One down...

Wow, I am not doing well with keeping up here. Welp, procrastination is my specialty (I'm working on it).

Argentina, what can say? Well now that I am in Uruguay I guess I can say, thank you. Thank you for the awesome 7 weeks you showed me, for your hospitality, for your lack there of, for catching me up on all the red meat I hadn't eaten in four years, for shaping my Spanish accent into a sea of 'sh' sounds so that I now sound like a Porteño, for Lomos and Panchos and the 42,000 cheek kisses that greeted me at every meeting. Thank you for the wine of Mendoza, the smiles of Cordoba, the floods of Tigre, the awesome people everywhere and the HORRIBLE last week you gave me. Thank you for allowing me to check you off my bucket list after 7 years of strong desire (thanks to Senora Olivera), and finally, thank you for setting such a high bar for the rest of the world that I will see during this adventure.

My direct route since Córdoba (omits side trips)

Better late than never...

Well hello everyone!! I've been slacking a little, actually a lot, and I don’t want to bombard you with a ton right now so I’ll do installments. Life is moving, going crazy and I’m excited to share some snapshots of my experiences with everyone. I’ll start with a little bit of my fellowship realization.

As my second stop, Mendoza has illustrated for me what I already knew to be true of this experience: It is a double edge sword. It will be what I make it. It will be the greatest and saddest thing I have to do, over and over again. To travel alone for 8+ months forces one to meet people, it forces me to trust, connect, depend and be dependable. It teaches me about kindness, genuineness, hospitality, compassion and humanity and ultimately, I will connect with people over and through these traits. They will open places in my heart and it will, for a short time, feel like home: comfort, care, even love. And then I will leave. Not only will I have to start the process over in a new city but it will feel like leaving home, again and again and again. The nostalgia sets in.

I am set to leave Mendoza this Wednesday and on that day, I will give you all the full overview of my time here. In the meantime, I have updated on an adventure and shared a story. Hope you enjoy!

Endless possibilities (random photo from Mendoza)

Check it out

Hey everyone, I've finally updated.

New updates about the places I visit can be found under the 'cities' link, I will put the majority of my pictures in the gallery, story time will hold interesting encounters I have, like the ¨robbery¨, and adventures are, well, adventures. If you start with the cities though, the most important incidences will be hyper-linked in the text (as below) so you can go straight from there! Check it out!

*Side note: Clicking the links may open them all in a new tab, clicking the headings will not. Just a heads up.

Preparation

Packing contemplation. As I sit in this mess, I am still numb to the reality of my upcoming adventure. 9 months, 9+ countries, planes, trains, buses, and all the unknowns that lie ahead. I plan to post my days, good and bad, during this time to share with all of you.  I hope you enjoy this journey with me!

On my blog title: (thank you to the person who inspired this play on words)

vag·a·bond

ˈvagəˌbänd/

noun

noun: vagabond; plural noun: vagabonds

1. 1.

   a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job.

   • informaldated

     a rascal; a rogue.

adjective

adjective: vagabond

1. 1.

   having no settled home.

verb

archaic

verb: vagabond; 3rd person present: vagabonds; past tense: vagabonded; past participle: vagabonded; gerund or present participle: vagabonding

1. 1.

   wander about as or like a vagabond.

Bon-der-man:

Bonderman Fellows will engage with cultures, people, and areas of the world with which they are not familiar, giving them a new global outlook on life. Fellows make their own travel itineraries and explore the world independently. Since this is meant to be an individual experience, Bonderman Fellows cannot engage in formal study at a foreign university, conduct research, or travel with a guest or organized group for longer than ten days.