The Home Stretch

Bueno ... it's 20 February and we've been on the road now for three and a half months and despite the amazing times we've had (including the most awesomest Valentine's Day ever!), I'm more than ready to come home. I miss home and I miss my loved ones and I've learned a lot ... including how much I really appreciate where I live ... and I kinda can't wait to get on that plane!

First of all ... this endless summer idea ... I thought that I would be super stoked to cheat the winter and instead soak in the summer sun by switching hemispheres like a smart guy ... and while it has been pretty luxurious in ways to skip the crushing winter up north ... it's also a bit wierd to just have this many months of summer piled on top. I'm actually kind of tired of it. There is such a thing as too much summer. Who knew? Right now I just want to curl up and hibernate in the cold. It's wierd ... but I think that perhaps the cycles are a natural thing that maybe we shouldn't try to cheat. What is summer without winter? It's been interesting to mix it up and it's pretty great to realize that no matter where you are ... you are just a plane flight away from something totally different/opposite ... but I don't need this much summer all at once. I don't know, it's wierd and hard to describe.

Second ... travel is emotionally exhausting. Your senses are constantly at work and new experiences are always piling in and challenges push you emotionally and there gets to be a point, at least for me, where it gets a bit tiring and you just want to retreat and process it all and enjoy the lovely feeling of being home where you can really chill. Argentina is one of the most beautiful and lovely countries in the world, and the people are super nice and there's little real challenge in our daily life here, but even lovely enjoyable experiences engage your emotions and there gets to be a point where you're just feeling like you've been under a sort of emotional waterfall for a bit too long. I don't know how else to describe it. It's kind of like being exposed out in the wind ... at first it's all good, but eventually it starts to grate on you and you just want to be out of the wind! I don't know. At least it's that way for me. I don't understand some of these people that are backpacking around for years at a time ... but perhaps that's because I have so much invested in where I live and I'm surrounded by so much joy where I live that it's hard to be away from it.

Third ... despite the lovely people here and the fairly regular positive experiences ... I still very much feel like a foreigner in a very foreign land and that's a wierd and sometimes difficult feeling to deal with for months on end. I mean ... there's times when it doesn't matter at all ... when you're reading your book at your favorite cafe ... or soaking in the sun at your favorite lake ... it's not like the foreign-ness necessarily bothers you ... but there's a deep feeling somewhere inside that's making me want to go home.

Plus, there's just lots of things you aren't doing when you're on the road. I miss cooking. I miss DJing. I miss my obnoxious cat. I miss BASS. I miss working towards things other than my tan and my Spanish.

It's been a long trip, the longest I've personally ever done. What have I learned? What inspiration have I gained? A few things in no particular order.

1. In addition to the joys of seeing new terrain and new ways of being, traveling away from where you live teaches you about the things you love and miss about your home, and you will return with new appreciation for them. Never leaving your home is bad. I've said this before.

2. Human civilizations around the world are wildly diverse, but at the same time, there's tons of commonality. For everything that's different here, there's many things that are the same and people are people most everywhere.

3. There's lots of ways to do things in the world ... and seeing how other cultures do things is really interesting and educational. They do things in ways here that are so refreshing and great and in my mind are improvements on how we do things. They also do things poorly in certain areas. I'm certain that there is no perfect civilization ... but we can improve by educating ourselves on how it's done around the world. I'm trying to keep a mental list of things that I'll bring back with me from South America. Things like air kissing and swanky style and eating real food (slowly) and politeness and a general sense of personal responsibilty and strong family ties and humility and living within your means and having tons of fun in a super stylish way.

There's also things that I'll miss ... that I won't necessarily be able to bring back with me ... but will fondly remember. Like ... tomatoes that taste like tomatoes. Bus systems that provide efficient and cost effective (and dignified) transportation options to all stratas of society. Fiery political involvement (people here are way more tuned in to politics than we are). Personal responsibility for safety and security and your health and well being. And bidets. It's easy to feel suave when you're nice and fresh. And ... *sigh* there's no bringing back these people. They're amazing. Definitely easy on the eyes and often nice as well!

One aspect in general that I will miss a lot ... is that this culture is vastly less paranoid about safety than we are. That translates to a lot of things. Examples ... you can drink when you're 18 here, yet ... there's fewer problems with alcohol. You can do all sorts of things that you could never do in the US ... like burn real candles in your restaurant. Lots of things that are deemed "unsafe" in the US but nobody has much of a problem with here. Lots of things ... like ... you can rent a scooter for a day and have fun. Ain't no such thing in liability and safety scared America. Bars and clubs can stay open all night here. People just seem less ... anal. No two ways about it.

4. Style style style. From the people to the design (industrial or graphical) to the architecture, this place is stylish as hell and so damn cool, and on a considerably smaller budget than we have. And the people seem to be having a ton of fun ... again ... on a smaller budget. Goes to show that quality of life doesn't equate with money.

5. Food. Obviously I came down here with a keen eye towards learning some gastronomy ... and like most other lessons ... what I learned wasn't what I thought I would but it was all welcome.

As many have heard, Argentinian beef is world class. There's mega hectares of prime grassland here that just grows naturally and they use it to the fullest and produce some awesome beef without as many chemicals and badness and most importantly they feed the cows grass. Natural living grass like they're supposed to eat in nature, not crappy chemical corn mush in a Superfund feedlot in Iowa. And as such, they are happy cows that live outside and get to be cows. And the stuff tastes awesome, is plentiful and cheap, and they know how to cook it and serve it ... and that is to say, over and open wood fire and seasoned with only salt. Yes. This is sublime carne, without a doubt.

I was somewhat underwhelmed by the rest of the culinary tradition here, kind of initially. Not a whole lot of diversity in Argentinian cuisine offerings ... lots of basics with deep roots in Spanish and Italian traditions. Pizza, pasta, picada. But the more I ate the more I realized a couple of things. First ... the ingredients don't need much because they actually taste good, unlike our factory farmed shelf-life enhanced crap you buy at the supermarkets in the US, and second, the lack of processing and complicated bullshit meant really fresh simple food that strangely never makes you feel bad or heavy. You can totally MACK a plate and a half of the stuff here and walk away feeling great. Very different from what I'm used to in the US. So ... the genius of the culinary tradition here was unexpected and totally didn't come from the standpoint of innovative creative cooking ... though there IS some of that as well, but in the wisdom of traditional foods and quality ingredients and meals eaten and enjoyed slowly with family and friends at a table, not in the car by yourself.

Of course there's been some definite highlights ... Patagonian cuisine has been a joy ... lots of grilled meats and game mixed with fruit sauces and chutneys. Lots of simple Italian food. Chimichurri. Cheese on the BBQ. Dulce de leche caramel. Great gelato. Empanadas. Oh and can't forget miga tea sandwiches. Great coffee, and MATE! For sure there's been some good times and some really drop dead stylish spots as well. Many notes were taken, but some of the highlights in terms of lessons come back to some simple things like the concept that the ingredients matter. Simplicity and tradition matters.

So here we are ... sitting at our favorite bar/WI-FI spot, Bar Seis ... about to go to a last jazz show and get dinner, and tomrrow we shove off for the great white north. I'm immensely thankful for the opportunity to have done this and I'm thankful to the people that made it all possible (Barisone, Nicole, all the Grove crew, Gail, Sean, Cover, etc.) and I just can't freaking WAIT to get on that plane and see all your faces again! Hasta luego to the South American summer and all our new friends here and time to go home! Signing off from Buenos Aires, suckas.