A half-year trip to South America

We soon decided when we could go and when we have to return and chose the date of departure: December 2018 and the date of return: (most likely) June 2019 (to go to the wedding of Katarina's good friend). We have about half a year. We always wanted to travel to both Americas. According to the timeframe, it seemed to us that it was only logical for us to go to South America, because there will be summer in the time of our trip, and we have never been there.

When we made the decision, there was a lot of work. We had to conclude things at work, give an absence notice or to resign at our jobs. At the same time, we also moved out of our apartment, so all our assets had to be packed in boxes and taken to our grandparents' attic. And last but not least: we had to find home for our pets; for our cat Liza and rabbit Bibi. Saying goodbye to them was the hardest part of leaving.

We agreed to purchase a car in Chile when we were still at home so we were able to start a journey soon after arriving in South America. It took exactly a week for us to arrange all the papers and to take the adventure of our lives. Travelling with a car was always "our thing". We always enjoyed the freedom that the car gives us. Above all, this is an opportunity to get away, whenever and wherever we want. Because we bought an off-road car, we also have access to many more remote areas. We are also able to sleep in the car in the beautiful and remote places. For now, things are working out perfectly. We slept on the beaches, by the lakes, under the mountains, even on the ferry.

We do not have a whole plan of the trip. because it is also impossible to plan a 6 month long trip. At first we thought that by May we would reach Colombia, but now it's clear to us that we probably will not see Columbia at all, because there is not enough time for so many kilometres. As far as planning is concerned, we are somewhere in between: we do not have everything planned, but we do have something planned. We have a few points on the map and some dates that we have to keep so we don't lose ourselves in South America's beauty. According to what we’ve in the first weeks, there are so many things to explore, so many hiking trails, so much to see that we could stay in Chile for the whole 6 months.

Our plan is therefore: we will travel in Chile and Argentina at least till the first half of February. Here is the famous Patagonia, there are beautiful lakes, glaciers, mountains and we hope there'll be good weather, so that we can experience all this beauty. The next point on the map and our fixed date is the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, for which we have already purchased tickets and we have already agreed to stay at the HI Copacabana hostel.

We are also considering the idea of crossing the border from Brazil to Venezuela and going on a trekking. Or we might go to Guyana to see the waterfalls on its south. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it sounds very nice to us.

We'll definitely be in Bolivia around the first of May. We look forward to visiting this country the most, as it offers a lot of natural beauty. The most famous is the Salar de Uyuni - Salt Desert, then there are many lagoons, Altiplano Plateau, mountains, volcanoes and Amazonian forests and the diversity of vegetation and animal life. And after that we will probably only have time for Peru.

We have to return to Chile in June, where we will sell our car.

On the way back we will also see North Chile, where we will visit the Atacama Desert - the driest place in the world, and probably another interesting thing that we do not know about yet. If we have time and money, we may also jump to the Easter Island, otherwise we will just go skiing in Ande. In June, Chile will have a real winter and ski season here in full swing.

In order for this to not be simply a trip, we set up one project. We were inspired by the film "The Pursuit of Happyness", where the main character travels around the world and asks people across different countries from different backgrounds what makes them happy. We said that we too would like to find our happiness through others. It's not that we're unhappy at home. Perhaps sometimes we just forget about the happiness we have that we live in Slovenia, that we have one another, parents, friends, social security... We are interested in what makes people happy at the other end of the world. The plan was to ask as many locals as possible: " What makes you happy? »However, there has already been one minor problem in Chile: most people do not speak any other language than Spanish, and our Spanish is (for now) very bad. Consequently, communication is very difficult. We managed to get only one person in such a serious conversation: the young Chilean girl Valentina, who is finishing her English and French translation studies, and is working in IAESTE Chile, an international organization for the exchange of student practices. Valentina is a very talkative girl, so it was not difficult for her to start this conversation with her. When asked what makes her happy, she replied: "This. Socializing with people from other countries, other cultures and getting to know their view on the world. "

The next time we will talk more about our acquaintances in South America, about the happiness of the locals here and about our adventures.