Yearly Archives: 2009

La Navidad – Christmas in Chile

Christmas

Our first Christmas as a married couple was spent here on the farm. Just as back in the suburbs of Minnesota, Christmas preparations start early. Senora Berta – once a neighbor and increasingly a surrogate mother to us here on the farm – was frantically baking cookies and breads weeks ahead of time. The hour

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El Cliente: South America Travel

South America Travel

We recently said goodbye to our first client. Christopher hails from the sweltering bayous of Alabama, proudly wielding the moniker ‘Bama’, but he will forever go down in the halls of Knowmad Adventures as ‘el cliente’. His journey was an unforgettable one for him and monumental for us. After trying his hardest to miss a

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Valley of the Gods – Chile

Chile

It’s not dumb luck or simple coincidence that we live in this precise point of Chile, with her supermodel measurements. Glacial lakes are warmed by towering, crotchety volcanoes and feed raging rivers—offering a plethora of activities for the outdoor enthusiast. An almost overwhelming array of options really. And after what seems like months of getting “settled”

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November 19th – Reflections

Reflections

Reluctantly rolling out of bed, chilled feet are delighted to find slippers in an increasingly familiar spot. Wood gently creaks under foot and there is a steady patter of rain on tin. Crossing the small living room out to the porch, I’m joined by Boni and her I’ve-had-a-long-life tits. We fetch some wood together. The

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November 15th – The Promised Land: Northern Patagonia

Northern Patagonia

Never in my life have I been so preoccupied by the various rattles, clicks and pings that a car makes while in transit, but having dumped a significant chunk of our operating capital into our Hyundai Galloper, we’re on pistons and needles every inch of the journey. She doesn’t fail us and it seems will

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October 26th – Keeping up with the Jones’

Keeping Up With The Jones

  The perils of moving to foreign countries for extended periods of time are many. What in more geographically and culturally familiar locales would be straight-forward, simple, and free of pain, suddenly become as probable and enjoyable as juggling eggs while running on a beach ball down a New York city street during rush hour.

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October 17th – Chile

Chile Travel

Sitting next to Geoff, one of my longest and best friends, we bound along up and out of Santiago, into the exhilarating switchbacks that ascend so rapidly they might as well be an elevator. Santiago sits near sea level and snow-capped Andean peaks loom as high as 18,000 feet not far from the capital. Geoff

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6 p.m. October 15th – Santiago

Santiago

After changing from the red to the green line we emerge from the subterranean cavern of one of the subway’s final stops in Santiago’s outskirts. No longer are there trendy coffee shops with well-dressed businessman chatting over smart dishes. The road is sparse on cars, heavy on loiterers wearing tattered clothes and stern stares. Unoccupied

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2 a.m. October 11th (night before departure)

Departure to Chile

We’re fifteen pounds over weight. Tara’s distraught and adamant that she’s got nothing left that isn’t absolutely necessary. “What about all the paper samples and the silver boxes full of your design stuff?” I grumble before quickly retreating into my own bag after getting a more than energetic rant about needing everything to continue her

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