I had to say good-bye to Hawaii.

Hello friends,

After being in Hawaii for exactly one month I can honestly relate to why people frequent there so much and decide to have their winter homes there.  Living in a flat plain all of my life, I never could understand what the big deal was to live by the mountains and the beach until I actually did.  Other than experiencing the tsunami scare I loved having a place by the water and waking up to the ocean waves each morning.  It was a big change from the crazy cell phone alarm that abruptly and annoyingly woke me up everyday back in Chicago.  Living away from the hustle and bustle and the daily grind of my everyday life has taught me how to take things slower.  I appreciate life as it happens and I adjust with the ebbs and flows of situations that have occurred on my crazy trip.  

Being gone for 5 months and living out of a suitcase from country to country definitely starts to take a toll on my body and mind.  It was nice to be in one place where I could regenerate some energy.  I was able to relax and take my time in Hawaii and get to know many locals as well as tourists passing by.  I have made friends with a lot of incredible people in Hawaii and I hope to stay in touch with many of them.  In their own way, they have played a part shaping my journey around the world.

Just to give you an idea of what the last 3 days of travel looked like, here it is:

March 31st: My last day in Hawaii, I had to leave my apartment at 5:45AM to catch a plane to LAX.  I arrived LAX at 4:30PM and drove to my friends house.  I did not get there for another 3 hours through traffic.  

April 1st,  I left her house at 10:25AM to drive another 1.5 hours to LAX.  I caught the 1:20PM flight to connect to Lima Peru at midnight.  

April 2nd I arrived in Chile the next day at 7:30AM and arrived at my host Patricio's house at 8:30AM.

“The journey not the arrival matters.” – T. S. Eliot 

My Chilean CouchSurfer Patricio was kind enough to host me for 3 days.  He is 43 years old and is a meteorologist.  He has been living in Antarctica for the past 16 months and just arrived back to his native homeland of Chile a few weeks ago  Patricio is a unique and generous soul.  He speaks fluent spanish, russian and english.

I took a nap for 1 hour and we went off to explore the city.  I had no time to waste considering I am leaving for Argentina in 3 days.

Balcony View overlooking Santiago, Chile and the Andes Mountains at my CouchSurfing Host's, house.  

The Metro in Santiago. 

My CouchSurfing Host, Patricio!

Outside the home of my favorite poet, Pablo Neruda!!! 

View from San Cristobal Hill

Patricio's view from his balcony at night