Chile... With no plans

On the 6th of March I got off flight PU401 in Santiago Chile with the dream and intentions of buying a motorcycle and riding the 10,000 km back to Jackson. For a couple weeks I mastered the public transport as I looked for bikes and made daily trips to the ATM. My resolve was tested as I watched a dog work its way out into traffic only to get smashed and shiver to death. However my dream was bigger than a dog and by Tuesday the 18th I was ready to buy the motorcycle. That morning the owner called and told me he couldn’t sell the bike until the following day due to unexpected meetings. That same night I got word that my mother had been in a serious car accident. I was informed she had several broken bones, the car was destroyed, but they knew she was going to be ok because she was still ordering my father around. Relieved but shaken I went for a long run and ultimately decided against my dream of 11 countries by motorcycle. I have never been a religious person, and hopefully never will be, but the sequence of events messed with me. Because our decisions define who we are, I have struggled with whether I chose not to go due to a weak will, fear, or justified reasons. Whatever it was it left me with a lot of cash and no plan. For a couple weeks I bummed around, partied, and felt truly unmotivated and lost. Until then I always had a plane to catch, a brother to meet, or a farm to work on. With no plan and even less motivation I continuously made and discarded plans for where to travel and who to see.


Even with no plan I continued to have a good time with old friends who were studying in Santiago. One weekend I managed to hop on one of 70 busses that were taking students from Universidad Catolica to the beach. It’s hard to have a bad time on a beach with 3000 college kids, live music, free booze and good food. A few days later I saw on the news that cruise ships often need workers who speak English. I was motivated enough to try hitchhiking the 150 km to Chile´s major port, Valparaiso. After receiving about a dozen middle fingers and waiting about 3 hours in the sun holding up my thumb I threw in the towel and paid the $3 for the bus ride. With hopes of working my way home a huge ship I spent two days asking around only to find out I would have to work for 6 months and start in September. Disappointed I returned to Santiago and the great family that was providing me with food and shelter. Surrounded by friends and with a free place to stay leaving Santiago was not easy, but by the 28th of March I had made up my mind to move on and started heading north.


I stopped in Valparaiso for a couple good games of Chilean soccer and then I continued north to Antofagasta. There I stayed with my Chilean “brother” who lived with us for 6 months as an exchange student. With the desire to go camping I hitchhiked north to Iquique. The day after being welcomed by my Chilean family, with whom I stayed with during my exchange, I was dropped in the desert for two nights of self reflection and photography. The time slowed and water became far more important as I sat in the primitive shelter I had constructed to provide some sort of shadow. A couple UFO sightings and thousands of thoughts later I was picked up and taken back to civilization. Here in Iquique I have been eating steak, sausages, the best empanadas in the world, and churros with powdered sugar hot out of the oil. I just landed after an incredible flight with the vultures for my first time paragliding! In a couple days I head north to Arica, Chile for a night and then into Peru.

-Headed in the direction of home with Machu Picchu, Lima, Costa Rica, LA, and the Grand Canyon as my lasts stops on an amazing journey.

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