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?
