Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Learned While Traveling South America

I thought I’d leave my last blog post with some wisdom of things I learned while traveling. I hope the lessons stay with me until I can hit the road again.

Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Learned While Traveling South America

You don’t have to have very many clothes to be just fine. I could have actually packed fewer clothes and lived.

Life is so much simpler the less junk you have to haul around.

You can eat pretty well without fancy packaged food. Real food is still very nourishing.

There are 700 types of soup served regularly in Peru. For Garret, that’s 700 too many.

It is possible to eat too much pizza.

It is not possible to eat too much ice cream.

Don’t flaunt it, but US pizza is actually tastier than 99% of Argentine pizza.

When you ask a question in Spanish, people will assume you are fluent and answer in rapid Spanish. Then you will be reduced to sign language.

Not everyone lives as well as Americans.

Not everyone lives as poorly as Americans.

Time slows down outside our borders. It’s possible to do very little, and to enjoy it very much.

It is not safe to walk around Quito alone at night. If you try it, you will get mugged.

Public transportation is better everywhere in the world (except Antarctica) than it is in the USA.

The best fresh juice in the world is in a mercado in Ecuador.

Shopping is much more fun without Walmarts.

The world’s biggest pool is not open year around.

Getting sick can be horrible (ask Garret). Putting up with a sick person is almost as bad.

Most animals are not indoor pets. And penguins really are terrifically cute.

Marine iguanas spit profusely and sea lions like to nip at you in the water.

Flamingos live in very cold temperatures in the Salar de Uyuni.

Everything at high altitude is hard (And Cotopaxi is not Garret’s friend).

The world’s steepest hike is in Peru (Choquequirao).

Bolivians love random impuestos (taxes/fees) on Isla del Sol.

The hottest place in the world is the jungle in Bolivia. I don’t care if Google says differently.

The world’s largest rodent is actually kinda cute (capybara). And baby crocodiles look like lizards.

I do not want to be a miner, ever.

Emisions control is a wonderful thing (Yea for SmogCheck!).

Ditto for city zoning.

There is no such thing as a long car trip anymore. Busses in Bolivia take much longer and are much more uncomfortable.

I really appreciate the varying length of days. Sunlight from 6 am to 6 pm gets boring.

Eating dinner at 11 pm is actually quite fun on a routine basis.

I can sleep in. Late Argentine nights trained me.

Nothing is open on New Year’s Eve in Buenos Aires.

The rest of the world needs to learn how to cook Mexican food (there are lots of hungry travelers from CA to feed worldwide).

There are many wonderful people to meet when you are open to it. Be flexible, trustworthy and kind.

The absolute best chocolates in the world are fresh dipped raspberries in Bariloche, Argentina.

It rains a lot in Northern Patagonia. It is very windy in Southern Patagonia.

Antarctica has a lot of penguins, snow and icebergs. It is exceedingly beautiful.

Perito Moreno Glacier and Iguazu Falls are absolutely massive. You must stare at them for one day each.

Uruguayans drink even more mate than Argentines. It borders a national addiction.

Pick your travel buddy wisely. After seven months of Garret’s company constantly, I still want to be with him!

Not much of importance arrives by mail back home that you can’t live without. At least we didn’t get much!

There are many, many levels of language proficiency. I will always be progressing from one stage to the next.

I will never, ever understand Chilean Spanish.