty well - knock on wood. See you sometime, somewhere, in this small world of ours!
Hello from Iowa Cousin great to read of your adventures--have grand niece teaching in S. Korea who did your kind of thing in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Japan; also she was in Spain and Argentina; I have friends working in Mexico, Mali, Ethiopia, Haiti, Ukraine, one friend visiting daughter in Chile....I was recently in Haiti, Indonesia and Singapore. I keep up with all of them via SKYPE and email....truly a small world...thanks for sharing...you know you get this wonderlust honestly...your dad's ancestors on 3 sides came from Germany, around FL to New Orleans, up Mississippi via ship in 1847, your great grandparents, great uncles, and cousins all ardent travelers...my mom used to say Peiffer's had "loose feet"! Advice from an ardent traveler and health professional--Watch out for water, uncooked food and mosquitoes! Hope to meet you someday...
Peace, Marie
windowpane Hey Emily,
I've been lurking back here, reading your posts as they come up. Your travels sound amazing. I'm sure it gets tedious reading about how jealous we are. Spring is not much to be missed around here. The rain has been torrential for the last week in Seattle. Uruguayan rain would be delightful. I appreciate reading your travel journal though I might not always pipe up to say so. Be well.
entries and comments Does everyone realize that you can read and respond to all of Em's blogs on this site? Also, you can sign up and get notified of a blog entry in your e-mail.
And yes Reid we are a little loco for letting her go. On the other hand, she is 20... I wish I was that brave and smart at 20 (or now for that matter)xoxoJanet
the beach party lifestyle I loved your description of the way you happened upon an opportunity to spend an evening with some locals. How better to understand a culture? I hope everyone reading this realizes they can read and comment on all of your entries!
Wow - MD making an appearance - you must be stoked!
Everyone's going to want to go to Uruguay now.
Love, Mom
I am a Canadian student of Human Rights, Political Science, Spanish and a bit of Philosophy thrown in for good measure. I love to experience culture and find beauty in people and places on a backpacker's budget. I hold adventure over comfort but balance safety with adventure and usually head off on my own loving the independence of a nomadic lifestyle. This blog currently documents my four month trip to South and Central America in the summer of 2009 but will include future adventures as well. Although I am not currently travelling, I write a column on culture and travel in my university n... full info
Aunt Jean & Uncle John
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Thanks for the latest installment
Can't wait for the pics; but, I guess we have to. We are loving your stories and the mental pics you create for us.