Is it just me, or is it getting Chile in here?

It’s almost time to dust off the old passport (half of it melted during an Indian monsoon- hope this doesn’t cause problems at the airport) and head off on another international adventure. As the United States heads into holiday season, I will be heading to 80 degree weather and Chilean beaches with my BFFs where I will be trying to remember enough of my high school Spanish to say anything besides “Mi vida es un disastre” (my life is a disaster), which is literally the only phrase that stuck.

I am elated to be leaving the country again.

It’s been 29 months since I had a mental breakdown in India and was advised by a doctor named Elvis to go home immediately, 76 months since I got so depressed that I booked a ticket to Australia as an alternative to killing myself, and 66 months since I zip-lined the jungles of Costa Rica (but this doesn’t seem to be documented in a blog anywhere and did not involve me going crazy, so did it even really happen?)

This has been a long time in the works.

This is us about a year ago, when I thought I had discovered ridiculously cheap tickets to Santiago that practically made us criminals, they were such a steal.

This is us when we went to book the tickets and realized they were actually for Santiago in the Dominican Republic, not Santiago Chile. Fuck you, Dominican Republic.

There were a few other mild crises along the way that almost thwarted the entire mission. Such as me finding out I owed the government exactly one-ticket-to-Chiles-worth in taxes. And there not being a single two-week period in a whole year that we could all get off work at the same time. And Noemi and I accidentally spending all of our savings on jewelry and scarves. And Bevin and Noemi briefly shutting down their entire friendship. And American Airlines telling me they had no evidence I’d ever booked a flight. And, and, and.

But. That’s what travel is. There are a million things that try to get in the way, and a million excuses not to go. But you go anyway. Because adventures are meant to be had, and the world is meant to be seen.

It’s time to get out there again and go see it.