‘I hope life gives you wings, and you have the courage to use them’ – Christy ann martine
So it is about time I give an update. My blog has pitifully fallen to the sidelines since December. Friends, family and those who follow me on social media are aware of the reasons for this, but I thought a quick blog post would be useful to explain my hiatus. I will be back to usual posts once I have a stable wifi connection mid March, and have a nice backlog of drafted posts to go through!
In January I left my job to try something different for a while. Why? Well for a long time I considered teaching English abroad. It was one of those ideas that comes and goes. I had also debated what it would be like to up and leave, with no return plan. I have met many people who had done this on previous travels, and whilst it did not come without risk, they were happy with their choices. The seed was planted.
For a while I felt I needed to justify my plans with an explanation about what I would do upon returning, which meant I did not make a decision for about a year. After all, I am at that point where I am no longer ID’d, should be investing in my pension not stopping it, am receiving an increasing amount of house warming and wedding invitations, and people were asking about my career (or lack of one). Obviously we are all quite unsure about what we are doing and feel the weight of societal expectations, but this knowledge did not stop my hesitation for a while. After all, I was in a job I enjoyed and could not easily come back to, friends in my hometown and I had a good amount of annual leave to travel each year. Why leave?
‘Oh so is this a belated gap year?’
‘No, I have already had one or two of those.’ – (An example of how some conversations went!)
My plans included returning to university when I returned. This received approving nods, and made my plan appear slightly sensible. I even applied and studied for my GAMSAT (graduate medicine) exams, but then one day after waking up again at 5am to revise before work, I realised I just was not sure about what I wanted ‘to do’, and could not commit enough to a long term plan. So instead, I decided not to have one.
After this I applied to study for a teaching English as a foreign language qualification, and for a teaching English program in Chile. Chile is a country I have always wanted to travel to but also a place where language schools understandably require a better proficiency in Spanish than I can currently offer. However the program I applied for did not. So I sent off my application, researched TEFLs/ CELTAs, applied for a CELTA, had interviews, was accepted onto both programs, and tearfully handed in my notice. I was also working extra hours and sold a lot of my stuff to gain some extra money.
Away I went. This started with an intensive CELTA course at the International House in Barcelona for a month in January. Cue lots of late nights, vino tinto, good food and stress, with a bit of exploring thrown in when possible! I typically left work on the Friday and flew to Barcelona on the Saturday so it was non-stop. However it was also an incredible experience, with an amazing group of all ages, backgrounds and from different countries around the world. The course, group and students taught me so much. Yes at times lessons went wrong and I definitely struggled to eat on teaching days due to being so nervous. However it was a crazy ride that I am so glad I completed, even now when I look at my slowly draining bank balance.
I will be writing some posts on studying a CELTA, including why I picked International House and a bit about Barcelona. But currently I am a little busy with little internet! After Barcelona I returned home for five days to repack, get my Chilean resident visa in London, say goodbyes and try and sort my life out. Obviously this increased my blood pressure significantly and I would not recommend this short turnaround to anyone. I was literally packing in the car on the way to the airport, drowning in tears and self doubt, and had to stop in an outdoors shop for last minute equipment purchases on the way. But this tends to be how I work, and somehow things came together.
I left such as short window of time because I wanted to travel around Patagonia for a month in season. The season is usually November- April, but unpredictable weather is present all year round. As I have no idea where I will be teaching in Chile yet, this time is an opportunity to relax (kind of!) and travel before I am settled in one place for about five months. Afterwards? Well I am not so sure, but I hope to explore more of South America. I will then figure out my next move (budget dependent), which may include teaching English somewhere else.
After a few days in Santiago and Valparaíso I flew South to Punta Arenas in Chile, which is a gateway to Southern Patagonia. Patagonia is number 1 on my South America bucket list. So far it is more incredible, sublime, wild and definitely more expensive than I imagined. Now I understand why people take the time to come here, even though it can drain half of a person’s six month South America budget (yes, I have met and read about a few people who have said this!)
However there are ways around this, and hacks to try and keep costs down. I managed to get last minute camping reservations for the W trek in Torres Del Paine in Chile. There may have been a growling puma or two, mice eaten food, varied weather including snow and about 10kg on my back over the four days. It was tough as I do not often carry all my gear, but so worth it. I then headed to El Calafate in Argentina to see the Perito Moreno glacier.
And now? I am now in El Chaltén in Argentina, where I have spent four days hiking and camping. Tonight I am getting a night bus up to the Argentinian border town Los Antigous. Then I somehow hope to get to the Puerto Rio Tranquilo in Chile by Monday night. As you can probably tell, this month has been full of ‘wing it’ moments, but I guess that is all part of the adventure.
After this I plan to work my way up North to Santiago, before I start a training week mid-March. Obviously travel delays, weather and fully booked transport can play a bit of havoc so we will see. I am trying to embrace the Camino spirit and just roll with it, with little expectation or plan!
Thank you to those who have shown an interest and continue to visit my blog. And thank you to my amazing friends and family who are so supportive. Like they say, it is taking the first step into the unknown that is the hardest. Afterwards things do tend to fall into place. You just have to take the first step to realise this, risky as it may be. Do not get me wrong, I miss my job, the familiarity of my hometown, and of course my life at home. However as they say, I much prefer to say ‘oops’ about this choice I have made than wonder ‘what if’ in a few years.
Any questions?
Have you visited Northern Patagonia? Or have recommendations for other destinations in south america? Comment your recommendations below!
