Dreams

The Countries I’ve visited:And the ones I want to visit…

What’s so special about Chile?

From a Tourist Book about Chile: A long, narrow sliver of land, clinging to the edge of a continent, Chile has often drawn attention to itself for its wholly implausible shape. Seen in the pages of an atlas, the country’s outline strikes you as aberrant and fantastical: almost 4000km in length (the equivalent of Scotland to Nigeria), and with an average width of just 180km, the very idea of it seems absurd. Once you’re on Chilean soil, however, these boundaries make perfect sense, and visitors quickly realize that Chile is a geographically self-contained unit. The Andes, the great mountain range that forms its eastern border, are a formidable barrier of rock and ice that cuts the country off from Argentina and Bolivia. The Atacama Desert, a thousand-kilometre stretch of parched wasteland separates it from Peru to the north. And to the west, only a few islands dotted in the Pacific Ocean break the waves that roll onto Chile’s coast from Australasia. All this has created a country distinct from the rest of South America, and one that defies many people’s expectations of an Andean country. It is Westernized, relatively affluent, and – with the exception of the infamous military Pinochet regime of the 1970s and 1980s – boasts a long tradition of political stability and orderly government. It is, without doubt, one of the safest and most relaxing South American countries to travel in. Its buses are comfortable and run on time. Its people are warm, hospitable and generous. And, by regional standards, its police are honest, helpful and reliable. Above all, though, it is for its remote and dizzyingly beautiful landscapes that visitors head to Chile. With its population of fifteen million largely confined to a handful of major cities, and a land area three times greater than the UK’s, much of Chile is covered by vast tracts of scarcely touched wilderness – places where you can be days from the nearest tarred road, and where it’s not unusual to stumble upon steaming hot springs, gleaming white salt flats or emerald lakes, and have them all to yourself. Few countries, moreover, can match the astounding contrasts of scenery you’ll find here, ranging from the driest desert in the world to immense ice fields and glaciers. Spread between these extremes is a kaleidoscope of panoramas, taking in sun-baked scrubland, lush vineyards and orchards, virgin temperate rainforest, dramatic fjords and bleak Patagonian steppes. Towering over it all is the long, jagged spine of the Andes, punctuated by colossal peaks and smouldering volcanoes. You can experience this wilderness in whatever style you choose – Chile is not a developing country, and you don’t have to slum it while you’re here. There are plenty of modest, inexpensive accommodation options and camping facilities up and down the country, while those on a more generous budget will find increasing numbers of luxurious, beautifully designed lodges in spectacular locations, particularly in the south.

Getting Away From Here

Travelling is an expensive proposition. How do you live on limited resources? I’m wondering if I should just work my ass off, get rich and then retire. But who’s to say I would be able to get rich? I should sow seeds now for more opportunities later. If I save enough money, in 2 years I’ll have the means to live for 1 year in chile. In that time, I could find work where I go- Concepcion or Santiago. Perhaps Puerto Rico will emerge as a good alternative.

It’s possible that at the end of this 2 years of work that I wont want to go. I could meet a girl or I could want to move somewhere domestic. But by setting a goal, more opportunities will arise than if I worked for 2 years without one.

I’m basically commiting to saving as much money as possible, starting a low commitment retirement plan and making a land investment the price of a large SUV.

I’ll need to save half of my pay every month. Is that possible?

In that year Im away I’ll need to tally in costs of making monthly 401k/mortgage payments, so that if I need to return my investments are still rolling along. When I get back to the states work wont be hard to find, but I’ll need to make sure I keep up on all my CE credits and licensure.

2 weeks in Chile

The Following story is taken from one of my travelblogs that can be found here:
http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/blog-44516.html

 

In February 2005 I went on vacation in Chile. I rented a car in Santiago and drove 1000 kilometers south to El Districto Lagos. At my furthest drive to the city of Castro, on Chiloe Island, I was futher south than anywhere in Australia, Africa and most of New Zealand. Why Chile? It is said of Chile that:

“When God created the world he had a handful of everything left: mountains, rainforests, deserts, oceans, cactus, lakes, glaciers, volcanoes-and he put it all in his pocket. But there was a hole in this pocket, and as God walked across heaven it all trickled out, and the long trail it made on the eath was Chile.”
— Anonymous

Along the way to the south, my first stop was in Chillan to meet with my friend Noelia. She’s a high school teacher and speaks great english. When I met her for the first time it was for lunch with 2 of her friends. It went well, they were all really cool people and Noelia and I hit it off. That night we all went drinking. The next day Noelia and I visited an arbortoreum and old mine in Concepcion, crossing the enormous Bio-Bio river, Chile’s largest. That night we went out for Mexican Food(just like home!) in Chillan, after all it was Valentine’s Day! We danced most of that night away to the music which, to my ear, was all “Latin Music”. Noelia however could make out the subtle differences: Cuban, Argentinian, Columbian, Spanish, Mexican and Chilean. But both of us knew the origin of the song “Like a Virgin” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, which would be played at the most random times! Think face paced Salsa and Mamba, couples dancing in a flurry to the piana and trumpets- then the DJ cuts to Cyndi Lauper… which ironically would bring everyone else who wasn’t dancing to the floor. We then spent the next day at the rocky coast of Playa Cobquecura. It was these first days I cherish the most out of all my travels.

From there, I ventured on my own to do many things: I went camping and hiking in P.N. Conguillo, river rafting in the Andes at Villarica and Pucon, hot springing and fine dining at Puyehue, saw summertime fireworks and had late nights in Puerto Varas, ate Curantos in Puerto Montt, visited waterfalls and volcanoes in Petrohue, drove to the fjords and turquoise green waters of Puelo, saw wild penguins on Chiloe Island and hiked in the ancient rainforests of Alerce Andino. I spent most of my time in the far south with Fernanda, a tour guide and college student. She was a super cool Chilena, chain smoker and liked to have a few beers now and then. Fluent in German and English, Fernanda’s knowledge of her region and country was astounding. I dont see how I would have had a meaningful time without her!

Even through all this travelling though, something was oddly different, yet substantially similar about the experience’s I was having there.

Im usually very oriented to my environment: I always know which way is north, the names of most trees and plants, the biomes I live in and biomes I live near, the names of all the national parks and locations of hot springs, the phase of the moon and position of the stars.

In Chile, none of these things were the same. The sun and moon move along the northern horizon, making north seem south. The plants are totally different, yet the landscapes lookly strikingly similar. Chilean forests are lush and enchanting, yet there are no native Pines, Firs or Cedar trees in the high mountains. Like California, Chile has a vast array of National Parks lining its mountains. but unlike Calfiornia, I knew few of the names or what to expect when visiting the. At night the stars of the southern hemisphere are completely different, while Orion and the Moon are upside down. Going south in Chile is like going north, the weather gets colder and wetter the further you go. Every mountain seems to be unnamed, untamed and familiar.

Flying in Santiago was like flying into LA… lots Spanish, big city feel(6 million people), big mountains at your back, gorgeous mediterranean weather, a huge metropolis and lots of freeway. The similarities to California’s climate and geography were striking. This feeling of being in a place so similar to home, yet so fundamentally different still is with me to this day.

The Chileans are a very homogenous people. They are all thin(except for the potato lovers of Chiloe island), have dark hair, are very friendly and very happy people. All of the girls in my demographic were gorgeous, in 15 days I must have seen more beautiful women than in the last 2 years travelling around the United States. Besides ugly girls, the most noticable thing missing was different ethnicities. I saw no black people, no gringos, no East Indians, no Asians. While some people rightedly point out that this is what makes America so great, being the rare caucasion outsider in this Latin culture so recently open to the world was quite pleasant! Most people dont own cars; they ride the bus, micros(mini-buses), collectivos(crowded taxis that follow routes) and taxis. You can ride to work, the gym, the store every day and visit Santiago once a month for only $50, so it makes sense so few people had cars. There was also the undeveloped feel of Chile. There were lots and lots of dirt roads, anything that wasnt a main road was dirt. Its like a step in the past, for almost every public road in the United Sates that isnt in a National Forest is paved. It felt exactly like California, but 20 or 30 years ago. And while Chile may have unpaved roads, cheap land and cheap houses, they also have a wealth of natural resources: clean water and electricity because of the many rivers flowing from the Andes.

There was lots of forestry, largescale plantations of Monterey Pine(Native to North America) and Eucalyptus(native to Australia) trees. These two trees which comprised forests stretching for many miles were unmistakably like the California coast. Lots of Native Chilean forest was clearcut to make room for these operations, and this practice of destroying native forest continues to this day.

I feel the need to return to Chile, because it feels like I could make a difference there. Here in California, all the rules are set in place: the forests are protected, the houses are expensive, the people are intoxicated with the riches of their economic development and international acclaim. In Chile they are humbled by 8.0 magnitude earthquakes every 40 years, happy for recently breaking free from a Dictatorship, reminded daily of the hole in the Ozone layer. They live in a land of many riches, having the fastest growing economy in the Americas for the last 20 years. They live in an agricultural and outdoor adventure hot spot, with the pacific ocean on one side and the towering Andes Mountains at their backs. Their future is very humbling and very bright, but it’s not a future that’s on the centerstage. That sounds perfect to me….