The Wait is Over

        Much has changed since January 2021, the last time I sat in the airport preparing to go on a trip abroad. At the same time, some things have remained the same. While the world continues to fight the evolving mutations of the COVID-19 virus, vaccines (and booster shots) have once again made it possible to enjoy things taken for granted in pre-pandemic times. After over two years of being confined to the North American continent, I am excited to say that I am able to continue my pursuit of discovering new places, people, and cultures. I am currently sitting in Washington Dulles-International Airport awaiting my flight to Dallas. After spending the night in Dallas, I will wake up and fly to Miami before embarking towards my next destination…..Peru!
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            Although I traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in January 2021, today is the first time the I feel the impending sense of adventure since returning to the United States from Guayaquil, Ecuador in December 2019. At the time that I decided to return from Ecuador, I needed a break from traveling which is why I elected not to continue on into Peru. I also assumed that I would be able to easily make it back down to Peru later on that year. The emergence of COVID-19 a few months later and the subsequent halt on international travel proves that assumptions make an “ass out of you and me”.  Another thing that has inhibited my travel is my full-time job. One of the things I realized on my last extended trip abroad was the importance of having a steady stream of income in order to fully enjoy my trips. The tradeoff for getting a steady paycheck is that I can no longer take sporadic vacations. As such, I have focused on making sure that when I travel, I do so from a position of financial strength which includes having both ample disposable income and an adequate emergency fund. This financial philosophy has become even more relevant given that global inflation has driven prices for up across the board for everything from plane tickets to ride share services. Travel has gotten substantially more expensive even since my trip to Puerto Vallarta in January 2021.  However, I would not be on this trip if I could not afford it and money will not prevent me from maximizing this experience.

            So after over two long years, my journey through South America finally continues. Compared to my past trips, my time in Peru will be relatively short in that I am only staying for two weeks.  As a result of my condensed timeline, I have planned much of my trip in advance and will also be utilizing air travel to get around much more than I have before.  However, just because my trip is “perfectly” planned on paper, doesn’t mean that there won’t inevitably be a surprise or two along the way.  As I have done in the past, I will record at least one journal entry for each place I visit and will provide reviews for the accommodations that I am staying in the Accommodations Review section. In order not to spoil the surprise, I will not disclose my exact itinerary in this post. However, I am confident that I will hit as many highlights as I can in my short time in Peru.  Stay tuned and see you soon!

Robert Brown