Category Archives: Libby’s Travels

- J.R.R. Tolkien

…. let your dreams go unfulfilled.  

“Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.”

From Bonnie Ware’s blog Inspiration and Chai 

I was very inspired after reading that article.

My passion is to travel and live in other countries.  I can’t work in an office for 30 years and be free only to spend a week or two on vacation.  I prefer to focus on vocation.

Working every day means that you miss seeing your family and friends due to your work schedule, but you can’t see much of the world – until you retire.  But by then, you’ll be spending all of your hard-earned savings on an RV and health care.

Retire now!  When you’re in the grave does it matter how much you worked or how much you accumulated?  Stuff is stuff.  We are so lucky to be able to experience life.

Happiness is about living right now.  We are willingly imprisoned by our ‘shoulds’.

“It’s not that easy.”  Yes, it is.  It’s scary but much more rewarding to be laying on your death bed, muttering ‘I did’ versus ‘I wanted to, but…’

We have two choices:  Do or Don’t

The reason there is so much pressure not to follow our wants is because most people aren’t, and we are living in the proverbial crab pot.

I heard a great quote once that basically said – people shrink their dreams to match their income, versus pursuing their dreams and reaching for the income needed to attain them.

It doesn’t have to be income-related but the point is don’t shrink your dreams because you think there are limitations.  Don’t let the kid inside you down!  The only limitations are the ones you put in place.

Sure, there are challenges, and you have to make extreme sacrifices.  Are you willing to make those sacrifices so you’re not lying there, on your death bed, with tubes up your nose and a pocket full of regrets?

I made a decision that, since I was unable to afford just traveling as a lifestyle, that I would work as I traveled.  While still in good health and being able to experience things and absorb languages and try new foods, I decided that I would travel and work simultaneously.

Instead of going to dinner in Seattle every night, I could be working from a cafe in Buenos Aires, enjoying a tango show, speaking Spanish, and having steak and wine for dinner – all while getting my work done that day.  I could visit my family – not for a weekend but for 2 weeks – and not skipping a beat.

My goal is to travel the world and learn about other cultures/ places/ foods/ histories/ people/ languages, etc.  I’ve been told by others that that means a lot of vacation time and a lot of money.

But on Anywhere Entrepreneur I blog about my journey and how it can be done, how you can live out your dreams – not always the way you expected, but with enough desire and guts, anything is possible.

There’s a difference between traveling and being a tourist.

Scenario: You take a cruise to Turkey with your family. While there, you walk around the capitol city buying expensive trinkets to show your friends at home that you are a world traveler. You hurry back to the boat after shopping to get away from those weird people who dress funny and back to the pre-paid dinner on the boat and relax by the pool.

Pop quiz. This describes:

a. A tourist
b. A traveler

(Answer at end)

The tourist takes a week off work after carefully studying where the Internet says to go and getting advice from their other tourist work friends.

They make a packing list from tips they learned on a Rick Steve’s TV series then they go to REI and other highly recommended travel stores to get:
- 1 pair of pants that unzip at the knee for convenient shorts (2 in 1!)
- A breathable button down that is conveniently also sun resistant (move over sweaty pits, yes!)
- 3 pair socks
- 10 pair of underwear (a few extra)
- 1 shower towel (these are too ‘cute’ and your friend’s sister’s cousin took one on a trip and said they save SO much room, and you are packing light!)
Disclaimer: I DO have one of these.
etc
etc

They travel in groups, packs, or pairs. They eat the foods they know, use guidebooks, and impose their own language and cultures.

As I’m writing this 2 German tourists are sitting next to me on the subway with… wait for it…  giant cameras around their necks (you thought I was gonna say fanny packs). After just having been at Battery Park, feeling like I was at a camera store slash outdoor photo shoot – I should have listed cameras first on the packing list. Then fanny packs.

The tourist plans a trip around his/her work schedule. The traveler plans life around his/her travels.

Travelers often travel alone, avoiding groups and packs. They seek out the local foods.

Instead of asking questions, tourists make assumptions based on what they already know – versus what they could learn.

Travelers see through the trinkets. They collect little bits of conversations with locals, new foods, foreign vocabulary and customs, and non-audio-headset tours of local history – as souvenirs.

For example: collect a non-engraved with-price-tag (translated: real) pebble from the beach at Plymouth Rock in England versus a skewed picture of you in the I heart NY tee (oh you know the one) pretending to squash the statue of liberty with your ‘huuuge’ finger. Or better yet posing in front of the GW (thats g-dub yo) statue with yo’ best gangsta poze so all your homeys on Facebook can give u props.  Word.

The traveler learns about themselves, history, culture, and embraces differences.

The traveler has washed their underwear in the sink and has dried off using their t-shirt.

(Answer to question above: if you don’t know, you are a tourist)

No me sale. No puedo dejar de pensar en ello

No me puede salir.  Estoy todavia en la imagen

Como viviendo con un pie en un mundo y otro aqui, dividiendome

Por que .. no se

Me ha convertido no se como ni una explicacion seria suficiente

No tiene sentido

Ya que esta dentro de mi alma

No esta fuera de mi cuerpo

No lo puedo quitar

… y hombre te digo q no quiero quitar

- de sentir

- de vivir

- de cantar

He cambiado, lo puedo sentir.  No me puede despedir no quiere separarse con la pie.

Estoy contando pensado en pesos

Quiero saludar con un beso, un abrazo, un hola

Prefiero estar en the calle (ca-shay)

Donde suponeria que estuviera un monton de gente pero no hay

Estoy sola.  Estoy sola?  Bajo las nubes la lluvia el cafe moreno como la gente sin sueno

Porque no lo descubri antes, se q despues de ocho anios y la vida pasando en los dos pies siempre

El Tiempo es precioso

Y que gracioso que no me di cuenta bajo mis pensamientos mi rutina aburrida y me pasaba la vida

JODER

Me siento otra persona.  Me siento despertada.  Tengo ganas de convertir en otra persona despertada de verdad.

No se en total que significara pero en los ultimos dias me he sentido otra.

Como si estuviera durmiendo la pie y ahora me siento el hormigueo, no dolor, despertador.

GENIAL!

Lo definitivo es renunciar la habitual la normal y continuar subiendo el cerro de hormigas, triunfante.

Ahora metas alcanzadas, dejando de la ‘ruida’, de lo caotico, enfocando en lo que me empuje lo que me envuelve lo que me ayuda, y lo q me da la motiva de seguir

ADELANTE

Don’t cry (for me Argentina) because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Last night in BA.  I’ve spent it working, recovering from last night’s goodbye party, organizing, and eating Chinese takeout.

I’ve gotten teary eyed a couple of times.  I’m sad to leave.  I’m realizing that a place can really touch you but also the people around you make a difference.

There’s still a lot to share, but I decided to do a summary of parts with some memories.

RRRRRRRR’s:

I learned how to roll my R’s.  FINALLY!!!  After 7+ years studying Spanish, living in Spain, Central America, and now South America, finally – and in an unexpected moment on the rooftop terrace eating dinner, out popped a new sound that I’ve been trying to make for yeeeaaaars!  My host brother teased me years ago that I had a speech impediment and that people like me belong in therapy – if he only knew.  I did it! Still I need practice and that I’ve been doing, but I finally did it!

The Christmas Package

My mom sent me a Christmas package.  Thinking it would never have arrived not only due to the time of year but because the package contained food – Gram’s apricot bread and Aunt Renie’s cookies – finally on Jan 11 I got the notice.  Since nothing in Argentina runs smoothly, I decided to arrive when the office opened.  A long line of people and a 3 hour wait later, plus a second waiting room – one was to check in, the other was to wait for the package – finally it arrived.  Smart, mom, for vacuum sealing them.  My roommates and cousin Barry, and me, were all extremely happy! Worth the wait.

Dentista

After 5 years of no insurance and not having gone to the dentist, I decided I would go here.  An educated workforce, but still distrustful of unknown practices, I went in for a cleaning.  I had to be rescheduled for a week later due to the machine breaking (as if I wasn’t nervous enough), but the dentist greeted me with a beso on the cheek, genial.  1 teeth cleaning, 3 cavities, bill total approx. $70 usd.  Score!  I’ll miss some of the costs of living here, including the $5 leg waxing and the dentist.

People, Greets, Dogs

People greet each other here on the street or at work with a kiss on the cheek.  It’s the normal greeting, which seems strange at work, but also very nice.  The people here are really friendly.  In the city, nobody says hello or smiles on the street.  However, if you stop to ask a question or talk to someone, they love to chat with you.  Dinners and lunches last hours as people sit and chat.  When walking in the store, you always look at the owner and say hello / good day / how are you.

Today I saw a lazy fat cat just chilling on the step outside of a restaurant.  It’s amazing to me how the dogs and cats just do their own thing.  Dogs, like the humans, don’t pay any attention to anyone, as nobody else on the street – like in the states – bends down to pet them.  Animals seem well taken care of here and happy.

Upside Down in South America

Did you know that the toilet flushes the opposite way here?  Or how about that instead of the Big and Little Dipper, I see Orion.  Supposedly the Southern Cross too?  Haven’t yet seen that one.  It’s amazing to realize how much the world changes and how we are truly a round earth, not flat!  We eat, walk, sleep the same but we see and experience different parts of the planet.

More useless ramblings to be added…

Unplug yourself!  That´s advice I absolutely did take last weekend. Tickets to Uruguay quadrupled in price as the hectic holiday season is still at its peak. I was hoping to go before leaving, but instead took an offer for my roommate´s parent´s cabin in the town of Las Toninas, just north of Mar del Plata, a famous beach town for people in Argentina

After several hours in the rented car (two hours after getting lost 200k out of the way) and five people crammed with bags, food, and a guitar, we arrived at nighttime in tiny Las Toninas.  Small but alive the streets were bustling well into the late hours of the night, typical for Argentina.

Got to see the Atlantic ocean!  It was so nice to dip our toes after the long drive.  We settled in, got a full chicken and some papas fritas (fries) to share for dinner then off for a night long nap until waking up to bird´s chirping this morning and the sun shining brightly to a gorgeous day on the beach.

Having no running water or sheets suddenly seemed much less important as I headed to the beach.  6 hours later I sat there, typing this, looking like a lobster – burnt to a crisp and exhausted – but happy to be alive.

Dinner that night was an asado on the house grill that is outside yet inside the wall of the terrace.  Sunday would have been another full day of beach, possibly some fishing, and more surfing the waves, but it turned out to be I had to hide from the deceivingly strong sun.

That night after dinner we all cheered on Caleb, our roomie from BA, as he busked (illegally we found out as we had to shut down after 40 min) on the streets as he gathered a large crowed and earned 26 pesos.

The next day was back to city life.  As sad as I was to leave the beach, I sort of felt like I was home when we got into downtown and had a strange sense of familiar comfort, surprising but good.  I got a chance to learn how to drive like a real Portena, I realized if there isn’t a lane, you make one.  People will always cross the street, just try not to hit them.  I would call the driving experience ‘defensive yet creative’.  At least it wasn’t like Sarajevo, no driving on sidewalks.

Now back to being enchufado… plugged.

New Year’s eve fireworks in San Telmo in Buenos Aires.

Another 20 hour bus ride with alfajores, medialunes, bad movies … though much better, and plush seats, back in Bs As it was for warm weather and the anio neuvo.

Like Christmas, everything shuts down early, families and friends celebrate, fireworks are set off in all neighborhoods at midnight (or before in anticipation), and bars/restaurants open back up at 2 am.

Staying low key in San Telmo, had an asado (bbq) with roomies and friends before heading to the Plaza Durrego the main square in San Telmo for fireworks and champagne.  The locals all bought and shared beers and Fernet and CocaCola drinks as bands played in the streets, people laughing and dancing.  I too joined in the firework celebration, lighting off my only firework that almost hit the policia…. good thing I didn’t have to call home to get bailed out of prison.

It was fun to learn new traditions and celebrate the new year in Buenos Aires.