Another year older

I'm not usually one to make a fuss about my birthday. I am not yet to the age where I'm embarrassed to say how old I am. I am past the age where you wake up early on the morning of your birthday full of excitement, exclaiming your new age at the top of your lungs. For the past several years, birthdays have been pretty laid back. We go out for a nice dinner, eat some cake, and I get a gift or two. Usually, reminiscing about the last year and the things I've done doesn't happen until New Years. This year, however, is different. As you are reading this post, I am on a boat, sailing to Antarctica. It is a coincidence that my birthday falls during our cruise, but it will be one I never forget, nonetheless. Since there is no wifi in Antarctica - shocking, I know - I wrote this post the day of our departure. Instead of telling you about what I ate, who in my family sang to me first, and what I did (since at the time of writing, it hasn't happened yet), I want to tell you how happy I am. We have shared our ups and downs from the trip, and we certainly had our share of "downs" to struggle through in the beginning. There was the uncertainty of whether we made the right decision to leave our lives at home in the first place. There were arguments, language barriers, and a hospitalization. We've come a long way in the last five months, and I can now say with certainty that it was all worth it.

In the last year, I have done a lot of things. I was successful at work, I followed a budget, I saved my pennies, I made new friends, and I ran a marathon. I had a few yard sales, I sold my possessions, I left my job, I sold my house, I sold my car, and I changed my permanent address to that of Daniel's parents. I bought a one way ticket into Bogota, Colombia with absolutely no idea what I was going to do once I got there. Since I've started traveling, I've done things that I didn't even know I wanted to do before.

I've visited a flower farm, been to local markets, learned a language, and found a new hobby in hiking. I've been on more busses than I care to count, eaten three course meals for $1.50, hitchhiked, and played with some great kids. I've seen the sun rise over Macchu Picchu, boarded head first down a giant sand dune, walked on a glacier, watched a women's wrestling match, slept under a mosquito net in the jungle, hiked down (and up!) a giant canyon, and seen dozens of condors gliding overhead. You always hear inspirational quotes with "live life to the fullest" sentiments, and I am doing just that. Living.

Eventually, the money will run out, we will return home, and get new jobs. We will have to start over again, from scratch. Before we started our trip, this was the part that scared me the most. What if we can't find jobs? Where will we live? Will we be happy? I can finally say that I no longer feel afraid. Life is an adventure. We will make it a priority not to float aimlessly through life, and to try not to get too lost in the daily grind that is "normal life". We will make living a priority.

Sometimes, I get irritated when people say how lucky I am. I have not won the lottery. I have worked extremely hard for what I have. But today, I feel lucky. I have had the best year of my life. I've done things that people dream their whole lives of doing. I am the happiest I have ever been.  And the best part is, I know that 28 will be another year full of adventure. I am looking forward the ride, happy birthday to me!

Torres del Paine National Park - Chile

[Reading this on the day published? We're ON A BOAT, destined for South Georgia Island]

Torres del Paine is usually the first place people think of when they hear "Patagonia". Over 100,000 tourists per year flock to the national park, making it a well worn stop on the backpacker trail. The most popular thing to do is the "W" trek, which is approximately 65 kilometers and usually done as a five day, four night trek. The trek features the Grey Glacier, the French Valley, and the three giant blue rock towers that give the park its name. Puerto Natales, a town situated about 2 hours outside the park, is the jumping off point to the area where all the tourists go to prepare for their journey.

After reading that description, it is logical to make the assumption that Daniel and I did a fair bit of trekking... but you would be wrong. When we arrived at Puerto Natales, it was cold, rainy, and windy. Weather in Patagonia is very unpredictable, and can change at a moment's notice. Within a day, we had wind, rain, snow, hail, sun, snow, clouds, sun, rain, more snow, and more rain. We went to the free information and planning session at Erratic Rock Base Camp to plan our hike. After getting all the information about how to do it, where to go, what time the busses are, what to bring, how much it costs, and everything else you could possibly want to know about the trek... we decided that we just weren't feeling it.

Instead, we rented a car with two Dutch girls we met at our hostel and decided to make a road trip out of it. We didn't get to see the typical sights along the "W", but we did cover a fair bit of ground and got to see a lot of the park. We started driving at 7:30am, making our way to the first stop on our self-guided tour: the Milodon caves. The caves themselves were large, but not overly impressive. We did an hour or so hiking between the two caves, then hopped back in the car and continued on our journey

I won't bore you with all the details and stops along the way. We "saw" some lakes, a glacier, and some pretty landscapes. Why the quotation fingers, you ask? Well, we didn't really see much of anything. It was so foggy, cloudy, and misty outside that you couldn't see more than a few meters in front of yourself. We still had a good time though, chatting and laughing with our new friends. We debunked a few American stereotypes, they taught us some things about Holland, and we hung out like people who have been friends for years.

At one point, we were walking to a lookout point and saw a sign "Caution: Strong Winds." As we walked forward, the wind was blowing harder than I had ever felt before. We were all laughing as the wind was nearly knocking us over, blowing so hard that we could barely hear each other talk. All of a sudden, though, it stopped being funny and started getting scary. The wind picked up speed and blew so hard, that we could no longer move forward and had to turn around. As soon as we turned around, it was impossible to stop yourself from being propelled forward and the only solution was to sit down and duck your head until it passed. Bits of gravel and sand were hitting us so hard that it hurt, even through our layers of clothes. We scrambled quickly back to the car, glad that we weren't too far away. We later found out that the winds were in excess of 130 kilometers per hour!

We saw a lot of the devastation that was caused last year when an Israeli tourist started a fire, burning over 40,000 acres in the park. He was burning toilet paper, and the combination of strong winds and dry conditions made the fire take off. It was really sad to see the damage to the area... there were hundreds of trees burned to the ground for as far as we could see. We all got a little quiet as we looked out at the area that used to be covered in lush green forest, now literally burned to the ground. It was quite sad, and it will be many years before anything will grow back.

Our final stop in the park was Laguna Amarga, where you can see the Torres behind the lake. Let me correct myself... our final stop SHOULD have been the laguna, but we somehow drove right past it without seeing it. It was so foggy that we wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway, so we didn't bother turning around. I was disappointed that we weren't able to see the park in the traditional sense, but we made the most of it. I am happy with our decision to skip the trek, as the weather was horrible the whole time (outside of about three minutes at 11:00, which I somehow miraculously predicted would happen earlier that morning). Unlike trekking in Chalten, Torres del Paine is EXPENSIVE! When we added up the cost, it would have been CLP 213,000 ($442 USD) per PERSON! This is not for a guided tour... just for the two of us to get to the park, trek, sleep, and eat. We have done enough outstanding free and cheap hiking to feel like this really wasn't necessary, especially given the poor conditions.

The rental car ended up costing around $80, which we split with the girls we travelled with. To be honest, the reason we had so much fun was because we were road tripping with friends, not necessarily because we were in Torres del Paine. When we got back at the end of the night, Daniel and I made one of our favorite meals from home to share with them: taco in a bag. It is an adaptation from an old Rosecrans high school favorite, and was absolutely delicious. They supplied the ice cream and drinks, we had some great conversation, then we went our separate ways. When we became friends on facebook, we all started laughing hysterically... they are friends with the couple we shared our jungle tour in Bolivia with! The world IS small, afterall.

For those who are interested in our not-so-healthy dinner masterpiece... I give you: TACO IN A BAG! Make it for dinner tonight, thank me tomorrow.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground meat (we use lean turkey, beef is fine too)
• Shredded lettuce (as much as you like)
• 1 packet low sodium taco seasoning
• Taco sauce (optional)
• 1 large bag (or a few individual bags) of cheese flavored Doritos
• 1 jar of salsa
• Shredded cheddar cheese (as much as you like)
• **any other toppings that you like on tacos can be used in addition to these**

Directions:

• Cook the ground meat until brown on the stove, drain any excess fat
• Add the taco seasoning packed and about 1/3 cup of water
• Stir and simmer until the water evaporates
• (Optional) Add in some taco sauce to taste, and stir
• If using a large bag of Doritos, cut the bag in half down the middle. DO NOT OPEN THE BAG FIRST! This will give you two bags to put your "taco" in. If using personal size bags, just open them.
• Keep as many doritos in the bag as you want, and remove the extras for snacking later. Crunch up the doritos that are in your bag into small pieces
• Scoop some taco meat into your bag
• Add cheese, lettuce, salsa, and any other toppings you like
• Roll the top of the bag closed and shake it well! Make sure to get some of the dorito bits to the top, because they like to hang out in the bottom. Use a spoon to mix it if you need to
• Eat with a big spoon, and enjoy!

This is not my usual healthy fare, but we have it about once a month at home and it is one of our favorite unhealthy meals. The girls from Holland were very skeptical as we described it to them, but by the end of their meal they were planning out how they could serve this out of a food truck at festivals at home. It is just that good! If you try it, let us know how you like it.

Chalten, Argentina

[Reading this on the day published? We're chillin out on the Falkland Islands]

El Chalten is a small town in Argentina's Pategonia region, famous for its hiking trails and impressive views of Mt Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres. We have mentioned before that we love day hikes, and Chalten certainly didn't dissappoint. We arrived by bus from Calafate, and the driver stopped at the information center at the beginning of town. All the passengers were shuttled inside, where they had separate rooms for English and Spanish. A guide came in, handed out a map of all the trails, and gave a short information session. They made everything so supremely easy to figure out! Afterward, we all re-boarded the bus and made our way to the center of town.

Our first day, we decided to trek to Laguna de los Tres, which is at the base of Mt Fitz Roy. The map said it should take about 8 and a half hours, but the information center warned against completing the final kilometer because it is very steep and that portion of trail is in poor condition.

The trek was strenuous, but absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes on hikes, you really don't see much of anything until you reach the very top for the "wow" moment. The thing I loved most about this trek was that there were several beautiful lookout points along the way. We decided to skip the final ascent, as we were both getting tired and had a long walk back. Even so, we saw beautiful views of Fitz Roy, Rio Blanco, and Laguna Capri.

After a day of rest, we did another trek to Laguna Torre. This trail was much easier physically, but was still about 12 miles round trip. Once again, the views were phenominal. Around every corner, we had to stop to take it all in. There were streams with the clearest, cleanest water I have ever seen. There were waterfalls, lagoons, and lakes. There were trees, mosses, and plants with colors so vibrant that it looked like a fairytale. And at the very end, there was a glacier. Holy cow, it was awesome!

We had a picnic lunch at the lake overlooking the glacier, then Daniel (being a typical boy) decided to poke around at the chunks that had fallen into the water. The water was a gorgeous milky green, colored from the glacier pulverizing the stone as it moves over it, causing minerals and sediment to mix in.

On our walk back into Chalten, the clouds that were hanging low early in the day cleared out, and we had some beautiful sunny skies. We both agree, this is our favorite hike to date. It wasn't overly difficult, and the surroundings were out of this world. When we reached the town, we were even greeted by some llamas! All in all, a fantastic excursion.

Aside from the amazing beauty of the area, the thing I loved about Chalten was how simple everything was. All of the trail heads are right at the end of town, so you don't have to bother with taking any kind of transport. When you are ready to go, you just go. No fuss at all. There is also no entrance fee to the park, and there is no pressure to do any type of tour. In general, the area is expensive, but it is easy to get around by staying in a dormitory and cooking your own meals.

We are headed to Puerto Natales next, which is the gateway to the famous Torres del Paine. People shout its praises from the rooftops, but I have a feeling that Chalten will be pretty hard to beat.

Check out the rest of our Chalten pictures of Flickr

Nuts and Bolts

Hostel: Rancho Grande Hostel. ARS 60 ($12.65 USD) per person in a 4-bed dorm. Located at the very end of town, nearest the Fitz Roy trail head. The bus from Calafate will drop you off and pick you up at the hotel. Kitchen is not very well equipped, but managable. Everything else was fantastic, including showers with water pressure so hard it hurt!

Bus: The company Chalten Travel leaves from Calafate at 8am. ARS 225 ($47.39 USD) per person round trip. There is also an evening bus, but only the morning one stops at the info center along the way (which is REALLY helpful!)

Tip: Bring your food with you! We saw someone bring an entire crate of food from Calafate, and we thought they were insane. They ended up being the smartest people ever, as the small grocery store in Calafate is horribly under stocked. For example, someone asked where the butter was, and the response was "We don't have any." When we got there, there was very little in the way of fruit and vegetables, and what was there was not great in terms of quality. Also, food is about 30% more expensive than in Calafate, so bring what you can with you. Plan on cooking all meals yourself, as the restaurants are horribly expensive and not that great.