"Holidays and heartbreak."

Andrea here! Happy Thanksgiving eve to all of our family and friends back home! I hope you all have gotten your holiday menu put together and have all your food ready to prep for tomorrow! If not, you better get on it! :) Last year to this year a lot of has changed for me personally and professionally and it makes me that much more grateful for the life that I have. I am thankful for my travel buddies, Jackie and Maria, all of my friends and family back home, my amazing and supportive boyfriend, and all in all just feeling more love this year than in any other year before this! Maybe I'm just feeling the holiday sprit lately?

Speaking of holidays, I had a feeling early on that the holiday season was going to be difficult time for me but I didn't realize how difficult. As I sit here in my bunk and type this blog post while listening to "Please Come Home For Christmas," I realize that I can't make this wish come true for my family, friends, and boyfriend. As much as I would like to book a plane ticket home for the Christmas, financially it is impossible, unless a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE happens! (But that's doubtful.) I also realize that for the first time in 29 years, Jackie and I will wake up alone on Christmas day. That last sentence sounds kind of depressing doesn't it? On the bright side, we are very fortunate to be in the position that we are in and have such an amazing support system back home to return to. The holidays will be "just a day" in our schedule this year but then again, we've lost track of what day it is let alone what date it is on this trip so maybe we'll forget that it is even Thanksgiving tomorrow? Doubtful. So I hope you all love hard tomorrow for all three of us who wish we could be home and have full bellies and a relaxing bed or couch to pass out on after eating! :)

The last week has been a whirlwind! We have taken numerous bus rides, a flight, and a boat ride and tomorrow we leave yet again to another city! The last time I wrote I was in a coffee shop just fresh off the bus in Santiago! Now I write you in El Calafate, Argentina! Santiago was a cool city to be in for a few days! Our hostel "Chili Pepper Hostel," was good! It was the one we booked last minute in the coffee shop and we had an 8 dorm bed all to ourselves! It was located in the Italian district in Santiago. The night we stayed we explored the district and it was very hipster and reminded me of Ann Arbor, Michigan! It had a lot of shops, restaurants, and good vibes! The next two night we stayed at the "Poker Hostel." We had our own room and it even had a DVD player with AMERICAN movies! This was a huge development in our books! That night we walked around Santiago and we stopped at a grocery store and I bought popcorn for our planned movie night! Santiago also inspired me to utilize my local parks at home for a napping station. Literally, we saw people and couples hanging out in the park napping, reading, and just relaxing and it inspired me! We then walked back to our hostel and watched, "Me Before You." The movie tugged at our heart strings and also brought up some mixed feelings about Euthanasia...but this isn't a movie review blog, so I won't bore you on my opinions!

The next day we caught a bus and went to a town called Valparaiso. We had heard good reviews about this sea side town and decided that we would make a day trip to the city. The city had cool buildings with art on them and we walked around and explored this little town. We then caught the bus back and retired for the night.

From Santiago we decided to change our itinerary. Now when planning this around the world trip it was easy to sit at home and make a list of all the places we want to see and all the things we want to do. When you are actually living this out in real life some times things have to change in order to make way for things in the future. I think I can say for all of us that money is no object to us and in order to do amazing things in the future, I wasn't willing to spend big bucks at the beginning of the trip. My biggest priorities are swimming with the great white sharks in Africa, exploring New Zealand, and ending my adventure on the islands of Hawaii...! So Bariloche did not make the cut this time. Instead, we booked a last minute flight to Punta Arenas, Argentina. 

Punta Arenas! What can I say about this little town tucked away on the sea shore besides the fact that it was adorable!!! It reminded me a lot of Aspen, Colorado. It was filled with cute shops, restaurants, and mountains! I started to feel the holiday vibes. We stayed at THEE BEST HOSTEL so far on our trip and honestly, I don't think anything can top it. It was called "La Casa" and if any of you are ever in Punta Arenas I highly recommend it! The hostel is owned by a couple and it reminded me of my own Grandmother's house: warm, comforting, and welcoming. The hostel owner baked us fresh cake each night for the next morning's breakfast, had the best hot chocolate, and she was so welcoming and amazing. We wish we had gotten her name...! She made us feel at home and Jackie even walked around the hostel without shoes...THIS WAS HUGE for her! I can't say enough good things about this hostel. The day we left they made sure to have breakfast for us before we caught our bus and they drove us to the bus stop! We had no idea that they were going to do this so it was like a cherry on top of this amazing sundae! 

We took a three hours bus ride to Puerto Natales (where we will be starting our five day hiking/camping adventure on December 1st!) and then decided to keep going to El Calafate which was another three hours. We arrived in El Calafate and didn't have a hostel booked. We attempted to walk around with our packs on to each hostel but were told time after time that it was full. Finally a nice hostel allowed us to use their wifi to book a hostel. We decided to go with "Calafate Viejo." It had decent reviews and a relatively good price considering we were in Patagonia so everything costs a bit more. We made our way by foot to our new humble abode and was realized quickly where we were staying...in a house away from the hotel with no wifi and it was creepy AF...! It was so late in the evening that we put on brave smiles and told ourselves repeatedly that "It's only for one night." We got dinner in town and then made our way back to our hotel. We stayed in the lobby for a bit to use the wifi then headed back to our beds. We slept and got out of there as soon as we could! I mean the toilet was broken for crying out loud! We paid then made our way to our nicer and much more welcoming hostel, "Hostel Calafate." Since we checked in before check in time, we dropped our bags off and explored the town for a bit. The town again reminded me of either Europe or Colorado. It is filled with tourists and tourist shops but we like those some times! That afternoon we decided to rent bikes and cruise around town and hopefully find Lago Argentina! The bike rental itself was only 150 pesos ($9.64) for three hours! The ride itself was kind of difficult! I think it was because the wind was against us and at times we were going uphill. We eventually made our way to the lake and the views were A+! It was totally worth it! We made our way back into town. We decided that the next day (11/23) we were going to the Glacier National Park. Originally, we were going to to do a trek on the glacier but it's $170 and we found a better and more affordable way of doing it. We bought a round trip bus ticket into the park ($51) and then paid $20 for the park entrance fee and $22 for a boat ride around the glacier. Yes, it would have been way cool to hike on the glacier but we were able to see the glacier and be in awe of it and save some money! Plus, we have a HUGE hike in Patagonia coming up that will make up for all of this! 

The Glacier was AMAZING! I can't put into words how big it is and how cool it was! I was in awe and I recommend it to anyone who is ever in El Calafate! We spent about three hours meandering the paths and taking pictures. Every twist and turn we got closer to the glacier and our mouths dropped open! And the water was so blue! Like Hawaii blue, like my Gatorade drink blue! It was beautiful! We then made our way to the boat at 1PM. The boat ride was ok. It was an hour long but it was full of people. It was my nightmare. People just pushing their way out to the outside of the boat to take pictures and totally disregarding the term "take turns." We waited patiently on the left side of the boat where the glacier was not until the boat turned around to head back and we had prime real estate and we were not moving! We finally got our pictures just in time to get off that damn boat! We then made our way to the bus and came back to town! Tomorrow we catch a bus to El Chalten, Argentina! Thanks for taking the time to read all of this and our blog in general! I hope you have an amazing holiday. Happy Thanksgiving from us three to all of you! We hope you enjoy your long weekend off of work and spending time with the ones you love. XOXO

Biggest gift this year is being able to travel and live out a dream. WE are so blessed and grateful for this opportunity!!!

November 11th - November 16th: 

Hey y'all! It's Andrea yet again!

Real quick! Here are all of our social media accounts so just in case if the blog isn't up to date you can all stay in touch with us on our other sites that we update more frequently!

Jackie: 

Snapchat: Jmalenf 

Instagram: @Iamjmalenf

Maria:

Snapchat: Mcgies

Instagram: @McG8608

Me:

Snapchat: itsmeandrea13

Instagram: @Andreuhhh13 

We arrived in Uyuni, Bolivia! The overnight bus was amazing! We were passengers on "Todo Turismo" out of La Paz. We had some difficulties finding the station because it was literally a hole in the wall compared to the actual bus station! But once we were there we checked in, had access to wifi, and the employees were A-plus! We were all very impressed with their work ethic and their hospitality. They were very attentive and you could tell that they loved their jobs and were proud to be working for the company!

Once in Uyuni we checked into our hotel, not hostel! It was named Hotel Reina del Salar. It was decent! We had our own beds, a shared bathroom, and breakfast! The town of Uyuni itself is very small. So we took the day to rest (because that's very important traveling and in real life too!) and were able to talk with our family and friends for a bit. The only thing on the agenda that day was to eat at "Minuteman Pizza" at 5! Minuteman Pizza is all the rage in Uyuni! It is owned by an American who met his Bolivian wife in the states, they fell in love, and now own a restaurant in Bolivia! Good pizza is hard to come by these days so I was definitely intrigued and he was from Boston so I had a feeling he knew what he was doing! We arrived at 4:55PM and were one of the first ones there! We ordered with anticipation and took our seats. I noticed that Anthony Bourdin had visited so again, I was even more intrigued! The pizza wasn't terrible but it wasn't like Marco's Pizza at home but it fell right in the middle. The crust was the best part of the pizza! We walked around town, bought snacks and water and cheap $4 sun glasses from children.  We then went back to the hotel and chilled and let our bellies digest!

The next day we started our "Red Planet Expedition" tour! Now, Jackie is all about reviews and I LOVE her for that because she does her research and I reap the rewards! So she did a lot of research on which company is the best to tour the Salt Flats and Red Planet was highly recommended! Yes, we paid a little bit more for the three day, two night tour ($195) but we figured in times like these you get what you pay for! All in all we were blown away with Red Planet and our guide, Carlos! The vehicles and our driver were superb and we felt safe as we crossed the difficult terrain. The food was good and they bought us FREE wine! Carlos was a complete gem! I cannot say enough nice things about him. He went above and beyond with our group to make sure that we got the best pictures on the Salt Flats (I mean the man came prepared with a car mat and everything so he could lay down flat to get the perspective pictures you all saw on Facebook!), he took time to explain the history and culture of Bolivia and gave us time to ask questions, and he was very accommodating and helpful! He made sure that we all were welcomed in his country and was just an amazing person inside and out! Red Planet, if you are reading this, GIVE THAT MAN A RAISE! Not only did we see the salt flats aka Salar de Uyuni, we visited volcanoes, lagoons and different deserts. We walked with llamas and flamingos and visited geysers and hot springs. We had a picnic on rocks and ate a delicious lunch out of the trunk of our Toyota 4 runner. We took a visit to Incahausi aka the cactus island, and stayed in a hotel completely made of salt! The floor was even salt, it was so cool! Carlos also took us to see the sunset and then taught us about the different constellations in the Southern hemisphere. He was a true gem! The second night we stay in rustic accommodations, with no heat or water. However, the place was very comfortable non the less. We had warm drinks, a delicious spaghetti dinner and then went swimming in a natural hot spring. We walked to and from the hot spring in the freezing weather, kind of stupid of us since we were in our wet swimsuits. The hot spring was glorious though! We enjoyed the stars, wine and great conversation with people from all over the world. 

After three days with Red Planet and many memories and new friends made, we crossed the border into Chile. The border crossing was quite hectic. Red Planet got our passports stamped exiting Bolivia and linked us with the bus that would take us to customs and immigration. When we got on the full bus we were given a form to complete and then was driven for about 40 minutes to immigration which I thought was confusing within itself because why didn't we do the immigration stuff at the border? But oh well, it wasn't a time to ask questions! We were hustled off the bus and given our bags and was told in Spanish that we had to get in line with our passports. We complied and was quickly given an entrance stamp on our passport and then shuffled along into another line that we had to have our bags x-rayed. We passed with flying colors! Then we were on the bus again where the bus driver told he would drop us off at the City Center, but then we found ourselves with other tourists out in a parking lot with our bags while the locals sat on the bus and the bus drove off. Now I know what you're thinking- "why didn't you just stay on the bus or say something?" To be honest, I thought the same thing, but it happened so quickly that we didn't have time to ask questions until it was too late! But we adapted and overcame (the motto of this whole trip!) and walked to our hostel which wasn't that far. 

We stayed at Hostal Juriques in San Pedro, Chile! It was a cute little hostel that reminded me of camp. We had a four person room with two bunk beds and a shared bathroom. The first night we didn't have a fourth person so it was like we had our own room! We just chilled for the night. The next day we explored San Pedro which felt like such a tourist trap compared to where we have been! It was a cute little overpriced town that had tours for everything under the sun! We signed up for "The Valley of the Moon," tour for that afternoon! To kill some time before the tour we met some friends from the Red Planet tour for lunch and we hung out in a coffee shop that afternoon. Then we began our tour! First off, we booked the tour through our hostel so we had no idea the name of agency, and second, we quickly realized that our tour guide did not speak English when he approached us and said "yo hablo Ingles un poco." So as he was explaining things to the group others translated for us. Thank god for the others! They were like our translating angels sent from the heavens to tell us about the rock formations we were looking at! The tour itself was meh but the views were cool! We literally felt like we were on the moon! We learned that 15 seconds of Star Wars was filmed where we were and that Pink Floyd almost had a concert in the Valley. NEATO! We also crawled through caves, up rock walls and down into old salt mines. 

After the tour was over, we met our friends from our Red Planet tour for dinner. Dinner was filled with wine, delicious food and great conversation! We said our good byes. Which I've learned that travel friends are made quickly and the good byes are just as quick. What's cool about meeting people while you're traveling is that you instantly have a passion that you share and can talk for hours about. I've learned that the people you meet traveling are some of the most kind, interesting, and open minded people that I've ever met. Everyone sort of looks out for one another and bonds are formed pretty easily! Another cool thing about meeting friends while traveling is that you both love traveling so hopefully some time in the future you'll either meet again in some remote place or visit them in their country (because let's be real: no one will be in Ohio in the future! Lol). 

We went back to the hostel and met our new bunk mate who asked us about our new President when he found out we were from the states. I think from here on out I'm going to say that I'm a Trump supporter just to see the reaction from others! HA! We quickly got ready for bed and mentally prepared for our 24 hour bus ride to Santiago in the morning. I remember waking up that morning tired and groggy but feeling it was going to be ok to feel this way because I had 24 hours to catch up on my rest! We walked to the bus station and ran into a couple who we did Red Planet with. Another thing we realized was when you're traveling on a pretty popular route through South America is that you'll run into and see a lot of people you saw from other tours and stuff. It REALLY is a small world out there! We were then shuffled on the bus and our bags were shoved to the back of the storage since we were going to be the last ones off the bus. The bus ride was filled with movies in Spanish which I appreciate because it helps me learn new words! The last movie was called "Stealing Cars," and what do you know it was the only one in English. It was a weird movie but I forced myself to watch it just because it was in English (lol). 

The first half of the bus ride was good! I slept a lot. The second half, Jackie and I got off to stretch our legs and were approached by men from the bus. At first we made light conversation and they explained to us how they didn't speak English and we joked about how we didn't speak Spanish. We then boarded our bus and found out quickly how vulnerable we are as women. The two men followed us back to our seats. Now it wasn't as scary as it sounded when you just read that last sentence but it definitely made me go into fight mode and be on alert. The sun was setting and it was becoming night. I realized then that we were the only women on the bus filled with local men in the middle of Chile. The guy kept talking to us and as a woman I felt like all we could do in that situation was to smile and be polite because if we did anything different you never know what could happen next and you know? And that sucked. All I wanted to do was tell this guy to leave us alone who was making lewd and inappropriate comments to us but especially to Jackie and touching her arm every so often. This was not an ideal situation to be in and it rarely happens when traveling but it got me thinking. The lesson that we all took out of it: be aware of our surroundings and if we can pay a little more for a flight instead of a 24 hour bus ride that we should think about doing it. Now, I don't want you to think that traveling is unsafe and that women shouldn't do it but that it can happen at home too and that we all should be aware of our surroundings and who we interact with. Not all people are bad and not all people are good and we need to realize this and not be naive about the world. Luckily for us there was a man sitting in front of this crude guy telling us that he drank too much and for us to just ignore the guy until he fell asleep. Luckily, he went back down on the first floor of the bus and left us alone.

So after what turned out to be only a 22 hour bus ride we have arrived in Santiago!!! So far from the window I saw a lot of fast food chains and shops and I am feeling it! Some times you just need a cheeseburger ya know?! We got off the bus and booked a hostel and when we were dropped off at our said hostel we realized that the reservation wasn't for tonight but tomorrow. So we have been hanging out in a coffee shop named "Marley Coffee," for about three hours booking our hostel for tonight (which we found one!) and catching up with our friends and family and most importantly updating the blog! Thanks Marley Coffee for being so great and allowing us to use your wifi! Until next time guys I'm sending lots of love your way and we'll talk to you guys soon! Xo

HUGE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TODO TOURISMO FROM LA PAZ TO UYUNI!!! 

This is a blog from November 5-9th, 2016

We fully recommend Cozy Hostel in Puno and Bolivia Hop!! Both are amazing.