It Takes Two to Tango

I got my travel shots today! Oh man, I hate shots. Did I say I hate shots?!?! Pricked three times. But I got 3 cute Snoopy bandaids out of the deal! :p

Today, I called the travel clinic and set up an appointment. I’m going next Thursday, and getting the first series of Hep B, a polio shot, and some prescriptions for malaria pills. Fun, fun, fun. Yeah, the not so glamorous side of travelling! After these shots, I’ll be good for quite a few years. Got the other common ones over the past few years.

I just started this blog by typing out some thoughts…didn’t even think to do an Intro, like an “About Us” section…so here it is!

Who are we? Marisa and Sean

Age?

Marisa — 28
Sean — 26

Where do we live? Leander, Texas, USA

Where have we lived?

Marisa — Bangkok, Miami, Houston, San Antonio, Brisbane (Australia), Austin, Leander

Sean — Westerville (Ohio), Powell (Ohio), Noblesville (Indiana), Cicero (Indiana),
Scottsdale (Arizona), Pittsburgh, Austin, Leander

Where have we been?

Marisa — Thailand, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, England, Norway, Sweden, Holland,
Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico

Sean — Canada, Mexico, England, Wales

Hobbies/Interests?

Marisa — travelling (of course!), rock climbing, hiking, jewelry making, sewing, crafting, DIY,
knitting/crocheting, adrenalin-pumping adventure sports, earth studies, kayaking,
art, photography

Sean — rock climbing, car racing, soccer, woodworking, video games, computers

Occupation:

Marisa — bench jeweler, ‘professional student’
Sean — electical engineer (integrated circuit designer)

What else is there to know…hmmm…Well, Sean and I have been together for almost 4 1/2 years now. I plan to drag him all over the world with me 😉

I feel like I am somewhat of a Guidebook whore. So, I have 4 guidebooks on hand relevant for my trip:

1) Footprint South American Handbook 2004, which I found extremely handy on my trip last year
2) Buenos Aires Insight Cityguide — I saw it at Half Priced Books for under $5, and just had to scoop it up
3) South America on a Shoestring — a much used book borrowed from a British guy named Stef
4) Lonely Planet’s Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay guide — another much used book borrowed from Stef

Wow, I am *not*, I repeat, *not* going to carry all of these books down there. I love love love the Footprints guide, so I’m definitely taking that. Plus, who knows if I’ll want to wander away from Argentina…so it would be nice to have the other countries in there as well. I think the BsAs cityguide contains too much verbage to carry — I want maps, hostels, basic info. I can read the history while I’m at home.

But I think I’ll let Sean bring the South America on a Shoestring guide…just in case he lands in Buenos Aires and is not able to find me…he can use that as a guide. I’ll probably send that one home with him, too, since I favor Footprints over Lonely Planent for South America. The LP Argentina guide..hmm…maybe I’ll carry that one initially…

Why the title, you may ask…Well, I’m making this trip with my boyfriend, Sean. At least 2 weeks of it. I am flying down to Buenos Aires on the 23rd, and will stay till Sept 2nd (about 6 weeks). He will meet me in Buenos Aires on Aug 2 and spend 2 weeks with me. This will be our first trip together in a non-English speaking country, and only our second trip together abroad.

Why Argentina? Well, I thought it would be a fairly “easy” country to introduce him to, given the European influence. I did not want to throw him on busses with guinea pigs and chickens quite yet 😉 Plus, it’s a country that I did not get to touch when I went to South America last year. It deserves a trip of its own.

The plans are pretty open right now. As a matter of fact, I haven’t even researched much about Argentina. Except for the fact that it will be *winter* there, and Patagonia and Aconcagua are out of the question…will have to save them for another trip! 🙁 But most likely, we will go to Iguazu Falls, Cordoba, Salta, Cafayate – just a few ideas. Well, with only 2 weeks together, we have to pick and choose carefully. Argentina is *huge*, and the bus rides can be long. So…we’ll see. If we don’t hit those places up together, I’ll be sure to venture to them on my own.

We are avid rock climbers back home. And I hear Argentina has some great crags. So…we’ll *at least* bring our shoes. Whether we will bring the rest of our gear is a question for now. Don’t know if we want to do it on our own or go with a guide..we’ll see…

Tonight, I just bought my plane tickets. Sean bought his about a month ago, when we went to visit the STA office in town. We went to get student cards (discounts, discounts, discounts!!!) – I actually was a student in the Spring semester…hey, that counts! And we asked about flight inquiries from Austin to Buenos Aires. The lady said the sabre system was down, so she’d give us a call back on the tickets. She called him, but never called me…hmph. So he went ahead and bought his then. I was a tad bit undecided at the moment. But since then, I had been looking up fares from AUS to EZE, and damn, have the prices been going up!!! The best fares I found…shit…I would have to fly from Austin to Washington DC to Buenos Aires, or from Austin to Chicago to Buenos Aires. Come on people! I hate working backwards, especially like that. And oh, how I detest O’Hare and Dulles!!! So we ended up paying a little more for the comfort of taking American Airlines to Dallas then to Buenos Aires. Much better! So now I have the tickets…

And here it is, my itinerary:
Leave: July 23, 2005
American Airlines 1072
Depart 04:55 PM Austin Airport,(AUS)
Arrive 06:00 PM Dallas / Fort Worth Intl,(DFW)
American Airlines 997
Depart 07:35 PM Dallas / Fort Worth Intl,(DFW)
Arrive (7/24) 08:10 AM Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini,(EZE)

Return: September 02, 2005
American Airlines 996
Depart 09:30 PM Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini,(EZE)
Arrive (9/3) 06:25 AM Dallas / Fort Worth Intl,(DFW)
American Airlines 1071
Depart 07:25 AM Dallas / Fort Worth Intl,(DFW)
Arrive 08:19 AM Austin Airport,(AUS)

62 days till departure…