I pictured “majestic” – riding through the Sahara Desert atop camels on Christmas Day. It would be a real life “We Three Kings of Orient Are…
I trekked 71 kilometers (45 miles) and albeit far, I only saw a small part of the huge region that spans two countries. As in nearly all of my South American ventures, Nora was by my side. For 5 days, we hiked the popular W-shaped trail in Torres del Paine in what felt like a beautiful fairy tale ending to this chapter of my life.
What’s at the bottom of the world? Penguins, of course. From Punta Arenas, Chile, the world’s southernmost city, I sailed the Magellan Strait to visit the largest penguin colony in the region.
This summer, I traded in my oversized suitcase for a backpack and went on the road for two months (without a single regret about what I packed!). A lot of people have asked me how I comfortably lived out of a backpack for two months (and still looked cute in all my travel photos…obviously).
We entered Chile in San Pedro de Atacama, the driest desert on the planet. And all I remember is pure exhaustion.
Being born and raised in Southern Nevada’s desert, I wasn’t sure how impressed I’d be by Bolivia’s landscape. I’ve never appreciated the desert for its potential beauty, always discounting it as brown and bland. But those descriptions just don’t tell the whole story. Diverse scenery speckled the trek. Breathtaking views, coupled with a group of amazing new friends made for quite a fun adventure.
Standing out there — in the middle of beautiful, vivid nothingness — I thought about where I am at in my life and tried to gain “perspective.”
