2 months there, 2 hours back

There's something vaguely nostalgic about sitting on a plane flying back over the ground I've spent the last 2 months getting to know rather intimately.

The second half of the backpacking adventure has been a whirlwind of new experiences and challenges. Alex has proved to be a worthy travel companion and remarkably, we seem to have managed to spend a whole month living in each others' pockets without too many problems. Since we left Coyhaique, the tent has been our haven, and with the exception of last night in Punta Arenas where we were forced into a hostel and a night in El Chalten when we slept out under the stars, it's been our only dorm.

Having travelled over land from Concepcion to Punta Arenas, at least a couple of thousand kilometres, I now feel somewhat worthy to talk about Chile. For me the most striking characteristics is just how empty it is - living in the UK it's hard to appreciate just how vast and wild a country can be. The Carretera Austral, particularly further south, took us to some spectacularly isolated places and has left me itching to go back and experience that peacefulness again. Take me back to the mountains!! Landing in Santiago is going to be a bit of a shock.

From now, everything starts to get a bit more social and a lot more comfortable (speaking in traditional terms of comfort). Meeting up with new and old friends in Santiago this week and then a small family reunion when dad arrives on Sunday! I couldn't be more excited for that! It'll be novel to have my family here in Latin America, a bit like meeting up with anyone else I know from Europe over here has been slightly surreal, but this time it's a thousand times better!
I've been lucky to have a few moments of contact from home, with Pierre and Lucile when I first arrived, and this last month with Alex. I'm now approaching the 6 month mark in Chile (including a brief jaunt over to Argentina) which is the longest unbroken stint I've ever spent out of the UK, and I'm actually really excited to be not flying back post holiday - it'll give me a chance to try and process my time off and work out how the country actually works based on the massive disparities between far flung and varied regions up and down Chile.