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Published: July 30th 2006
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But before I dive into that unfortunate reality, I must conclude the last few days of what was an amazing trip. Not only for the vacation time, but the entire experience from what I saw, who I met and the overall experience of purely traveling. It has been a mental cleanse, a reset to simplicity and by all means, the traveling bug has bit me.
My last days of "traveling", before the 48 hrs of "transporting", were spent in a town named Salta, 7 hrs by bus south into Argentina. Let me just say that paved roads are nice!!! Argentina, having previously been hugely economically stable, has all the infrastructure and systems in place for !st world living, but they are just feeling the effects of a "slump" you may say. For traveling its great, costs stay low and the wine and beef are excellent. ( Even if red meat isn't exactly your hearts best friend, you still had to try some.) There's nothing too amazing to speak of in this town, but I think just the fact that you can go get an excellent cappuccino and sit outside near the plaza, where shorts or party til 6 am made
this town memorable. Essentially my time here was spent trying to figure out how I was going to either extend my trip, or extend my trip. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful at both. The pass from Mendoza ( 18 hrs south by bus) to Santiago (where my flight home is) has been closed for the past 10-15 days. So after multiple failed attempts at changing flights or finding a flight from Salta to Santiago, I was feeling antsy and decided to hop on a bus and head south. With my flight leaving in about 30 hrs, and me being about 26 hrs away (in my own car) I figured I might as well head for Mendoza. If I get stuck its not all bad being that its considered the Napa Valley of Argentina. I might be able to occupy myself one way or another. But as fate wanted it, I pulled into the Mendoza bus terminal at 10:15 am, the pass was now open and one company had a seat available on their 10:30am bus to Santiago. So without even getting to buy any vino, I was back in the bus and off on another 8 hr trip over the Andes.
I must say it was one of the most beautiful rides I had been on. At the pass you get a peak at Anconcagua ( S. Americas highest peak at 6959 m) and a full search at the border. The ride was also somewhat bitter-sweet being I knew my hours were winding down and this amazing adventure was coming to a close.
As we pulled into Santiago, which was by far the largest city I had seen in 6 weeks, the slightly faster and business oriented way of life was almost palpable. It was a quick reminder of not only what was awaiting me in the states, but more importantly of the drastic contrast I had been living in these past weeks. The slower, simpler way was one that really worked for me and is now one I hope to relatively maintain in the real world.
With a couple days to settle back into things here in Santa Cruz before I returned to work, I was reflecting and comparing constantly. And probably trying to resist reality as much as possible. But what I'm happy to say is that I feel fantastic, clear headed, optimistic about the next journey
(whatever it is) and happy to see family and friends. (You all are wonderful) I just finished my first week back treating patients and I must say it feels good. Its great to share stories with those who were there before you left (somehow they're still there) who comment on how different I am compared to before. How my smile won't go away. So now the challenge is to keep that smile permanently, but as I said before, the traveling bug has bit, and I think thats the key to the smile. Next chapter, traveling PT.
I hope those of you that were interested and able to follow along with this blog enjoyed it. It was a great medium for expression and venting and highly recommend it for anyone looking to travel. The trip was everything and more than I hoped for, just what the doctor ordered. Thank you to all who shared in the experience, thanks to Mitch for giving me this leave and letting this trip become reality. I hope all of you out there are happy and healthy and our paths cross soon.
Happy Trails,
Matt
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