Buenos Aires, Argentina

I sit here quietly trying to get my head around the fact that this will be my last day in Argentina. The sound of spoken Portuguese fills the humid air of the hostel, coming from a large group that arrived from Brazil yesterday. More rain falls outside, a continuing theme during our last few days here in Buenos Aires. I am trying to write the appropriate words to close out this trip, but am struggling. Only hours away from boarding a plane for home now and even still the beautiful snow of Colorado seems so far away. It is hard to comprehend the fact that it will only take ten hours to fly over all of the lives that I experienced a micro-slice of - looking out from the window of the van.

I hoped that I might have something profound to write or something inspirational to share, but instead of inspiration, I am only filled with a sense of accomplishment. As soon as the van went onto that cargo ship, a large weight was lifted from my mind, and I could finally say, ‘complete.’ Sure, I still have to get the van from Virginia out to Colorado in a few weeks, but that all seems so trivial now. A language I can fully understand; traffic laws that are obeyed; well marked streets - it all seems so easy now.

I’ve thought a lot about what I learned by embarking on this adventure. There are a couple of thoughts that I keep coming to. First, the world is very big, there is a lot to see, and I am very fortunate to have been able to experience even a small part of it. As a result, I’m extremely glad I didn’t wait until I retired to start seeing it. Waiting until you retire is the prescribed path. With this trip, I have officially jumped off of that path, and am looking forward to cutting a new one from here. There are many directions to go; now I just have to choose one.

Secondly, I have acquired a new perspective for taking on a challenge. In a way, if for nothing else, I used this trip to prove to myself that anything really can be done or overcome if you’re willing to commit to it. I read once that big dreams pay big dividends, and now I can say that that is true. The sights, sounds and smells that I experienced on this trip will be with me forever and the stories I get to share will <i>still</i> be exciting when I tell my grandchildren. From here, anything is within my reach. Upon my return home, I intend to take on the biggest challenge of all – children. I will instill a sense of adventure and travel in them early, and make every attempt to expose them to all the wonders that this big planet that we call home has to offer.

Before I head out to have one more tender Argentinean steak paired with a glass of Malbec wine, I'll finish by saying that you can’t buy adventure, but if you put yourself in the right spot, it will <i>find you</i>…