10'792m. 36'000ft. A 747-400. Lufrhansa. Somewhere between Buenos Aires and Frankfort. Several indicators seems to show that I’m on my way home. Déjà.
406 days. More than 13 months. Instead of 3. Who would have guessed? Not me. Some predicted a longer trip. Well done guys, you know me better than I do.
How could I be sad after such an amazing journey??? After seeing so many beautiful places around the planet and living a fantastic adventure, that would really sound wrong!
True, some people are sad and frustrated to go home too early. I'm not. Timing is right.
In fact, many people that have traveled for a long time get that weird feeling of exhaustion after a while.
Tired of packing. Tired of looking for a new hostel. Tired of the bus journeys.
Tired of socialising. Tired of the same questions again and again. Tired of meeting people only for a few hours.
This goes along with weariness. Bored of organizing the trip. Bored of visiting places. Bored of not being exited anymore.
When you get to that point, you know it's time for a change. Going home can be a good change. For me it is.
One thing makes me sad though. There are more and more people traveling. But they see less and less. It's really too easy now. Everything is organized for flashpackers so they believe they're discovering a place. Once, I read this great moto from a self-called "adventure travel agent": "Let us organize your adventure so you can relax and enjoy". So symptomatic.
But at the end, those people miss so much. They're actually missing the best of the best: the local life.
How could one be satisfied with those tours that stay only 30' in a wonderful place? How intimate is it to go to a market with a guide that tells you where to take a picture (no kidding, I've seen it) and 15 other gringos?
How come, after 2 months in South America, so many people don't know more than 5 words of Spanish?
How come "backpackers" are booking a week ahead all their accomodation on Hostelworld & co? Where's the freedom in that? Why the only criterion to choose a place is the number of reviews on TripAdvisor? Why not staying at a family run guesthouse and share dinner with them?
Why eating fried chicken, italien and mexican at the guesthouse next to the sea? Why not going to a local restaurant eating a nice fresh fish?
Why people are proud of "having been everywhere in South America in 3 months", when they actually have been only to major touristic places, flying from one to the other?
I know the responses to all those questions. And that's actually what makes me sad. They only positive point is that there's a lot of $$$ to be made, but that's another story!
Merci Maman de m'avoir donné cette envie de voyager. Merci d'être là, partout et tout le temps. Merci pour tout le courrier PDFisé.
Merci mes Frères pour votre présence. Merci pour le support logistique.
Thanks to the people I met during this trip. Thanks for sharing your experiences and a few beers, for making my trip what it was, for all the good time and laughs, for the inspiration, for the advices, for hosting me.
Gracias a todo my amig@s de América del Sur. Gracias por abrir tu país a el viajeros del mundo. Gracias por probar de me aprender castellano (y gracias para los correcciones de estas líneas). Gracias a todo los Couch Surfers por compartir tu tiempo y tu casa.
Muchaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas gracias por la Medicina y la música.
Gracias a todo los gentes que me explicar como ir aja, que bus tomar, donde es la parada, que restaurante tiene comida típica, donde salir beber un pisco sour. Por hablar de tu país, de la cultura, de tu familia, de tu equipa de futbol, de mi país, de mi viaje, de Roger.
Thanks my friends for sharing this adventure remotely. I've loved all your "likes", comments on pictures or status, and other virtual inputs. That was a great source of power and inspiration. Not as good as chatting with a glass of good wine, but we'll catch up.
That I've inspired you.
That you'll have a chance to leave such a fantastic experience.
That you'll take time to realise your dreams.
That you'll never forget that "your job can wait, not your life".
Please don't ask my what's the best place I've been to. There are dozens of places that are truly amazing!!! So be ready for a few hours of chat (and open a bottle of red).
Risqué de voyager ? Non, pas pire que la banlieue de Londres. Juste que les accrocs sont un peu plus exotiques...
Ma route entre le 3 février 2011 et le 15 mars 2012:
Voir la version interactive des cartes.
L'Argentine
L'Uruguay
Le Paraguay
Le Brésil
Le Chili
La Bolivie
Le Pérou
L'Equateur
La Floride
Fiji
La Nouvelle-Zélande
L'Australie
Les Philippines
First, it depends on what you like to do and see... before digging into the details of countries, you might want to pre-select a few of them with that chart sorted by "topics" (° means absolute killers that are worth to visit the country just for them):
Go ahead, I love your feedback, it's here.
© (3.2.2011-15.3.2012) Fabien Fetter