The end of the year. The end of Argentina. Maybe. I haven’t decided.
I arrived to Buenos Aires on January 17. One day for each year I had been away. Seventeen. I felt like I had come home. Many things had changed, but many were the same. My first meal was a cafe con leche and media lunas. Only now coffee is served with two croissants instead of three like before. Only now coffee costs 350 pesos instead of 3. Being back in Argentina felt right.
My plan was to spend one month in Buenos Aires, one in Cordoba, one in Mendoza, and then decide which city I liked best. My plan was to find an apartment. Find friends. Start a life. Have a community. Stay for years, and maybe forever. That’s not what happened.
My one month in Cordoba turned into two. My one month in Mendoza never happened. Instead I went to Peru to climb Volcano Misti and Machu Picchu. While in Peru, all I could think about was going back to Argentina. When I did go back, I traveled around the north between the provinces of Salta and Jujuy, met a Salteño, fell in love, and moved to Buenos Aires together.
Everything I had imagined for myself in Argentina was becoming reality. Until, suddenly, it wasn’t. My phone was stolen right from my hands, my relationship began to deteriorate as quickly as it had started, I developed intense anxiety, and felt my brain was stuck in a thick fog for many months. Luckily that fog began to lift when I left Buenos Aires for a month to travel between Mendoza and Bariloche for a month.
All that said, 2022 was actually a great year and I want to focus on the things I’m excited about!
My YouTube grew a lot this year as I focused on Argentina content, and tried to figure out what kind of videos I wanted to make. The number of comments I get telling me how much I’m helping people is major inspiration to keep going. I’m really excited for the next year in YouTube. I started the year with around 300 subscribers, but I’m closing out the year with nearly 2000. My goal is to reach 10,000 subs by the end of 2023. Want to help me reach that goal? I would be ever so grateful.
I started this Substack newsletter. It’s just a small feat, but I really enjoy getting out my thoughts in long form and sharing them in this way. Substack feels like a place I can be a bit more vulnerable, and share more intimate thoughts with readers.
My blog has grown immensely. I started it in 2011 while living in South Korea as a way to practice and be consistent with photography, taking a photo a day for a year. After that year, it took a decade long hibernation. This year I really began focusing on it again, giving it a lot of time and attention, and it has paid off. My views increase drastically every month now, which is due in large part to my lovely virtual assistant, Haley, who diligently works to improve the SEO and get more eyes on my page. I’m really excited to see where it continues to go in 2023.
I wrote a book! I spent the last several months working on a Buenos Aires Travel Guide, which I am truly proud of. It offers so much value and insights into life in Buenos Aires, and what to do while you're there. It’s currently in the editing phase, thanks to the amazing
, and I hope to have it published within the first month of the new year. I’ll be making the announcement on Instagram as soon as it’s ready to go, so find me over there so you don’t miss out!I teamed up with Thatch and made a ton of Argentina Travel Guides! If you’re planning a trip to Argentina but don’t want to do all the research on what to do and where to go, I’ve made it so simple for you! There is even a 10-day Buenos Aires itinerary. I have a number of free and for-purchase travel guides available.
I illustrated a children’s book! For me, this was huge. A major life goal. It was a long and slow process, but I’m incredibly proud of the end result.
It was a collaboration with one of my best friends from university who wrote the book with her daughter. It has not yet been published, but we’re hoping for sometime this year. Once again, I’ll be announcing it on Instagram when it’s ready to go!I was able to see so much of the country I love so much. When I was in Argentina in 2005, I only had the chance to see Buenos Aires and a couple places in Cordoba. This year I spent a total of three months in Cordoba, where I had my 40th birthday. I also spent five weeks traveling up north, a few weeks in Mendoza, a week in Puerto Madryn to see the wildlife, and two weeks down south in the mountains of Patagonia. I was even able to pop over to Colonia in Uruguay for a couple days right before I left Argentina.
My family visited me in Buenos Aires. I’m so lucky in that my sister and mom have visited me in several places I’ve lived: Miami, Brazil, Italy (2x), Australia, and Spain. They have heard me talk about Argentina for the past two decades, and they finally had a chance to see it for themselves. We had so much good food, did great tours, and had an all around fantastic time.
My family is expanding. My sister is pregnant and the baby will be born in the end of February. Along with that comes a new brother-in-law, and an 8-year old niece. I’ve always wanted to be an aunt, and BAM, just like that, I get two nieces as once. The past three weeks back in the US have been so great getting to know my new family.
Thank you so much to everyone who has read my Substack newsletters the past several months, watched my YouTube videos, read my blog posts, sent me tips over on Buy Me a Coffee, and for all of your support over the past year. I truly appreciate you and I love the community that is forming with all of you.
I don’t have a lot of concrete plans for the coming year just yet, but here are a few things I know for sure:
I’ll be visiting one of my very best lifetime friends in Baltimore for an entire month. We met as neighbors at 3 years old. Now we’re both 40 and still close as ever. I can’t wait to spend time with her and her family.
I’ll be visiting my college roommate in Iowa for a week. We got put together as roommates totally by accident (our original roommates wanted to live together, so they asked us to switch), but it was the best accident ever. Twenty two years later she is still one of my best friends in life, and her daughter is my goddaughter.
I’ll be visiting a really good friend from university in Seattle. This is the same friend who wrote the children’s book. We have been friends for over two decades, but haven’t seen each other irl for way too many years. I’m really looking for to reconnecting with her.
I’m going to WITS in Puerto Rico in May. WITS is a travel conference, my first one ever. I have no idea what to expect, but I’m looking forward to meeting and connecting with several other travel and content creators.
Everything else is up in the air, so we shall see how the year shakes out!