Argentina Story

The first thing that I write and that you read should probably be that this story is not going to be all that interesting. Unlike the Peru trip, which involved some serious challenges like the mountain climb and some funny “it’s different out there” anecdotes like goats tied to bus roofs, there really weren’t any dramatic or amusing events in Argentina. So feel free to stop reading. I’m mainly just writing this to see how it will go. I traveled around Argentina for a month, there must be a story worth telling there, right? We will see.



The story starts the way it ends – with horrible diarrhea and the decision that a little bit of butt-coffee isn’t going to slow me down. I had problems when I got there, a cough and severe case of the runs, and after 30 hours of traveling I was a bit weakened. So we went on a bar crawl and to a club until 5AM. It was a fun night; meeting lots of people, getting to know the people I would be traveling with, and some of the more enthusiastic dancing I have ever managed. There was also a hilarious shit in a hilarious bathroom and some vomit during the course of the night, but I interpreted these obvious signs of weakness to mean strength, as I didn’t let them impact my behavior.


Notebook entry from that night: "Is it better to keep these heavy prices (inevetable hangover, vomit, worsening of stomach) in mind as I step into the bipolar embrace of alcohol? No. Because just like the beautiful women who have brought culture to it’s designer-jeaned knees, I too cannot resist a reckless embrace. And once that eye contact is made, an increase in cost just tightens the embrace… On the other hand, keeping the hangover cost salient should remind me that if I can’t walk for a day after dancing, I might as well dance the right way – with beautiful women and without fear or hesitation".


I’ll tell the health story now so I can maybe stop talking about it. It never got better, and towards the end of the trip it was ridiculous. I was crapping water 5-10 times a day, my stomach hurt after every meal, during all exercise, and much of the rest of the time, I had lost 15 pounds, my cough was worse, I developed a head cold, I couldn’t drink 2 beers without throwing up, and I was breaking out in hives covering up to a third of my body in bright red irritating splotches. There was never a time where I let it affect my choice of behavior, which may or may not have been a good decision. When I got back I pooped in cups for a week, and got a giardia diagnosis and some strong pills out of it. I was feeling better by then besides the hives, and now I think I'm 100%.

One extremely fun day was wine tour day. We rented bikes and had a map of 10 wineries all within biking distance of each other. We started off strong, buying a bottle at about 10AM and hugely enjoying walking around the winery and drinking it. We had joined forces with 3 irish kids, and together called ourselves the Blue Angels. “Blue” because we all had blue or greeny-bluey eyes and “Angels” because we were a bike gang. We weren’t the toughest bike gang (wine tasting, intellectual conversation, gratuities), but we did manage to have some trouble with the law, when I fell off my bike in front of our random police escort. Wine tastings there are large wine glasses filled to the brim, so when you go to your 3rd winery and say that you’d like the 4-wine-tasting, you’re going to have trouble with your bike from then on. We made up a drinking game called Knockers to help get the wine down. After we had to return our bikes, we bought a 5 liter jug of wine for 5$ and drank that, then went out all night. We woke up the whole hostel at 5AM yelling at Dave because he lost the paper rock scissors tournament so he had to go sit on the bidet like we agreed, damnit.

The trip went by in a fairly consistent routine. I would wake up and do something slightly touristy, often with my friends from the states or 24hours friends from Ireland or England. This included hiking, skiing, wandering around and shopping in a hungover daze, or going on guided tours of regions with cool geography, kind of like Moab. Then late dinner and bed or late dinner and drinks with interesting people. All fun and interesting, but none particularly story-worthy. I was traveling alone for a lot of this, which added a bit to the interest level.


A few highlights:
-The incredible powder day at Bariloche (2 feet of fresh snow, great terrain, a massive jump, a Venezuelan buddy, and probably being the best skier/boarder on the mountain)

-The Christian amusement park
-The 4 of 4 soccer game

-Rock Climbing
-8AM club night, with real live girl!
-One night I sat at a bar for over an hour by myself and worked on compassion. Just sitting there, sipping beer, and trying to love everyone in the place. Had some success. Actually one of the better nights of the trip.
-All the 24 hours friendships made while traveling alone. (The phrase comes from the fact that it feels like a real friendship, but last less than 24 hours).

-The salt flats. Crazy landscape makes for cool pictures.
-Views of the beauty just outside of the ski town (Bariloche, Patagonia)


A few more notebook entries:
-“I think I have already achieved my goal of renewing my appreciation for some of the everyday pleasures of civilized life that are normally taken for granted – my bathroom and bed, sandwiches and ice cubes, music and silence, and Dear God I need some damn hot sauce.”

-“I’m writing by the light of a heater, which unfortunately provides far more light than heat. Glad I have top bunk.”


-“This is what traveling is all about. Your pants and shoes may be covered in vomit from last night, but you put those nasty fuckers back on and undertake your day of hiking and wine-tasting. You skip the wine-tasting but lose these health points by eating raw meat and spicy goat cheese bought out of the back of a truck in the desert. Then you shart yourself at “The Devil’s Throat” landmark (seen at right), wipe with the cheese wrapper, and travel on.”

-“GI tract just experienced another dishonorable discharge. It will have to be up to the history books whether it’s battles abroad were marked by cowardice or resilience in the face of adversity.”

“This trip is like a fortune cookie with no fortune in it. Sure, it lacks the expected wisdom, wisdom which would provide little more than amusement. But despite it’s hollow nature, it is still a sweet and palette-cleansing, offering a tame, pleasant punctuation mark to a pile of tasty nourishment.

“I will never understand the world’s obsession with dancing. How hours of standing and rhythmically moving the hips is a requirement of a fun night out is just baffling to me”

“Dear body:
Expelling green liquids has not solved your health problems. It’s been over a month. Try something else.”



A few lessons learned:
-Act better than you feel. This is probably the most important one. I never really felt good enough to go on hikes or go skiing or go sit down at a table full of people I don’t know and who require great effort to talk to. I did it anyway, with very few exceptions, and of course I am glad I did. I think this lesson gets more and more important as we age. Does my mom feel good enough to walk to Crested Butte? Probably not, but she’s definitely glad she did it this summer. So this is basically “do it anyway.” When you’re sick, you’ll feel like shit whether you’re laying in bed or out having fun, so you might as well go out. The picture on the right is of a night where I really felt horrible and joined in for a fun night anyway. I threw up on the street about 45 minutes after this picture was taken.
But there’s another meaning to this quote. Act like you’re having fun, even if your stomach hurts. Smiling itself makes you happy (this has been scientifically supported). Act like you’re a great person, even if lately you feel like you’re an asshole. Act like you’re brave, even if you’re terrified of approaching strange girls. Act like you’re outgoing, spontaneous, creative, unique…act how you want to act, even if that’s not really who you think you are. It reminds me of the Aristotle quote “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit.” If you act kind or clever, then that’s what you are. It may be a bit forced at first, but it will become natural. Also reminds me of a Jurassic 5 lyric “Be bold, whether platinum or gold.” Even when we don’t feel our best, we’re all still pretty awesome and should act accordingly.

-“Taking care of your body is not a sign of weakness or old age. In moderation, it is part of the recipe for a life well lived.”

-My life in Michigan is actually pretty great.

-“Those with glass stomachs should not eat stones.”

-When you first meet someone, the conversation is pretty boring. Actually, most conversations are boring. The solution to this is to have a list of interesting questions, and the willingness to ask them even though “where are you from” is more socially appropriate. A few I was rocking: “What have you learned on your travels?” “What is the biggest challenge in your life?” “If your trip/life ended right now, what would be your biggest regret?”

-Talk to strangers. Learning, teaching, and meeting interesting people are amongst my favorite things in life, and this should be just as easy to accomplish at home by talking to stranger. Who cares if it’s momentarily uncomfortable at first. Fuck comfort.

-Will power alone does not grant the ability to speak Spanish.

-When I go to a bar with the goal of meeting women, I usually have neither success nor fun.

-LAN airlines is great.

-Wine+Bikes=Awesome