Over the last year we’ve met dozens of people. Some are fleeting like the man I sat next to on a bus in Sri Lanka that I shared crackers with and who bought me candy. Some are lengthier like the group of Gen Z travelers we played cards with in Barcelona who thought “we were very cool for taking a gap year as adults,” but everyone makes an impression.
H and I have started to play a game where we describe where we met someone and the other person has to guess who we’re describing. (This game sounds extremely lame as I relay it but it’s actually fun!)
Here’s an overview of who we met on our first day in Torres de Paine, Chile.
Months and months ago we planned on booking either the O or the W. But we didn’t—partly due to sticker shock, not knowing our exact dates, and lately general worry that we’ll find it too crowded. Yet over the last few weeks of van camping around Patagonia we decided we wanted to do a portion so we went into the cheaper of the tour companies yesterday (Vértice Travel) and booked into a Refugio for two nights.
During the journey of figuring that out we met a Kiwi woman who currently lives in Norway and is biking around and gave us one of her maps.
We met a Polish man who is hitching and was very funny—but also appalled at some of these prices and the challenges with booking one of the famous treks.
Back at our hostel/camping spot we met a woman from Denmark who checked us in before she ran off to buy more toilet paper. A man from the southern tip of Argentina who works here and hasn’t been home in five years. He gave us some of his woodworkings, and explained how he drinks his maté with hot water but some folks drink it with apple juice and ice—depends on where you’re from.
A woman from France who just finished the O trek and was very sore. A porter who works the O trek carrying couples’ bags—he told us that Americans and Canadians tip the best and helped us plan our day hikes on the trail.
There was a also a family of three wrapping up a kayaking jaunt—the kid was adorable and sang a bit for us. And a man that lost his “verde teléfono”. (H has corrected my Spanish to “teléfono verde”.)
Lots more folks to add to our own game of Guess Who.
It’s hard to believe we’re approaching one year of travel. This time last year I was at my playwriting retreat in Florida and we were getting ready to head to Tahiti. This year we’re camping until the end of March and then spending our final two weeks in Buenos Aires exploring and seeing friends.
None of these photos are of Torres de Paine, we just got here folks. Enjoy some photos of our van life from Chile to Argentina so far.
