The End to Halfies Go to South America

These posts were supposed to be up basically a month ago, but the craziness of being home and back to reality has just been too much recently. And I’m not too sure how to write this blog post to wrap up our time in this beautiful continent. So let’s just start from the beginning I guess.

Santiago -> Lima -> Mexico City -> Los Angeles

Alright, so we now officially start our journey back to America! With a two hour bus ride back to Santiago, we then found our AirBnB we were staying at. Checked in, ate dinner and went to bed to wake up for our 5am flight back to Lima the next morning!

We got to Lima and had one night before our flight back home! So we did some shopping for little gifts for people, explored the town, and went back to rest up for our flight the next morning!

Woke up, got to our plane took it to Mexico City where we landed at 11pm. And our flight back to Los Angeles was at 7am! Which meant we had 8 hours in Mexico City! So we went through customs got our passport stamped even though we weren’t leaving the airport!?!?! Then we immediately went to find food. Because we were in Mexico, I went for the tacos. Sarah then went for the pizza and pasta?!? Anyways at about 1am we decided to try to find a place to sleep. But apparently the Mexico City Airport doesn’t have very many good places to sleep. So we walked around until we finally decided to sleep on the chairs and barely slip underneath the armrests. We then woke up about an hour and a half before our flight only to find out that they don’t put flight information up on the screens until 15 minutes after boarding?!?! So as we frantically ran around the airport looking for where our flight was taking off. And finally before they closed the gates we found our flight, hopped on the plane and were headed back to Los Angeles!

Los Angeles

So back in Los Angeles we got picked up from the airport and headed home, but not with a few hiccups of course. When going through customs both Sarah and I’s passports got flagged so we ended up having to wait in the line with everyone else. And when we finally got to the customs officer we found out that the airline had put in Sarah’s birthday wrong and put me in as a Peruvian citizen?!?!?! WHAT

WELL ANYWAYS we finally made it home. Where I got to see this beautiful pupper!!!!

So what now?!?!?! What do you do after living abroad and then traveling for three and a half months?!

Everyone always talks abut coming back from a trip, learning so much, or being a changed person. So I guess I pretty much expected for me to come back with a change in my sense of the world, experiences and relationships. These past three months or so have been one of many ups, downs, and everything in between that I am so so incredibly grateful for. I mean I’ve left pieces of my heart, soul, and even my dignity all over the world. From Machu Picchu to Santiago, there are little pieces of me left everywhere.

But in the actuality of it, I am returning with pretty much what I started with.

I mean, I’m returning with less money, less things, possibly even less dignity, less of an actual idea of what I want to do with my life, less of a reason to return to the 9 to 5 typical job.

I guess when I was leaving, and like everyone else who goes backpacking, trekking, or traveling, I was looking for answers in life.

But, in a sense I am returning with so many more questions than before I even started.

I’m returning with so many more experiences, so many more bucket list items I get to check off, more reasons to say “yes” to things, more memories, more reasons to leave again, more places to see, and more reasons to smile. Sitting back and thinking about it,

I did so much more, had so many more experiences, and seen so many more things than most people have seen and done their entire life. And for that, I am forever grateful.

So though, this portion of my life has ended, I have come to realize that this idea of “ending” is what truly makes it special. With many things coming to an “end” recently, like this trip, my days in college, the years that Lebron was not on the Lakers, all these things come to an END. And that is what makes it truly special I think.

So to go along with all those bullsh*t stupid motivational posters that everyone makes fun of, but everyone also keeps at the back of their mind and cherishes, remember to follow your passion. Follow the people you love, cherish the moments that made you feel your best.

So to anyone I met along the way, anyone who actually ends up reading this, I appreciate you all so much, thank you for everything that you have done. And while, this chapter of “Halfies go to South America” may officially be over, the effects will be with me forever. So now, I guess I will see you in the next adventure!

BYE FELICIA

Originally published September 23, 2018 / See the Uyuni gallery