Living as a Trotamundos

This last weekend I went to Pichilemu, the unofficial surf capital of Chile and if you were to ask them the world. It's about five to six hours north of Concepción and their is no direct bus to Pichilemu so if you plan to travel there you´ll have to transfer eventually. Two buses, half day of travel that is all it should take. No big deal right? Well two buses quickly turned into FIVE when my friend and I decided to spend our weekend on the waves. That´s right FIVE BUSES! FIVE! The only place to start this story is at the very beginning and let the story unroll like all of the bus tires rollin' down the road. It started on Friday, we were at the bus station ready to take our first of  "two" buses. We loaded on our bus and were headed to Talca, at which we planned to take our next bus to Pichilemu. It was only about a 3 and a half hour bus ride to Talca and we arrived at about 6:30 pm. *Now it is very important that you understand that there is no way to look at ...

During my K-12 education at some point I learned about Pompeii and wondered why in the world anyone would chose to live at the base of an active volcano. In my young mind I had connected the dots that a volcanic eruption tends to end in destruction. And then.....I went to Pucón! Pucón is the start to the south of Chile and it is a city that people flock to year round. And if you haven't guessed yet Pucón is at the base of a volcano with a little bit of distance. And it is an active volcano at that. It just sputters and spits every now and again but still active none the less. So why live at the base of a volcano? Because volcanos create the most beautiful pieces of nature surrounding them! The shear beauty makes the possible destruction worth it. Sorry in advance because I was not able to catch a picture of the volcano that could ever do it justice and with just my luck it's peaks were obscured by clouds. I myself only caught a quick glimpse of the volcano when the clouds ...

The other weekend I had the opportunity to go to Laja with a friend. Laja is a rural community about two hours south of Concepción. It is a small community that was established between el río Laja and el río Biobío. Laja has a natural beauty unlike any other and I got to see it first hand from my friend Lesly who grew up walking the hillsides and playing in the rivers. Her family welcomed me in and loved me like I was their own. After a quick snack with the family Lesly took me to the jewel of Laja. We walked up a hillside that is just behind her house and once we got to the top my breath was taken away. If you look closely you will notice that those are not clouds in the background but the Andes Mountains standing proud with their snowcapped peaks. I was taken about by the view that was displayed in front of us as el rio Laja spilled out in front of us and all I could see for miles on end was rolling hillsides covered in dark green trees only to be met at the base of the Andes. I...