It’s a phrase that scares people. Hell, it terrifies me when they’re so scared for me. I’ve done solo travel before--three months in Paris, traveling through Italy on a tour, traipsing across the USA and Canada for work--and it’s been tough, but never impossible. The scariest part is stepping onto the plane, and just trusting yourself enough, that even though there are a million things out there to scare you: pickpockets, scam artists, noisy hostel-mates... you will make it through in one piece.
This time it’s a little harder. Peru is not exactly the same as Europe. A couple of “Learn Spanish in 7 Days!” books is not exactly the same as 4 years of high school french. The looks on peoples’ faces when they find out where I’m going alone this time isn’t exactly as confidence-inducing as when the answer was Paris. The poverty level is much more striking in South America than in most of the places I’ve traveled. And I’m coming off the flux of helping a friend get married, moving into a new apartment, and preparing for graduate school.
But when the going gets tough, I usually end up on the lucky side of things. When deciding where to use up frequent flier miles to get to this summer, Lima came up requiring so few miles that I ended up with a first class ticket. When I dreaded going off alone once again, I had suggestions given to me of ways and means to get where I was going and meet people along the way. I always manage to come out ahead somehow--in Europe, in the US, and in NZ. The lucky star seems to hang overhead still, and (knock on something wood for me, will ya?) hopefully it will continue into the heights of the Andes and the depths of the Amazon.
This time it’s a little harder. Peru is not exactly the same as Europe. A couple of “Learn Spanish in 7 Days!” books is not exactly the same as 4 years of high school french. The looks on peoples’ faces when they find out where I’m going alone this time isn’t exactly as confidence-inducing as when the answer was Paris. The poverty level is much more striking in South America than in most of the places I’ve traveled. And I’m coming off the flux of helping a friend get married, moving into a new apartment, and preparing for graduate school.
But when the going gets tough, I usually end up on the lucky side of things. When deciding where to use up frequent flier miles to get to this summer, Lima came up requiring so few miles that I ended up with a first class ticket. When I dreaded going off alone once again, I had suggestions given to me of ways and means to get where I was going and meet people along the way. I always manage to come out ahead somehow--in Europe, in the US, and in NZ. The lucky star seems to hang overhead still, and (knock on something wood for me, will ya?) hopefully it will continue into the heights of the Andes and the depths of the Amazon.
Oh, and I want to carry on my luggage. The packing post will be very interesting...
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