I live for a living...

I used to say I was a student. Or a reporter. Or an artist. But now I know better.
I'm just a dreamer. Someone who wants to live in the moment for a while. Someone who doesn't study with a goal or work for the money, but someone who just lives for a living and enjoys what happens along the way.
I used to plan for the future. I used to have anxiety problems working all night at a newspaper while I was a full time student. I used to do what was practical. But now I know better.
I'm only 21, but I know now that this is my life. I know now that I've been given an amazing situation and am at a crossroads in my life. I know that if I don't take advantage of these chances I have in front of me to drop all those things I don't need to worry over and chase my passions that I'll regret it forever.
I'm ready to firefight as a real job, and not a summer break. I'm ready to pursue my degree at a pace right for me, and not full-time, nine months per year just because it's what I'm "supposed" to do. I'm ready to learn Spanish. To make a small difference in the lives of people around me. To have opinions again and express them. To fight for what I'm passionate about. To fall in love. To drop everything and go to South America for a few months every year. To live for a living.

Happy December!

It’s time for an update on the latest adventure. Who’s ready? Well, if you’re still reading I’m going to assume you are, so here we go!

I leave in about a week and a half and now have in my possession a lovely new residential visa in my passport (to keep that lonely Mexico City entry stamp company) and feel all ready to go. In 11 (12, sort of) days I will be in Santiago and this is finally going to be real.

Anyway, enough of that. Time for some real, tangible details. I recently learned a little bit about the family I will be staying with. It is a household of three consisting of a banker, his wife and their 25-year-old daughter who is attending university for food engineering. They live in La Reina (a neighborhood in Santiago) which, to be honest with you, I know absolutely nothing about (but Google Maps says there might be a pool in my backyard!).

In the meantime I am just sort of enjoying family time in the Mucc and trying to make a list of all the people I need to see in Reno once I’m back there (anyone know anything fun happening for NYE?).

Well, that’s about all I’ve got for now. Merry Christmas, Happy belated Hanukkah, Happy December/Winter Solstice/Secular-day-of-I’m-sick-of-feeling-left-out-celebration or whatever else you might be preparing to do around this time.

¡Chao!

All booked up

Alright, so the next chapter of my soon-to-begin adventure is written. My tickets to and from South America are all booked and I'm about to send off my visa application to the consulate in San Francisco. So here's the plan: Leave the States Jan. 4 from Reno to arrive the next morning in Santiago with a connection in Dallas. The way back is a flight from Buenos Aires about two-and-a-half weeks after school ends. That leaves, drumroll please, a ton of time for me to backpack around!


So the plan is for me to head out of Santiago the day the rest of the American students are leaving, but instead of heading north with them, I'll travel east to either Buenos, Montevideo (Uruguay) or somewhere in Brazil (São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro) or Paraguay. I'll then spend a few days in those countries, adjusting for where I prefer (meaning my primary traveling will most likely be via bus). If I run short on time, I'll knock off Paraguay (it's pretty much on the list just because it's in the area) followed by Brazil (I'll admit I'm a little worried about the whole I-don't-speak-Portuguese thing). That said, I'd really like to hit them all, but I've heard Montevideo and Buenos Aires are going to be the best cities to hit.


That's really all I've got for now. I'll have another update soon about the actual studying abroad part with the classes I'll be in and where in Santiago I'll live when I get that information. Does anyone have any other suggestions for places on the Atlantic coast of South America to hit? Or maybe a link to a good backpack I can use for this mini adventure?