Category: Looking through my backpack

A few weeks ago, I returned from being on the road for six months travelling along the southern hemisphere of America, from Ushuaia in Argentina to the zero latitude mark in Ecuador. As I emptied out my backpack, it felt incredibly strange to find nothing in it after months and months of coexistence with this loyal travel mate. To be honest, though, it wasn’t really empty. It was full and rich with experiences, moments, situations, anecdotes and lessons learned which have helped me grow as a person and will probably stay with me for the rest of my living days.

I wish to share my two bits of advice with you. On the one hand, use a notebook, a diary if you will, to jot down contacts, suggestions, places to stay, visit and eat, movies to see, anything that comes into your head. With time, your notes will acquire greater significance. On the other hand, let me recommend returning home with some cash so that you don’t have to rush out looking for a job, and you have time to get acclimated to home again and assimilate all those feelings you experienced during your trip.

The most important thing to recall, however, is to embark on a trip of this kind without a preconceived plan for the trip or after. This way you’ll be able to travel and develop new skills, asking yourself questions and finding answers to them along the way that perhaps might not come to you if you were to visualize things beforehand.

Thanks for keeping me company on this blog. Lots of hugs, Xabi.

Since my last post, I have not abandoned Tawantinsuyo, or, more precisely, what was once an empire — or country — before the Spanish conquistadors got hold of it. During this time, I have traversed jungles, deserts, volcanoes, canyons, ruins, cities, villages and native communities. I spent Christmas and the onset of the New Year in Peru, and even though these weren’t my first holidays in the southern hemisphere, I’m still amazed that two hemispheres utilize the same Christmas ornaments, despite the fact that it is winter in one and summer in the other.

My advice today has a nutritional slant to it. So, here I go: it is fundamental to eat as many nutritionally-balanced meals as possible to conserve all your strength and energy in order to do what you want and avoid becoming ill. On long bus rides, you normally eat whatever you can (bags of potato chips, sweet cookies, salted crackers). Regardless of how tempting a restaurant menu may seem, my suggestion is you focus on what’s nutritionally wisest, try something you normally don’t eat and or that which is most difficult for you to prepare on your own. Mind you: my suggestion is not absolute. If local culinary dishes are available, I try to order them. I believe it’s a way to sample the local fare. Another suggestion might be to cook your own food at the local hostel. Sometimes, it’s better for your pocket as well as your body to eat something you are familiar with and know how to prepare.

Since I visited northern Argentina, I’ve come to realize how much I love contrasts in cultures. Comparing customs, traditions, beliefs, politics, history and economy  and learning from them, I feel is the best wasy to open your mind. That’s why I’ve been excited to discover new things about life during the Incan Empire and confirm that this culture remains very much live today.

Xabier Albeniz

Experiences

During the last few days, I’ve come across picturesque places such as the Chiloé islands, thanks to tips like the one I received from a female traveller in Ushuaia. These islands and their rocky coasts form an unforgettable palate with the sea-blue and verdant fields that surround them. Here, you can savor a wide assortment of fish and shellfish, though Curanto, a traditional dish consisting of shellfish, meat, potatoes and vegetables, deserves special mention. As does the hospitality shown by local folk.

Advice

When you embark on a long trip like the one I’m in the middle of, it’s necessary to know how to cope with local weather conditions. Having updated weather info can make your excursion fly instead of flop especially when rain or clouds are in the forecast. If you get hit with a bad day, perhaps its better to take the day off, something a long-term trip will allow you to do. Try getting a weather update from the nearest toruist office, the hostel you’re staying at or check a few websites belonging to people whose livelihood depends on being in the know about the weather like farmers and forest rangers. If you’re in or around Patagonia, check out http://www.windguru.cz/es/

The Learning Curve

During my trip I’ve gone from rucksack-packing problems which included taking forever to do so to learning how to pack quickly and even having room left over to include a few extras. An economist would dub this evolution: the natural fruits of an experiential learning curve; )

But, more importantly, is learning how to the adventurous ropes of co-existence. During my university days, I had the opportunity to share a flat and make new friends. On this trip, I’m living together with lots of people, but in a different way: I spend 2-3 days on the average with each person. Many come and go leaving behind nothing, others offer good times and a useful tip or two, others you learn quite a bit from, while still others you look forward to meeting up with again, picking up where you left off and preserving a relationship that would be a shame to lose. Which is why I’d like to thank right here and now all those people who it has been my pleasure to know during this trip.

Xabier Albeniz

I can now officially announce that I’ve completed the adaptation phase to this form of travelling: packing and unpacking my rucksack, sharing a room with fellow travellers, making do with the hostel’s cooking utensils, taking “off” days here and there to catch a breather, sacrificing favorite clothing to make room in my rucksack and so on …

For the moment I’ve known and lived unforgettable experiences in Uruguay, Argentina and briefly, Chile. Till now, Ushuaia has impressed me the least. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I think that it’s more a mythical place to begin or end your journey so you can say that you’ve visited the city furthest to the south on the American continent. Of course, it’s easy to say this once you’ve been there, but I suggest if you’re pressed for time that you spend more of it in Buenos Aires or in Chaltán, if you are a nature lover.

A piece of advice that my good friend Borja Serrano passed on to me and is coming in very handy. Reserve a hostel for just one night. This way if you hate the place or decide to move on the following day or have changed your travel plans while on the move, you’ll have greater flexibility.

To date, my best lesson has been to know how and when to exercise caution. I think that no matter how psyched or proud you are about roughing it on your own, it’s best to not tell the world. For example, don’t tell people you’re travelling for six months; say instead that you’re getting to know Argentina for three weeks and on another trip you’d like to visit Bolivia or Peru. My grandfather used to say “in war, even the plants have ears”. You may come across a trustworthy travelling companion seated beside you on a bus, but the person sitting behind you or in front may not be.

Xabier Albeniz

This blog launches a new section called “Looking through my backpack”. The center of our story is Xabi, an excellent friend of all of us here at Trourist. Those of you who’ve been following us awhile will remember him since he began our adventure with us.

It seems that Xabi (in a decision as attractive as it was daring) has decided to exchange his everyday living in his native Pamplona for an adventure lasting several months in Latin America. And since he’s what we consider an honest-to-goodness genuine traveller, we decided it might be nice to have him tell us about those special experiences he lives every month. He’ll also be giving advice for those of you who would like to embark on a similar trip and, above all, sharing with us new things he’s learned along the way.

But before he starts to telling us some of these anecdotes, we are going to ask Xabi — who has been in Argentina just a few days now — some questions about his trip.

Q. Even though big trips lend themselves to improvisation, what’s your scheduled itinerary for this one?

A. I began my week in Uruguay and four days in Buenos Aires, visiting people in both places. Now I’m in Ushuaia, south of Argentina, where my adventure has started. My idea is the following: I’d like to climb the Andes, combining destinations in Chile and Argentina, and arrive in Santiago via the coast. From there, I’ll head northeast to get to know the regions of Mendoza and Salta. Afterwards, I’ll cross over to Bolivia and Peru, and then move on to Central America (at least, Guatemala and Mexico). But, like you say, improvisation and making things up as you go along, is half the fun of any trip.

Q. What’s the purpose of your trip? What do you most expect to learn during the next few months?

A. The main reason for the trip is that, a couple of years ago when I was in Argentina I felt I didn’t see as much the country as I would have liked, the same is true for Latin America in general. It’s like I’ve got this thorn in my side that I’ve got to pull out. Besides, my yen for travelling has set my feet in motion on this adventure once again. What do I hope to learn? Good question … I want to learn something from every single person I come across — from travellers I meet along the way (such as advice on ways of travelling and managing my provisions) as well as native people (local culture, gastronomy and customs). I think travelling is a great way for a person to grow as an individual, facing situations that you’ll never live staying at home and a sure-fire way of discovering many different ways of doing things.

Q. Is there any way that a native Latin American or some traveller in Latin American reading this interview could lend you a hand?

A. Of course there are, among the plenty ways are: recommending places to see and things to do, meeting up for a beer or sharing a car ride. I will make my trip up based on things I read, things I hear regarding what to do, what’s not worth it and then just improvise. So, here’s my e-mail address for anyone interested in dropping me a line: xabier.albeniz@gmail.com