I am such a procrastinator. I don’t know why, but I am. It has been over a year since our last holiday; Italian Alps and Venice in September 2002. We should have our next trip all planned but Nooooooooo.

After the trip to the Alps and Venice, we wanted something a bit more challenging . Europe has gotten to be too easy. Yes, there is stress dealing with different languages and different cultures but it is also very similar. You can find the same TV, the same fashion, the same music. We want something different. Also, married to a horticulturalist, you just can not travel in the Spring. But you can travel to the Southern Hemiphere in November which is Spring in reverse.

We started to talk about potential places last March. We tossed around several places. South Africa? Too far. New Zealand? Been there twice. What about Chile? We love the outdoors and hiking. It has always been a dream to visit Patagonia. We started doing a bit of research and it sounded perfect. Lots of different regions to visit, stable government and economy, and lots of outdoors areas to visit from the desert to glaciers.

But we also had to train for Mt. Rainier. We both turned 50 years old this year and as a challenge, my husband decided to climb Mt. Rainier in July. We spent every week focused on training, hiking, running and no time on a trip to Chile. He summitted in July and we slacked off.

Time is getting close and we finally sat down and started to plan. We now have airline tickets and a deposit down on a 5 day hiking trip in Patagonia. We will leave on November 20th and fly via Dallas. We will return on December 10th.

We want also want to visit the altiplano area in the north and the Lake District. It probably won’t be ‘Slow Travel’, but we will only focus on three areas. Next step, finalize the days and get a LanChile Airpass. Also start checking on accomodations.