Most people that I talk to, particularly from home, are jealous of our traveling. They couldn’t imagine being away from home for that long, or that they could ever find a way to swing traveling for more than say 2-3 weeks with their current jobs. People envy the life we’re leading, and I think they imagine that it is like a permanent vacation. But there is a difference between vacationing and traveling, as anyone who has ever “backpacked” in places like Europe, South-East Asia or South America will agree.
Vacationing in my mind means fancy hotels, fantastic restaurants, and possibly expensive activities. It means not worrying about the diet (because you’re only gone a couple of weeks), and eating dessert every night. It means worrying less about the finances; because you’ve budgeted for the splurge, and you want to enjoy your couple of weeks. It means airplanes, rental cars, and souvenirs. The only things you spend time reading are the novels you packed for the vacation, and every spare minute is consumed with “relaxing”.
Traveling, on the other hand, is a much longer time frame. For us it has meant seven months; and for many other travelers it is much longer. It means staying at hostels, where even the good ones lack most amenities that rooms have in the USA (like a private bathroom, TV, and towels). Generally the walls are thin, and you hear a bit of noise always; so you must become quite good friends with your ear plugs in order to learn to sleep.
Traveling means making your budget stretch quite a long way, so eating out is regarded in the same way as it would be back home—probably less than once a week. All other meals are cooked in the hostel after going grocery shopping, and the only difference between meals at home and the hostel is that at home you have all the spices and foods you’re used to preparing; in the hostel you’re limited to what’s available in the country you’re in.
And for transportation, traveling means going in the cheapest way possible (after walking), and this is generally bus after bus after bus; at least here in South America. Well, biking would be even cheaper, but those of you who know me know that I have a hate-hate relationship with them; at least if cars are also in the picture. So for me, biking was out of the question.
Time spent traveling is split between seeing tourist attractions, communicating with friends and family at home, perhaps working a bit on the internet, and planning the next portion of travel. In addition to reading wonderful books, travelers spend countless hours with their Lonely Planet or internet websites, booking hostels in advance (if it is the high season), and looking for the best way to travel and see the area that they will be in next. Sometimes this can feel tiring.
But there are advantages to traveling too. Whereas vacationers have little time and lots of money, travelers have lots of time and little money. This makes us travel slowly by bus, instead of just arriving in the next city by airplane. We see the little villages and scenery between tourist attractions, and this helps you to understand an area, and be better oriented. When I see a map of South America, I actually know what many areas look like, and will take with me this geographic understanding that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible without countless hours spent passing through the area on bus.
But I must confess that I am very much looking forward to a vacation from our traveling, which we will be on for a week at Christmas. Although it will take 36 hours with all four flight connections to arrive at our vacation, we will be spending 8 days with Garret’s family in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We’re so looking forward to hanging out in the beach house with family, and eating lots and lots of Mexican food (there really should be more taquerias worldwide). We will arrive back to Argentina via Buenos Aires in time for New Years, and then spend our last four weeks traveling in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Iguazu Falls, and Uruguay.
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Soak up that sunshine! You guys have earned it after your 6 month winter
Soaking already! The beach is so wonderful, even if we did travel 36 hours to get here!