Day 365: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile I made it! I’m alive! I didn’t die of loneliness, shark attack or fall off Machu Picchu! A year ago I couldn’t fathom how far I would come in just one year. It’s been incredible. It also occurred to me that most people have only been reading for [...]

I don’t know what it is about Peru that most of the words I learned were to yell or insult someone. In Colombia the words were to describe being something great, in Ecuador it was a mixture. Perhaps my Spanish has improved enough that I’ve moved onto shredding someone’s self-esteem like a local.

Day 344: Mollendo, Peru I realized after the last few posts that some readers were worried that my trip had been challenging lately and I wasn´t having fun. I´m not a doom and gloom type of person and had only been sharing the negative because it challenged me and made me reflect. Interspersed in those [...]

I met up with Mica from KayPachaTravels.com in the beachside town Mollendo, We learned that we had arrived on Sunday, the day after a huge party and the last weekend of Carnaval. However, the festivities hadn´t ended and there was much to enjoy as the beach was packed. Little did I know I would end up with green paint all over me.

I was really excited about climbing down Colca Canyon. I was with people really great people who loved hiking and the outdoors. When they decided that instead of 3 hours we would do a 2 day hike in and around the villages I was excited to be part of this.

After an exhausting time in Arequipa I head to Cabanaconde, the mouth of Colca Canyon and realized I would have to hike it alone. But then a smile changed all of that.

I landed in Arequipa at 6am only to find out that the hostel I had researched in HostelWorld had been turned into an Irish hostel that is also in Cusco and La Paz and known to take parties to the extreme.