Ch-ch-changes. Yes, folks, the time has come. We are changing our lifestyle. No longer are we dining nightly on filet mignons and bottles of wine. This point in our trip marks a major transition for us as we are moving much farther from "vacationers" toward the "true backpacker" side of the travel spectrum, i.e. staying in shared dorm rooms, cooking in the hostel kitchen. True backpackers eat lots of spaghetti. Lots. This change began in Bariloche, the largest city in Argentine's Lake District, which is in the northern part of Patagonia. Patagonia is beautiful but it is expensive, compared to the rest of Argentina. Eating out every night would take a substantial toll on our budget (also, the restaurant options down there aren't as varied as they are in BsAs, so we told ourselves we wouldn't ... read more

Argentina´s long-distance buses are generally pretty comfortable, with cushy seats that recline pretty far back, which is important when you are taking an overnight bus and need to get some sleep. Overnight buses are the best because you save money by not paying for lodging and hopefully you can pass the time by sleeping (which I can do at the drop of the dime, although John usually needs drugs...like horse tranquilizers). Even for me, however, the bus ride from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile was pretty horrendous. BORDER CROSSING IS NOT FUN. Especially in the middle of the night. We were awoken at 1:30 AM and had to get off the bus to wait in long line after long line getting various things stamped. For some reason all of this took 4 hours, so we did ... read more

I hate to sound clichè, but words literally cannot describe what we witnessed at Iguazú National Park. These pictures can give you an idea, but they do not come anywhere close to capturing the experience of what it feels like to stand in front of the falls for yourself, to try to absorb all that you are seeing before you, to feel the water´s spray on your skin and to hear its thundering roar echoing in your ears. We all left the park that day agreeing that everyone in the world needs to come to Iguazú Falls and experience it for themselves, or at least, as Mike put it, "all the people I really care about." Basically, you all need to come down here (preferrably now, we´d love to hang out)...but seriously, this is something you ... read more

So, we have decided to write a travel blog, to keep all our people back home informed on our lives down in South America. We spent our first months down here in the amazing city of Buenos Aires. Though we are excited to move on and start life on the road, there is much we will miss about the city we have called home for the past two and a half months. As it would be impossible to describe everything we have done since our arrival in Buenos Aires, we decided to do a list the 10 best/most memorable aspects of our time here. 1. Palermo Viejo/Palermo SoHo Tree-lined streets filled with countless bars, restaurants, boutiques, art galleries and plazas that would swell with people on the weekends...this is a neighborhood we could happily live in ... read more