One Month Down

Today marks exactly one month since I left home.  I've been gone four weeks and four days, 32 days in total. 

In that time, I've been on four planes, slept in 21 different beds, and spent 71 hours on buses. 

I've traveled from the jungle to the desert to the ocean to the mountains.  I've been to big cities, colonial towns, and indigenous villages. 

I've gone swimming in the ocean, the sea and rivers.  I've hiked mountains and boarded down sans dunes. 

I've gone from sea level to elevations higher than 11,000 feet. 

I've met brilliant people and seen beautiful places that I never knew existed.

I've seen the sun rise from the beach in Taganga, Colombia and the sunset over the sand dunes in Huacachina, Peru. 

Technically, I've been traveling on my own since day 18 when I was sick and left Huaraz to head back to Lima. Though it made me a bit nervous, I actually enjoy it more.  And though I don't have an official travel partner, I'm never actually alone. 

While the backpacker circuit in South America is huge, most people take similar routes.  I'm on the North to South route which typically includes some variation of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. 

I randomly run into people I've met in other places all the time and arrange to meet others by keeping in touch over Facebook.  Currently I'm in Cuzco, a city I've already fallen in love with, with an Irish girl, Sinead, who I met while doing the Lost City trek in Colombia.  We're going to do an adventure tour to Machu Picchu on Tuesday and likely travel to Arequipa and through parts of Bolivia together. 

I'm not going to lie and say that everything about this trip has been fun or easy, it took some time to adjust to the routine.  There were definitely times I thought I had made a mistake...that there was no way I'd be able to stay four months. 

But now, I'm in love.  I'm in love with traveling.  I'm in love with exploring new cities and discovering new cultures and meeting new people.  I'm in love with the freedom that comes along with being on the road.  I'm in love with the possibility that each day brings.  Every day I see something I've never seen.  Every day I meet someone new. Every day is new adventure. 

I'm a quarter of the way done, and I already feel that the time is passing too quickly. 

Below:
Picture 1: View from our balcony in Cusco
Picture 2: Church at Plaza.de Sense in Ayacucho
Picture 3: View from the apartment I stayed at in Ayacucho
Picture 4: Artesenal market in Quinua
Picture 5: Stuffed pancake with apples, bananas, and pineapples in Huacachina