On January 9, 2017, we didn’t wake up and go to work on the first official working Monday of 2017. However, we did wake up much earlier (what was almost an all-nighter, due to final packing and preparations) for our 7:30 am flight out of Seattle!
Anti-climatically, we had seven-hour layover in Dallas – a small price to pay when you both can fly to South America for $32, plus miles (I’ll go more into travel logistics, deals, & savings in a future post, so stay tuned). But at least this layover is giving us time to work on launching our blog (very delayed). Then we will be on our way to our first destination…
- Jan. 10: Arrive at our first official stop – Santiago, Chile (where it will be summer!). We will spend a couple days exploring Santiago then venture to nearby (1+ bus ride) coastal towns Valparaíso and Viña del Mar.
- Jan. 15: Fly from Santiago to Puerto Natales, Chile where we will spend a night in town before trekking in Patagonia.
- Jan. 16: Five days and four nights hiking and camping the W trek in Torres del Paine.
- Jan 20: Return to Puerto Natales to regroup 🙂
- Jan 22: Head to El Calafate, Argentina to check out Perito Moreno Glacier
From this point in our journey, our travels are more or less flexible, with the exception of reservations to stay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Carnival (Brazilian visa secured & Airbnb booked) and a friend’s wedding to attend in A Coruña, Spain in June.
Below is an idea of where we think/hope we will be and when (in case you want to try to meet up, or have any recommendations/connections in these areas!), but we will leave it up to the globe.
- Jan/Feb: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, & Brazil – CARNIVAL in Rio de Janeiro for six days and five nights
- Mar: Brazil, Iguazu Falls, & Paraguay where we will spend time with Krista’s sister who is serving in the Peace Corps in Arroyos y Esteros, Paraguay
- Mar/Apr/May: Bolivia (visa pending), Peru (need to book Machu Pichu trek ASAP), Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, northern Central America TBD
- June: Travel to Europe for a friend’s wedding in Spain in June
- Northern hemisphere summer goals: Morocco, Ireland (visit Matt’s relatives), Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Germany
- Fall: South East Asia?
It’s pretty much TBD – and we like it that way! 🙂
We are trying to balance overbooking vs. “under-booking.” We don’t want to overbook and plan every second of the trip so that we can’t jump at new opportunities and unanticipated adventures as they arise (as these can end up being some of the most memorable experiences of the trip). While we also don’t want to under-book so that we miss out on (or have to pay double, triple, or quadruple) for places we really want to go or activities we really want to do (like getting a permit to hike Machu Picchu or reserving a place to stay for Carnival in Rio).
And we want to keep in mind quality over quantity of stays. Our mission isn’t to visit every city and every country on the globe (although that would be cool). We want to be able to have enough time to explore, experience, and get lost in our surroundings as opposed to from rushing from one destination to the next.
Have any recommendations of things to do or see? Places we can’t miss along the way? Let us know in the comments below!
