closer to the sun

things I miss about South America

• pisco sours
• ceviche
• humitas
• empanadas
• tablas
• endless flavors of ice cream
• completo hot dogs
• mate
• steaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkk
• ALL THE FOOD
• the constant validation from men off the street (you always feel like you’re looking good, even if the attention is sometimes uncomfortable)
• the way conversations with strangers were so easily started (you perk up when you hear English—if you have nothing else in common, that one fact makes you instant friends)
• wine wine wine wine wine
• endless activities (skydiving! canyoning! things!)
• public displays of affection (kids are horny and they aren’t afraid to show it)
• walking everywhere—somehow walking the same distances in minneapolis just seems weird
• weird fruits
• the people, their openness and pride
• speaking Spanish like a boss
• taking a fresh medialuna (the Argentinean croissant) and smothering it in half a jar of dulce de leche for breakfast, tearing it apart piece by piece and licking my fingers clean

things I need to do now that I’m home

• buy more than bags of pretzels and hummus
• start working, like, yesterday
• put sheets on my bed, hellooooo
• unpack. come on, unpack.
• go to my art studio and create! create!
• get out of vacation mode: you do not need to buy that gorgeous lamp, Natalie, because Roam will still be carrying it in like a month, I’m sure
• go to shows! lots and lots and lots of shows! first ave, I have missed you! 
• start planning for Europe 2014

hours spent on buses and planes

This was somewhat painful to tally…

Bussing

Quito—Banos = 3.5

Banos—Guaranda = 2.75

Guaranda—Salinas RT = 3

Guaranda—Riobamba = 2

Riobamba—Cuenca = 6

Cuenca—Ingapirca RT = 4

Cuenca—Galaceo—Chordeleg RT = 5.5

Cuenca—Loja = 4

Loja—Piura = 8

Piura—Lima = 16

Lima—Cusco = 20

Cusco—Aguascalientes (Machu Picchu) RT = 18 (4-hour bus ride turned into 14-hour bus ride due to a bridge being washed out and us having to walk through slush and mud to find a new bus)

Cusco—Puno = 9

Puno—Tacna = 10

Tacna—Arica (colectivo taxi) = 4

Arica—Santiago = 30

Punta Arenas—Puerto Natales = 3

Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine RT = 4

Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas = 3

Santiago—Valparaiso RT = 4

Santiago—Mendoza = 7

Mendoza—Buenos Aires = 13

Buenos Aires—Cordoba = 11

Cordoba—Salta = 12

Salta—Cafayate (day trip, not technically a bus, but close enough) RT = 9

Salta—Mendoza = 18

Mendoza—Santiago = 7

236.75 hours spent on a bus (approximately 9.8 days)

Flights

Minneapolis—Houston—Panama City—Quito = 8.5 hours, not including 3.5 hours in layovers

Santiago—Punta Arenas (direct) RT = 3.5 hours each way, 7 hours total

Santiago—Quito = 5.5 hours, not including a 5 hour layover in Lima

Quito—Panama City—Houston—Minneapolis = 8.5 hours, not including 3.5 hours in layovers

Time spent in a plane: 29.5 hours

Time spent milling about in airports waiting for another plane: 17 (12 hours above, plus a five-hour layover after my flight from Lima landed in Quito)

On my next trip to South America, I will do these things:

• Sleep under the stars in San Pedro de Atacama, see the sunken hand in the desert, and slide down dunes
• Take a boat down the Amazon and explore the jungle, tarantulas smarantulas
• Tackle Columbia, become a drug cartel princess (kidding—Columbia is one of the most magical places in the world, or so I’m told)
• Travel the less-traveled Bolivia (cheaper than Peru, even, and far less touristy), Paraguay, and Uruguay
• Go to Iguazu Falls-the Argentinean and Brazilian sides—and take a boat, so I can really feel it on my face and everything
• Hitch-hike through northwestern Argentina, including Cafayate and Cachi, where transportation is scarce and my feet will blister but at the end it’ll be worth it
• Figure out Brazil, including Sao Paulo and Rio and whatever else that immense country has besides a party and a jungle and the msot beautiful beaches in the world
• Galapagos Islands, for chrissakes, yes, like everyone else in the world, I want to swim with sea turtles and pet giant iguanas
• Paraglide, bungee jump, and sea kayaking
• Chill out more, eat more food, drink more things