Work Hard. Travel Harder
After four amazing weeks in Pisaq, the grand finale as intern group leaders for the STRIVE program was hiking the famous Salkantay trail to Machu Picchu. Marissa and I had dreamed about seeing Machu Picchu in person for years. The ruins were constructed by the Incas in the 15th century, abandoned when the Spanish arrived, […]
June 25, 2015 – July 24, 2015 I can’t believe it’s almost over. As we reflect back on the past 11 months, it’s fun to think about all of the funny and random things that we came across. Some of the most ridiculous transportation situations, and instances that would be considered completely unsafe in the […]
I was getting pummeled. Who knows when or if these little hands have been washed or cleaned anytime recently? Where is the bano anyway? The kids are anxious and just want to run out some of their energy. Unfortunately that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. These kids are part of a hand full of […]
Tarabuco There are 21 of us slammed in here like sardines. There are babies, kids, parents, travelers, and old men chewing coca leaves like they are going out of style. Nobody is comfortable yet nobody seems annoyed. Is this normal everyday life in central Bolivia, I wondered? The van that we are traveling in is […]
Valparaiso I was nodding in and out of consciousness. The earplugs and eye mask were not enough to cover the distractions keeping me from sleep. The lights of the bus had been turned on and the host was handing out a box of miscellaneous ‘treats’ including the popular Argentina desert, Alfajores. We were in a […]
April 25, 2015 – May 24, 2015 Wow it’s hard to believe it’s already been nine months! A big milestone for us, being that we originally planned our trip to last eight months. Yet here we are lugging our packs through South America through countries we didn’t originally plan on going to. The more we […]
This had to be what we were looking for. There was a line at the front of the door with 8-10 people waiting to use it, and it looked like something important was going down. The picture of the building matched the one we read in the blog a couple days ago, and we seemed […]
It was mid afternoon and we were making good time. We had been hiking just over two hours and were blessed with another day of unusually clear skies and sunshine. As we looked ahead on the path we could see our final destination, Laguna Torre in the Fitz Roy Mountains. We rounded a sharp corner […]
March 25, 2015 – April 24, 2015 This was a month of intense walking. Our cross-trainers we’d been wearing every day for the last seven months finally kicked the bucket, and after many blisters in New Zealand, we were happy to ditch these suckers! We finally broke down and bought legitimate hiking shoes, which could […]
A Workaway in Waiheke We had just picked up Mikeo from his ‘kindie’ (kindergarten) class and walked toward the house. As we looked up, we noticed a chicken clucking at us from the balcony high above. Simona let out a sigh and muttered “Ugh, not again”. The chicken had snuck into the house while we […]
