I have just 43 days left in South America, and the rest of my trip is very clearly mapped out, although I'm trying to allow a little wiggle room for getting sick, bad weather, missed connections, etc. It's hard to prioritize, and hard to cut things out, as I feel like I could easily spend my whole trip in South America. I know it'll be great to see other parts of the world, but part of me wishes I were staying. I met a couple who's taking a year to travel from Mexico all the way south to Patagonia, and it just compounded my desire to stick around. But instead, I'll just have to come back. I'm determined that this will not be my last trip here.

This doesn't have dates attached to it, just an estimated number of days in each place, and is very subject to change, particularly because the weather can be really unpredictable in Patagonia. I hope to do all of this overland by bus, except I will probably fly from Bariloche to El Calafate, from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, and BA to Iguazu. It's just too much ground to cover, and in some places there are only isolated dirt roads to get from one place to the next.

Santiago - 3 days
Temuco - 1 day (indigenous central valley environment)
Villarica/Pucon - 2 days (I want to climb the Villarica Volcano!)
Puerto Varas/Puerto Montt - 2 days (good place to get sorted out for other trips below)
Chiloe Island - 2 days
Lakes Route - 1 day (from Chile to Argentina via bus and boat over several lakes)
Bariloche, Argentina - 3 days (several national parks here)
El Calafate, Argentina - 3 days (Moreno Glacier)
Puerto Natales, Chile - 6 days (Parque Nacional Torres del Paine)
Punta Arenas, Chile - 1 day (to see penguins, hopefully)
Ushuaia, Argentina - 3 days (Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, Strait of Magellan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina - 8 days
Iguazu Falls, Argentina - 3 days
Colonia, Uruguay - 2 days

It's an exhausting schedule, and I'm kind of antsy to get going! But for the meantime, I'm in Santiago, feeling very cozy and not really wanting to leave because I'm staying with some great people. My mom works with a woman from Santiago, Constanza, who arranged for me to stay with her brother's girlfriend's family. They've really made me feel at home. Today, Constanza's mom is taking me sightseeing, and tomorrow, a few other people might be taking me to a nearby wine-growing region. And, they have family I can probably stay with down south in Punta Arenas as well, which is great.