i have arrived

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it was an uneventful flight to Argentina, which is a good thing. the person next to me had a broken video screen and had to change seats, leaving me two seats all to myself….poor me. also i have to give credit to the wonderful pilot on the flight from JFK to EZE for making the smoothest landing ever. ever!

while researching Argentina, somehow i missed the part where they charge you $100+ to come into the country, thankfully you can pay by credit card. once the surprise payment was taken care of, it was smooth sailing to get through customs, grab my luggage and get out the door. Rolando was there to pick me up and it was an easy ride to the hotel.

since I got in at 9 AM my room wasn’t quite ready, but that’s ok, who doesn’t like to spend a couple of hours in a hotel lobby after traveling for 15 hours.

by noon i got into my room and promptly napped for a couple of hours. just because i had more room in my seat doesn’t mean i actually slept. a long shower and a coffee later i was off to check out the area. not too far from the hotel is the “Broadway” of the city, tons of theater, cinema and events. should it still be playing when i return to BA, i may see if i can catch a matinee of Hamlet. granted, i won’t understand it all, but i’m pretty sure the story doesn’t change with the language.

photo courtesy of jaquematepress.blogia.com

the final countdown

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i can hardly believe it, the trip to Argentina is almost here. i leave in a mere four days. i feel like i’ve been planning this trip forever.

i’ve slowly started piling items in the corner that i want to take with. i have a feeling that by Friday it may be a tower.

pack, unpack, repack, repeat…..now you know what i will be doing Friday evening after i get home from dinner with my friends. i have everything mentally packed already, so it’s really just a matter of will it fit in the bag, and will i be able to lift the bag. small details.

i have high hopes for packing, i’m not really taking that much with me. i figure when you go on a tour it is perfectly acceptable to wear the same items of clothing multiple times, especially if there is a big coat involved. although, i have come to the conclusion you do need to make sure to mix it up enough for the big photo op days. i’m pretty sure every Peru picture i’m in i’m wearing the same outfit.

photo courtesy of hypebeast.com

please pass the salt

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not so much international, but definitely geotastic are the Bonneville Salt Flats, located in Wendover, Utah. this expanse of salt is pretty amazing, and a spot i call home for one week in August every year.

if you saw the movie The World’s Fastest Indian, then you’ll know exactly where i was and what i’m taking about. Bonneville National Speed Week is the event that draws me to Wendover, and the reason being, my Dad races.

my Dad and his friends have been going to Bonneville 40+ years now, and the team holds a land speed record in the F/FR class. they have a modified 29′ Ford roadster with a V6 engine, and it runs on a fuel mixture, not gas. the races are all about speed, how fast can you go on a straight-away four mile course. a four mile course of salt.

since the Salt Flats are in the desert it’s usually in the 90’s during the day, and temperatures drop at night. the salt is packed hard like any desert floor, and it’s cool to the touch. because it’s white, you immediately think of snow, but it’s not that wet or cold. when it rains the water tends to pool up, as the salt doesn’t absorb water as quickly as it comes down. if it rains too much before the races there is the chance they will have to postpone or cancel, since you can’t race on a wet course.

it takes awhile for the officials to map the course as each year the salt changes, and an area that was good one year can be full of holes the next. the salt is deteriorating, and many believe it is because of the potash plant nearby. the Wall Street Journal featured an article about this very topic last month.

i have been coming to the races for over 20 years now, and it really is quite an experience. the landscape and the cars differ a bit year to year, but it always feels like coming home.

photo courtesy of automotive-photography.net

now what?

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i’m fairly certain the last major thing i needed to do for my trip was secure a Visa so i could visit the Iguazu Falls in Brazil. many documents and $140 later, i have a Brazil Visa in hand.

now what? i have over a month left before i board the plane for my Argentinian adventure, and not much prep to do. i occasionally surf the internet for info on things to do and see while i’m there. you’d think i didn’t have a tour already planned and 2-3 guidebooks sitting on the nightstand…..but one of the things the internet can offer which a guidebook can’t, is the blog.

blogs are such a great read when you’re researching an area. i simply searched on, “being vegetarian in Argentina” and a days worth of reading magically appeared before my eyes. i started reading about vegetarian options in Argentina on one couples blog, then i looked at their photos, read some interviews, clicked on some links, ended up other peoples blog sites, read their information, looked at their pictures, and next thing you know the sun has set, i’m sitting in a dark house, and i missed dinner. blogs suck you in.

travel blogs are the best. so many people writing about the amazing places they’ve been to, it really does make you realize how big the world really is. i’m really enjoying reading the blogs of people who have been traveling for years. i guess i knew that people did that, traveled non-stop – working their way around the world, but i never really thought about it. it’s fascinating to read the stories and find out how people make it all work.

i think i will stick with my yearly trips, but i raise a glass to those that rent their houses, sell their belongings, and make the decision to travel for the rest of their lives!

image courtesy of southloopschools.net

Bali revisited

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my friend LT is leaving today for Bali, and she will be staying there for a month. i know that i have a month long trip to Argentina in my future, but i have to tell you, i’m feeling a bit nostalgic for Bali.

i was putting together a list of places i visited for her, and i started to feel sad that i wasn’t going back to Bali. although i didn’t feel a kinship to Bali while i was there, something definitely gets in your blood and the draw to go back increases with time.

i’m betting the Bali of July is very different than the Bali of February. probably not so hot that you think you’re going to die, for one. yes, that is a little dramatic, but it was SO hot & humid. the temples and other sites will be more crowded, and the beaches as well, it’s big surf season now. that was a nice thing about going in the off season, at least the beaches weren’t crowded. i could go somewhere to escape the crowds. somewhere with a lounge chair and a cold drink too……it doesn’t get much better than that.

i look forward to hearing about LT’s trip when she returns, as her adventure will be very different than mine. it involves yoga for one thing. the only yoga thing about me is a pair of yoga pants i bought at Target, so comfy!

a question of time

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54 days to go, i’m SO excited!

speaking of exciting, i had thought for one brief moment that i would be able to go to Antarctica, but alas, no. the tour company i’m using for the Argentina North to South tour has a great tour to Antarctica, but it doesn’t start until October 29. somehow i don’t think i can justify staying in South America for another month so i can set foot on Antarctica. those penguins are mighty cute though.

after coming to terms that the Antarctic travel was a no-go, i started to think about the rest of my trip, and my 16 days in Buenos Aires. i think it’s a bit much. i don’t sit still very well or for very long, and i like to go and see and do. not that i think i could see everything there is to see in Buenos Aires in two weeks, i think it’s just too much time in one spot for me.

i thought about taking a side trip to Brazil, which would be very cool, but this trip is about Argentina, so i think i will make Brazil it’s own adventure. also adding a trip to Brazil would increase the cost of the trip by quite a bit.

so i’ve opted to come home a week early. don’t sigh, don’t be disappointed, i’m not. i will have a month in Argentina, and it will be fabulous. also, i don’t have to take any unpaid time off of work, which is nice. funny how rent and bills have to be paid even if you’re not in the country!

this is the plan as of today, but of course, it could all change tomorrow.

photo courtesy of antarcticconnection.com

counting down the days

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66 days until i get on a plane and spend five weeks in Argentina. when you say 66 it sounds like a lot, but it’s not really. just about two months. wow. wonder what i’ll pack?

last weekend i was thinking about the trip, and where else i would want to go for five weeks. i came to the conclusion that Spain and New Zealand are other places i’d like to go and take a good amount of time to travel around. let’s see, if i go to Chile & Antarctica next year then i suppose Spain would be 2013 and New Zealand 2014, or vice versa. i have no idea what i will be doing this December let alone 2013, so i don’t think i’ll start planning those trips quite yet.

i took a look at my Argentina tour itinerary and one of the spots i’m going to visit is the Iguazu Falls (Iguazu means big water).

you can visit the falls from the Argentina side and the Brazil side, which i will do. it’s such a powerful looking piece of nature, and the photos i’ve seen are amazing. it was short-listed as a candidate to be one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation.

i think this site visit will be the perfect way to start my travel through Argentina.

photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

Antarctic sadness

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well, it seems that to get to Antarctica from South America is a) costly and b) doesn’t happen year round.

the trips i have found are about $3000-$4000 and they happen between November and March. i have a sneaking suspicion that i won’t be able to get to Antarctica on this particular trip. but, i did see that there are flights from Chile so maybe 2012 holds a trip to Chile with an Antarctic diversion?

see how it is, i haven’t even gone on the five week Argentina trip and i’m already looking at what i can do next year……

image courtesy of worldtravels.com

a plan begins to form

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as much as i love to plan and organize, while on a trip i don’t like managing logistics very much. i think this is why i am a fan of the planned tour. i am a very independent person, but i really like waking up, having breakfast, and being in front of the hotel for a car/van/bus pick-up at a certain time.

although five weeks seems like a lot of time, it really isn’t if you want to see a large country from top to bottom. i started off thinking that i would rent an apartment in Buenos Aires and then travel out from there. ah, but that would involve logistic planning while there, and that takes away from my fun. enter the tour company. for this trip i chose Argentinian Explorer. i actually put out emails to a couple of companies, but this one came back in record time, with a nice trip and a cost effective price. thanks to Laura for putting that together for me.

i opted for a 20 night tour which will show me “Argentina from North to South”. i will see some of the same things i saw on my previous trip, but a lot will be brand new. i do hope there will be penguins again.

after my tour i will stay in Buenos Aires for two weeks. i found an apartment through VRBO (vacation rentals by owner) and so far so good. not knowing the area at all, i contacted a colleague of mine for some help, as i knew he traveled to Argentina quite a bit. he in turn put me in touch with a colleague of his that works and lives in Buenos Aires. how nice was that?! i asked my new Argentinian friend for some recommendations on which district to stay in, shared with him my options, and finally decided on a spot. it’s really nice having a contact in the country you’re going to visit, makes things a lot easier and i am most appreciative!

i have the tour booked, the apartment rented and my flight taken care of. i ended up buying my ticket instead of using miles because it just ended up being worth it time and schedule-wise. using miles is great in theory, but the reality is sometimes impossible.

now the big question is, since i will be SO close to Antarctica should i try and get there so i can say i’ve been to six of the seven continents? visiting all of the continents has never been a goal of mine, but i’m so close, maybe it should be. i think i will investigate a side adventure…..stay tuned for more details.

photo courtesy of sodahead.com

where to next?

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i had barely unpacked from the Bali trip and was already trying to figure out where i was going to visit next. i always like to have a trip plan in the works, it gives me something fun to look forward to.

the more time i spent thinking about my next trip, the more i thought about going for longer than the usual 10-14 days. i’ve never been away for more than two weeks at a time, even summer camp as a kid was only two weeks. i am currently gainfully employed, i have vacation time saved, and the company i work for allows you to take three months off and still retain your job. if i’m going to take an extended vacation, i’m pretty sure this is the time to do it!

i came to the conclusion that i could take five weeks off. i really wish it could be more, but alas, even though you’re on vacation, rent & bills still need to be paid. ok, five weeks, where to go and when?

i opted for Argentina in September. there is something about South America i really like. i had a blast in Peru last year, and i really liked what little i saw of Argentina and Chile when i went on my cruise, so i opted for Argentina because i didn’t get to see a lot when i was there before, and i’ve always wanted to go back. spend some time and get to know the country. i picked September simply based when i could manage five weeks off and when the weather would be decent.

i had wanted to go in July, but since the seasons are reversed from ours, it would still be a little cool there, and potentially rainy. i decided September would be ok, as it’s still an affordable time to travel and the weather would be better. it’s always a drag when half your luggage is made up of parkas and boots.

destination picked, time-frame determined…..let the planning begin!

image courtesy of mai10.com.ar