Greetings from an Internet Cafe in Argentina

So the traveling adventure has begun. I stayed one night in Viña del Mar and explored Valparaiso again, then last night took a bus to Mendoza, Argentina. Technically I haven´t been anywhere new yet, but Mendoza feels like a totally different city during the week. A whole lot more life to it than what I saw during my previous brief visit. Tomorrow we will be doing a bike tour of wineries in the area so that should be nice. The day after tomorrow I think we are planning on heading to a town up north in Argentina (the name of which I can´t remember) where apparently you can hike to a waterfall and swim in it.

I have to say I think that the backpacker´s lifestyle suits me quite well. The only thing that´s not so fun is caring my huge pack around when walking to hostels to save money instead of taking cabs. But, I´ve noticed that each time I carry it, it feels a little bit lighter. Either I´m getting stronger or probably just adjusting. Other than that, I quite enjoy living this way. It´s so liberating to only have what I can carry, and I love not having to worry about what I look like, what I´m wearing, or if I smell bad. There are just more important things to worry about, like where to go, what to see, what to do, what to eat. No one expects a backpacker to look pretty. Plus today I had one of the best showers of my life, I really felt that I deserved it. I´m operating on not very much sleep, but so far that hasn´t been a problem. And the best part is the all people you get to meet; at hostels, on the street, everywhere. Travel time is much more accelerated than regular time, so after spending a day with someone you are travling with, you feel like you have known for more like a month. It´s a cool feeling, and as a result I feel more comfortable and relaxed with myself and with others than I have in a long time. And even though I am spending most of my time with English speakers, I am still getting plenty of chances to practice my Spanish.

It´s safe to say that so far I am loving every moment of this. What I really cherish about this experience so far is that it is forcing me to focus on the present, to just be in the moment and not worry about my past or what I´m going to do in the future. Because if I don´t maintain a constant focus on the now and simply cherish the moment for what it is, I will miss it all together and then regret that later. I feel like this is an important life lesson I am already learning, at the very least it´s something I´ve always wanted to work on. Hopefully I will be able to translate this calm, positive, enjoy the moment outlook into my life when I return back to reality, however, there is really no point in worrying about that now.