Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
So then , my time has come and Iīm now about to head off to the airport to fly back home to what I am told is a very cold England ! Itīs the end of what has been truly a trip of a lifetime ... a completely fabulous 12 months in Latin America travelling through 14 countries across thousands & thousands of miles with more hours on buses than I can care to remember. Iīve seen so many amazing things and had so many awesome travel experiences during this year that I think it will probably all only really deeply sink in when I get back home , re-read this travelblog in itīs entirety and look again at the thousands of photos. At this point as I am about to embark on my journey home I think itīs quite natural that I have a mixed range of emotions. I feel really lucky & privileged to have had this chance to live out a long held dream and of course I have a palpable sense of sadness that itīs now over. But I also feel a strong sense of accomplishment and completion at having planned and undertaken this trip and there is a big part of me that Iīm pleased to say is quite ready for home. Pleased to say because this is how I hoped my trip would end , with me feeling quite ready and having a sense of completion rather than being absolutely devastated at going home. I couldnīt have said this after 6 months or even 9 months ... I think its only been the last 2-3 months where some degree of travel fatigue has set in in the sense that you can only live so long the hostel,dorm,bus and rucksack life before you start to want your home comforts. This is not to say of course that I wont miss this travelling lifestyle because I know I will , especially when I get back into the day-to-day realities of being back at work. But I hope to carry with me from this year a lasting memory of the spirit of the Latin American people. A high proportion of people on this continent live, by most developed country standards, quite unimaginably difficult, dirty, hard or simply boring working lives but they do so with a smile, a spirit and a warmth & friendliness for other people that is truly humbling and thought-provoking . I hope to try & remember this the next time Iīm about to grumble about some aspect of my, by comparison, very comfortable home and work life ... having visited the length and breadth of this continent I do feel so lucky and more appreciative of what I have in England ! I think Iīll particularly miss the social side of this travel experience , which has probably been the most social time in my life since my university days . Travel is of course about visiting amazing places and experiencing different countries and cultures but it is equally an experience that is shaped and made wonderful , especially as a solo traveller , by the like-minded travelling souls that you meet . To any of my travel buddies that are reading I would like to thank you all for the great fun times this year ... I hope I might get to see some of you again and of course if youīre ever in my neck of the woods in England , my door is open with a nice English cup of tea waiting ! Even with a whole year to travel , which seems a very long time, I havenīt been able to do absolutely everything that I wanted to ... this continent is simply too big and there are just too many wonderful things to see & do that you have to make choices somewhere ... I hope maybe one day I will be able to come back and see more ! But overall Iīm very satisfied with my gap year travel experience .. the number of places I went to that were disappointing were very few and the time spent there in the context of 12 months very limited so I can hold no regrets on what I have & havenīt done. Travel is a personal thing & needs to be driven by a personal calling to want to go so I wont be banging on at every one I meet that they must go & travel because it has been so great for me ... the travel drive must come from within. But what I will say here is that if you can see the chance in your life to live out a dream that you hold , then life is really so short so take a risk , make the needed changes and grasp that opportunity with both hands ... I feel like I have been able to do that that this year & will treasure this experience whatever the future may hold for me.
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My "Best Of's" List
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Fave Overall Countries ~ 1. Argentina 2. Colombia 3. Guatemala
Fave Cities ~ 1.
Buenos Aires, Argentina 2.
Bogota,Colombia 3.Xela,Guatemala
Top Natural Wonders ~ 1.
Galapagos Islands,Ecuador 2.Iguacu Falls,Argentina 3.Moreno Glacier,Argentina
Top Archaelogical Sites ~ 1.Macchu Pichu,Peru 2.Tikal,Guatemala 3.
Palenque,Mexico
Tastiest Food ~ 1.Mexico 2.Argentina 3.Brazil
Best Trekking ~ 1.
Torres del Paine,Chile 2.Inca Trail,Peru 3.Volcan Tajamulco,Guatemala
Fave Hostels ~ 1.Plantation House,Salento (Colombia) 2.Black Sheep,
Medellin (Colombia)
3. Casa Jardin,
San Cristobal de las Casas (Mexico)
Biggest Party Places 1.
Buenos Aires, Argentina 2.
Granada,Nicaragua 3.
Bogota,Colombia
Most Comfortable Buses ~ 1.Argentina 2.Chile 3.Mexico
Nicest Coastal Parks ~ 1.Tayrona,Colombia 2.
Cahuita,Costa Rica 3.Manuel Antonio,Costa Rica
Top Leisure Activities ~ 1.Scuba Diving,
Utila (Honduras) 2.Horse-riding,
Creel(Mexico)
3. Zipline Canopy Tour,Monteverde (Costa Rica)
Friendliest Locals ~ 1.Colombia 2.Guatemala 3.Peru
Best Looking Girls ~ 1.Argentina 2.Brazil 3.Colombia
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Comments
I am Colombian and read ur blogs and extremely happy you loved my country. i have never been to the coast but im going in feb to sanata marta and cartagena and so excited you had so many cool things to say about it :)