Flying Solo

After two years living the big city life in Buenos Aires, I was ready for a change. At the end of December, I packed up all my belongings--which had somehow grown into a monstrous pile--and hopped on a bus headed south. I´ve always been enchanted with the idea of moving to Bariloche...living the ¨small town¨ life in Argentina.

Bariloche seems to be a perfect mix. It´s small enough to have the warm, friendly, open small town feel. One of the most common forms of transportation is to ¨hacer un dedo,¨or hitchhike. At the same time, it´s big enough to have lots of things to do and lots of tourism (which spells ¨job opportunity¨for me).

My biggest motivation for my relocation was because I miss the outdoors. I love living in a city with hundreds of activities and options sprawling in every direction; however, at times I just have the urge to strap a bunch of weight on my back and bound up mountains. After travelling through Peru with my brother, backpacking and camping for a large portion of the trip, I realized I was ready for a change.

I have a tendency to move rather than travel. Two years ago, I transplanted to Buenos Aires and now I´m relocating again...without a clue of what the city will be like. The biggest difference between these two moves is that this is the first time that I´m travelling truly alone. When I came to Buenos Aires, I knew my friend Devan would join me in a few months. I also did a language program which served as set forum to meet people. This time, I´m without a net.

So far, I have loved travelling by myself. I´m still in the glowing honeymoon stage of moving, but now I can´t imagine ever being intimidated by setting off alone. I´m really looking forward to moving through the next stages of ¨getting to know you¨with Bariloche and am excited to see what they bring.