Advertisement
Me - not ready to go
> 3 months of hair ... grizzlyHello all,
I am writing from Salt Lake City, Utah and I am about to embark on a 3 month journey to South America with my friend Dylan. Dylan and I have gone on an epic adventure every other summer since 2005. First was Europe, second was Asia, and now South America. The journeys have been great and progressively easier/more fun as we learn how to travel, how to experience, how to enjoy, how to endure, and how to deal with each other. Dylan and I are both in great places in life so I hope this trip is nothing but awesome. I hope as a reader you get to enjoy the blog and not only learn about South America, Dylan, and me, but also some of the culture and philosophy of different experiences in South America. Enjoy!
The attached photos are symbolic of the way we travel and my theory behind it. Traveling requires fitting everything you need into a confined space. Turning scruffy into tight and ready to go (referring to my grizzly hair). Turning a pile of various items into a neatly packed pack. Each item is well thought out and has a defined purpose. The
Me - ready to go
So clean and tidy. Shout out to my mom and brother for their noble attempt at cutting hair. more purposes that item has the more useful (more uses, less space and less weight, less space, more treasures you can bring along the way). Creating a hair cut that requires less maintenance. Bringing a pair of pants that can be used as pants, shorts, swimming shorts, and snow pants. Deciding to layer instead of bringing large bulky items. The game of packing is a game of optimization. Optimize your space, your weight, and your gear. I find great value in synthetic gear. Synthetic gear can get wet and dry quickly, have antimicrobial wicking to prevent odors, and be UV protective. All of the potentially unnecessary advancements in the world of outdoor recreation is a beautiful thing (thank you REI!!!!!!). Some more symbolism behind the photos and my theory behind that also represents how we approach travel in general. Some say we go too fast, see too many places, do too many things, and have too much fun. Well, some of these people may be right. But, my justification is an attempt to provide you with a basis on how I/we approach travel as another game of optimization. We optimize our time, money, fun, experiences, and our ability. We are
Gear - before
3 months of stuff. Enough clothes for winter in Patagonia? young and capable people who are going to have the time of their lives experiencing and enjoying as much as we can. I hope you enjoy the ride with us!
The night before I leave I feel excited, nervous, anxious, scared, ecstatic, and pumped. The emotions are great! Normally in life the same emotions are repeated due to the same stresses. Waking up, driving, school, work, working out, family, hanging with friends, significant others, etc. But this trip brings an interesting experience not only in action but in emotion. Emotions remind you that your are alive and able to experience a very wide variety of feelings. The emotions I feel now will fade and change and evolve from day to day. It will be a regular roller coaster. Kind of like living with a female. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, just kidding but you get the idea.
Tomorrow there is a 3 hour flight to Dallas Fort Worth and an 11 hour flight to Buenos Aires. There is plenty to be excited about and plenty to be worried about. We are excited for Iguazu falls, Machu Pichu, Patagonia, Rio, meat, wine, coffee and so so so much more. We are worried
Gear - after
3 months of stuff in two bags. Bring it! about not having a Brazilian visa, going to Columbia, never leaving Columbia, mountain biking in Bolivia, freezing in Patagonia, being kidnapped, and so so so much more. The excitement, the stress, oh man I am excited.
Cheers!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.129s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 6; qc: 43; dbt: 0.0673s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kristina Grim
non-member comment
Bye!!!
Have lots of fun!