McKenna's Map

  A few travel tips I’ve accrued, some fairly obvious, others maybe a bit less so…all from my own perspective (with my own preferences and values): 🔑 Safety: You don’t owe anyone (especially men) friendliness - if someone acts too friendly or offers me pretty much anything right away I always take it as a red flag Don’t have any valuables in sight and use carabiners to make it harder for pickpockets to open your zippers - carry as few valuables as possible and put passport/cash/cards in money belt (this can be safer than leaving at accommodation) I’m not big on nightlife so I usually try to be back to my accommodation around dusk If you take a taxi, try to use a rideshare app and try to get a highly rated driver. If they veer from the route or give you sketchy vibes just end the ride and/or call someone for help. Make sure if you have luggage in the trunk you ask them to get out and help you get it so they can’t drive off with it when you get out of the vehicle Look out for yourse...

  We first arrived in Santiago on our flight from Patagonia, and made our way to our hotel on the metro. The Santiago metro is one of the best metros I’ve ever been on (and I’ve been on a lot) because it is SO fast. We went all the way across the entire city (17 stops) in 22 minutes, which is insane! The stops are quick and the train moves fast between stations, plus a train comes every 60 seconds on most lines. Absolutely incredible! I’m still stuck on this 😂 We walked through the gorgeous Mar de Plata neighborhood with tons of greenery and tall trees until we reached our hotel. We ran out to the grocery store right before it closed and ran into a whole fiasco where a can of peanut butter was marked as $35 rather than the $3 it was supposed to be, so I had to beg to go back into the store after it closed and communicate the whole situation in Spanish (my brain was dead after a long travel day). It took awhile, but I ended up giving them my card info so I could be refunded 15 days...

Used the metro in Santiago to transfer bus terminals and got dropped off on the side of a highway in Casablanca. Walked thru town and along a more pleasant highway until we reached our accommodation overlooking a stunning vineyard (especially at golden hour). The vineyard complex also had an estuary and solar field in other sections which was kind of random, and our accommodation was basically a big metal box that heated up in the sun. We flipped the circuit breaker when trying to use the stove and AC at the same time so we were boiling every time we wanted to cook during our stay. We mostly lazed around and enjoyed reading on the furniture outside when the temps were cooler, but we also walked to Casas del Bosque for another wine tasting. This one was more touristy/popular and we learned less, but they served us five wines…so due to my lack of recent drinks, I couldn’t walk by the end and had to sit outside for a good long while before I could walk back to the accommodation 💀

  Had stayed a night in Santiago so took the metro to the bus terminal and had a hell of a time finding our bus but surprisingly we got into Santa Cruz early! I had pre-arranged transit through our accommodation and agreed on the price ahead of time so we just hopped in and took a quick ride to the accommodation since the driver was waiting for us at the terminal (I always recommend pre-arranging w/ accommodation when possible to get the best price and least scams!). We decompressed on the beautiful property and the next day we walked an hour each way on the side of the highway to get to our wine tasting at MontGras. No one else had booked our tour slot so it ended up being private and we learned a lot about wine (I didn’t really know much to begin with so I learned a lot)! We got to try wine straight out of the fermentation tanks and enjoyed the tasting. I don’t drink very often so it hit me harder than expected 😭 I frantically tried to walk it off on the way back bc I had a wor...

  El Chaltén is a very popular hub in Argentinian Patagonia and provides amazing access by foot to several famous trails. I really didn’t care for the town itself (overpriced, crowded, touristy) but I did enjoy having access to trails with iconic views (permits now required to enter the national park). We camped at El Relincho in town since it was the cheapest place to stay. The camping area wasn’t very nice but we did have access to showers and a kitchen, where we prepared some food from a grocery store across the street, in addition to food we brought from the states. We did the 3 major hikes on 3 separate days because they are long with a lot of elevation gain. Laguna de Los Tres is the most famous, with the view of Cerro Fitz Roy (this is supposed to be the logo for the Patagonia brand). The trail was extremely crowded; we passed hundreds and hundreds of hikers but found that people had horrible trail etiquette and wouldn’t move over when we came in hot on their heels, even if ...

  Tyler arrived in Patagonia soon after Christmas and we intended to have a rest day for him in El Chalten but ended up pushing up our Huemul Circuit hike due to weather. We got our ducks in a row and rented gear for self ziplining, before taking off early the next morning. The weather was gorgeous and the first part of the hike had us feeling good, so we reached the first camp before noon and decided to continue on to the second night’s campsite to fill time and zipline/head up a windy pass before the weather got bad the following day. The zipline was fun but HARD because we had to pull ourselves + our pack uphill using a small, slippery metal cable. After reaching the other side we came upon a massive glacier and played in the ice field for a bit before hiking up the steep pass. The view at the top was probably the best view I have ever seen in my life - massive ice fields and glaciers as far as the eye can see. We camped on a sandy beach next to a small pond and when I tell you ...

  After arriving in El Chaltén, I took myself on a 7 day backpacking trip during Christmas. I took a van to the south point of a beautiful lake (Lago del Desierto) and took a very relaxing 7 mi hike along the lake to the north point/Argentina border office. This is one of my favorite hikes of my entire life so far - the views of Cerro Fitz Roy, the blue lake, mystical forests, and giant mountains covered in glaciers were stunning. The north point of the lake has places to camp under some trees (downsides are a bunch of geese and wind) and gorgeous views of Cerro Fitz Roy at the end of the lake. I stamped my passport to exit Argentina and then continued on the next day to Chile. There is an un-patrolled 13 mi area between the two border offices, where you cross the border on your own in the forest. The Argentina side is a traditional trail, and you walk on a gravel road on the Chile side until you reach their border crossing office. I continued on another kilometer to the small vill...

  Transit (including to/from US): $1,681.73 Accommodation: $783.40 Food: $154.27 Misc. (permits, wine tastings, insurance, etc.): $240.44 This is definitely a more expensive region of the world (prices are comparable to the US) and I was there for 1/3 of the time I spent in Asia so my avg daily costs were a lot higher this time around. Aaaand I also splurged a bit more on nicer/private accommodations 😎 My financial relationship with travel is ever-evolving, but I can definitely feel myself pulling away from extreme budget travel as I get higher paying jobs, etc. I appreciate budget travel for allowing me to be able to bring myself to many places at a young age, and I can’t really ever see myself being a luxury spender but I am moving towards spending more for comfort these days :) Currently, I am tending to spend more to get private accommodations and less overnight travel, but I still try to save on food and extra costs.

  Impressions: I really enjoyed my time in Carmelo and mostly spent time in a beautiful ranch house with wonderful views of farm animals and the vineyard next door. It was very relaxing, productive, and much needed. I enjoyed getting to see a little slice of Uruguay that many tourists don’t see. Safety: very safe! Transit: I couldn’t find buses or affordable transit options so I grabbed a broken bike from the hostel and took a painful 100 mi round trip ride to the ranch house. 0/10 recommend for the average, non-insane person. The weather was beautiful on the way there with sunrise golden hour, but it rained most of the way back. Recommendations: I would recommend visiting a small town in wine country like Carmelo if looking for things to do in Uruguay that aren’t a city or beach.

  Impressions: The section of the town next to the ferry port is definitely curated for tourists, which has both positives and negatives. Positives: very clean, beautiful, preserved history, lots of greenery and tall trees making a canopy over the cobblestone streets. Negatives: expensive, not very authentic. This town is a great way to step foot in Uruguay for a day when visiting Buenos Aires, but I wanted to spend more time in Uruguay so I used Colonia as a pleasant place to buffer my transit. I really enjoyed strolling through the beautiful streets, especially in the beautiful weather. I stayed at a mainstream hostel next to the town square and it was a pleasant experience, especially with the breeze coming through the open windows and the sounds of the town. Locals were kind, but again…tourism. Safety: I felt extremely safe here! There are some small safety concerns in other parts of Uruguay (namely, Montevideo) but Colonia is known for being very safe. Transit: There are two m...