Highlighting a bit of Chile and Argentina

Me, twirling around a flagpole in Buenos Aires, 2018

Greetings Readers,

Hello to new readers and welcome! Earlier this year I created a content calendar for this newsletter but since a few things with my personal travel have changed, I have not kept that schedule of content. Rules are meant to be broken. But, I will sit down with this calendar and make some revisions and share what is coming with the second half of 2024. Can you believe the year is halfway finished?

So, the last few issues have been all about travel stories and I am continuing that with this issue with some travel stories about a friend’s trip in Argentina and Colombia. I will continue that into June as we head into my birthday month, summer break, and a more relaxed pace of life. I have a story to share from a friend who travels using Trusted Housesitters and I’m going to the UK and Berlin next week so I’ll include some of my own travel diary. I don’t want to say “guide” because I am not Lonely Planet or Rick Steves but I will tell you what I did, ate, and liked. Last year during the summer, I didn’t review any academic articles for those issues and I’m going to stick with that again this year.

First, some links

The tourist tax - I enjoyed listening to this podcast from Today Explained.

What is Last Chance Tourism?

Solo travel - more coming on this in July!

Google map tips for travellers.

Japan cracking down on tourist behavior.

Next, I would like to thank my friend Julie for participating in this issue by providing me some information about her months spent in Colombia and Argentina last fall and some of spring this year. Since I’ve been to both, I was eager to read about her impressions. I have not been to the same exact destinations. I spent a short amount of time in Medellin, as mentioned in a previous issue. And, in 2018 my friend and I went to Valparaiso and Santiago Chile as well as Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina. I would go back to all of them and last year was in Valpo and Santiago again.

Julie was in South America for three months total. She is an attorney but was fully remote at the time of her travels so she was able to enjoy her time spent as a tourist but also not have to worry about taking time off of work. So, let’s get to it!

Colombia

How long were you in Colombia? I was in the country for 28 days. I spent time in Bogota, Medellin, Santa Marta, and Jardin. I traveled on my own and while I was there I did not rent a car or drive. I used planes, buses, Ubers, cabs, and walked.

What kind of activities did you do on your trip? Shopping, exploring the cities and towns, I enjoyed the beaches, went to museums, and visited a coffee farm. I really enjoyed that last one. VIsiting a coffee farm is a must. 

What were your accommodations? I stayed with a friend's cousin in Bogota, I stayed in a hotel in Medellin and Santa Marta, and in an Airbnb in Jardin. 

What was your favorite meal on this trip? I don’t have one meal that stands out, but I was obsessed with the limonada de coco. It is absolutely refreshing and delicious!

What was your favorite sight or favorite hike, local or national park, or drive? I loved my time in Jardin. I recommend it to anyone wanting to go somewhere fairly warm and quiet. 

Jardin is a small Andean town 131 km south and a little bit west of Medellin, which is also surrounded by the Andes but in a valley.

Where or how would you have dedicated more or less time on your trip? I would have liked more time to hit some other small towns near Medellin. 

Would you go back? To the same destination? I would not go back to the big cities. But I would go back to the coast and more small towns around the big cities. I will give Medellin another try… maybe.

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Argentina

Where did you go and for how long? Were you solo, did you drive? I was in Argentina for about a month and two weeks. I visited: Buenos Aires, El Calafate, El Chalten, Bariloche (and one road trip on the Ruta de Los Siete Lagos with some new friends). I was traveling solo and did not drive. The automatic cars were very expensive and Argentinian drivers are something else. I got a Sube Card in Buenos Aires and used it to travel all over the country by public transportation. 

What kind of activities did you do on your trip? I did a lot of hiking, some trail running, I ate LOTS of chocolate. I went on a history tour about the German presence in Patagonia, walked around, saw a glacier (recommend!).

Comment from Sonya: I have a Chilean friend whose grandparents were from Germany and a trip to Chile right before WWII started left them marooned in Chile and setting up a life there. On the yoga retreat that I ran/created/hoste  last year in Chile, we encountered a class from a German school of pre-teens while out on a nature hike and I chatted with them a little bit and learned that they did instruction in German and also spoke perfect English and obviously, Spanish. I wish I’d been exposed to so many languages by that age. 

What were your accommodations? I stayed in a mix: a hotel for a few nights, a dorm in a hiking town (mixed room, 4 beds found on Airbnb -wasn't great), a private room in a hostel, and an Airbnb for one month in Bariloche that was a studio.

What was your favorite meal on this trip? ALFAJORES. Not a meal but I ate so many and there are many variations and they are delicious. The bread and the sweets are also really good! 

Alfajores are so delicious. I want one now. I bring back boxes of them when I go to any South American country that has them. They’re all different depending on where you go but all delicious.

What was your favorite sight or favorite hike, local or national park, or drive? It is very difficult to pick one. I don't have a favorite but I'll mention hiking the Cerro Llao Llao. It was my first hike, you can take a long bus to get there, the hike is short and not technical and the views are absolutely stunning. 

Would you have dedicated more or less time to your trip? Definitely more! There are so many cities near Bariloche that I wanted to go to but didn't have time. The towns of El Bolson, San Martin de Los Andes are two I’d really like to return to on a future trip.

Would you go back to Argentina? To the same destination? Yes! I will definitely go back to El Chalten one day but there is only one thing to do there, hike and/or trail run, so you have to be in that mindset. I am planning on returning to Argentina and exploring the northern part of the country this upcoming fall! 

Thanks so much to Julie for a peek into her experiences in Colombia and Argentina. I would really like to spend an extended amount of time in one of these countries, or Chile , Ecuador, or Peru, to work on my Spanish. However, I am not sure if I want to do it alone. Something to think about.

If you are interested in sharing any part of your summer travels or trips, I’m all ears. Especially if you have a unique idea to pitch. I love hearing about how other people travel and see the world and I think we can all benefit from and enjoy another perspective. Message me or comment here and I’ll be in touch.

Consuming

Life has been all about familiar and comfortable television lately though I did watch the first four episodes of Bridgerton season three. I watched the first season, could not get into the second and abandoned the show, but decided to try the third season since Nicola Couglan is featured more prominently and I liked her in Derry Girls. Derry Girls is so funny but it might be a very niche humour if you have not watched it.

Reading

Greenwood - I just finished this book on Sunday that was about four generations of the same family living in Canada. It took place during the 1930s, 1970s, 2008, and 2038. The way all of the stories connected and each character had their own issues and tragedies really stuck with me. It was a longer one, at 500 pages, but it moved quickly and I thought it was very interesting.

Hades, Argentina - Currently reading this book that I happened to walk by at the library and only grabbed it from the shelf to read the synopsis, telling myself “you have books at home, Sonya!” However, this one partly takes place during the Dirty War of Argentina in the late 1970s and references it quite a bit and part of the book I am writing relates to that as well. I decided to check it out because the story was intriguing and I felt it could give me some background and further non-fiction resources. This read is one part fun and one part research.

I’m still also listening to Norwegian Wood by Murakami and I am not disliking it or liking it, I am just not going straight to it when I want to listen to something. I do want to finish it but I can tell it is going to take me awhile to accomplish that.

I have one more book from the library, Dixon Descending, that I don’t think I will finish before I leave for the UK and I am a little hesitant to schlep a library book overseas. Not sure why since I am pretty diligent about not losing things, but I am torn between downloading some library books to my kindle or dragging Lonesome Dove with me after I finish Hades. Lonesome Dove (that cover is something else) is about 800 pages and ought to keep me busy the whole trip, right? But it is also massive so it takes up more space than a kindle. But, I have heard so much about it recently and it is a classic that I have not read. The bad thing is that if I somehow do finish Lonesome on my trip I will find a bookstore and buy a new book because my rule about buying new books when I have a shelf full that I am slowly working my way through does not apply on vacation. What would you do? Yes, I want your input.

A little housekeeping!

Did you know that I am also part of a virtual writer’s group and we meet every last Thursday of the month at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern for a virtual co-writing session? You can join us or stay informed about each session by adding yourself to the list. All are welcome and it is a time to work on your newsletter, book, term papers, grading papers, thank you cards, whatever you need. We are a friendly and welcoming group and we make introductions, have an icebreaker question, and use the Pomodoro method as our structure for the sessions. It was also discussed that we might have optional writing prompts for future sessions so you might not always have to have something to work on.

Secondly, if you wan to learn about anything else I’m up to, this is the link to a few more of my offerings since I am also a yoga teacher.

That’s all for this issue and thank you for being here! I’ll be in your inbox again in mid-to late June with the next issue.

-Sonya