YOU GUYS.
I made it to 2018!!! For most of 2017, it really didn’t feel like that would ever happen, but here we are 🙂
I’m going to write a few more posts on my trip (for real, I think I always say this and never actually do…but, I am putting a renewed focus on my blog as part of better focusing on what brings me happiness and fulfillment this year) in the coming weeks, but I wanted to say hi and share a few pics. Let me know if there’s anything specifically you’d like to hear more about!
Rio
We were in Rio de Janeiro for New Year’s and flew out on New Year’s Day on 6:45am after dancing on Copacabana Beach (yeah, that was a fun flight.) This is a real picture — the sky was legit that pink with the fireworks. We laughed, we danced, and I can’t think of a better way to end a terrible year. And yes, I was excited for an excuse to buy a white Lilly dress.
Peru
Peru was my favorite part of the trip, and it’s not just because of the llamas, though that doesn’t hurt.
Though it was actually sunny here…Peru reminded me a bit of Ireland: verdant, lush and moody. We stayed in the town of Ollantaytambo, one of the last remaining Inca cities, and SUCH a cute town. It was about a two-hour train ride from Machu Picchu, and it was adorably charming, and a great base for the trip to Machu Picchu (which ended up being a bit more logistically difficult than we’d realized.)
To say Machu Picchu was breathtaking is an understatement. To be honest, that afternoon, I felt a bit underwhelmed afterwards, but looking back, I’m reminded of the beauty, how lucky we are it was found, and how lucky we were to see it. (I think I was just exhausted and fighting the altitude then…)
Also, llamas. Yes, I was in heaven.
Bogota
If you follow me on Instagram (@theodorable), you’re aware of our travel drama at the end of the trip. The super short version: we were supposed to fly from Cusco to Lima to Bogota to JFK to get home. An annoying itinerary, but it was the right price… well, our three-hour layover in Bogota turned into being stuck there for four days.
So long as we were there, we decided to make the best of it and see the city! Our first order of business was Monserrate, which gave us these amazing views of the city.
Tell me: worst travel drama story or how you spent this New Year’s!
Due to some complications while staying with a friend in Dallas around New Years I had to change my flights to try to get back home as soon as possible. Well, I had signed up for a half marathon on NYE and I was adamant that I was going to run the race and make at least one highlight out of my trip. Well what else would happen in Dallas, TX at the END of December besides an ice storm? Well, that is what we got and it of course had to hit on the day I was set to fly out NYE after my half marathon. Well I get to the airport and my ride leaves me there and I of course have no hotel at this point and no ride because the roads are no longer safe to travel on and the flights around us begin to get cancelled. I literally expected the spend the night at the airport because I didn’t know what other options I had. So when the pilot showed up and then two hours later a flight crew AND our plane I think the entire passenger list wanted to cheer because we were going to get home. We of course were delayed 5 hrs but we touched down in Bloomington, IL 45 minutes before the new years. So worth the experience to realize the good in people. Looks like you had an AMAZING trip.
We fly ourselves everywhere in our own planes which means no TSA, no layovers & because we can fly pressurized up w/ the airliners, we have speed. Also as general aviators, we can fly IFR (by instrumentation) or VFR (visual only) when airliners can’t. We have different minimums for takeoffs & landings. More flexibility when it comes to weather, etc… However, we do still have mechanical issues like the time one of our engines blew up (quite literally as one of the pistons blew apart) & even though the prop keep spinning in the air & we had another engine, we still had to declare an emergency so we could land at the nearest airport (them’s be the rules). So while it really wasn’t that big of a deal & we had everything handled, we still landed to find an ambulance, like four fire trucks & a gaggle of state troopers w/ sirens a blaring (DRAMA!!). It was actually embarrassing since everything was perfectly fine. It also cost $250,000 for a new engine & labor to fly our personal mechanic there to install it.
sweet, will you fly me next time? 🙂
My NYE was incredibly low-key. I was at my sister’s house for a couple hours to play cards, then came home and chilled on the couch with my cat for the ball drop.
Because I am 100% all or nothing, *that* or epic travel are what sound good to me. None of that in between stuff 🙂
My worst travel drama was just trying to get across town and back. In 2016 I had some mega-stomach issues and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital – just as it started blizzarding; getting there required the fire truck to come ahead of the ambulance and literally plow a path through my yard for the paramedics to get to me and get me out. I got to the hospital, presently got better, and then another day later was discharged… while there was a travel ban. And I didn’t have a car anyway, but my family definitely couldn’t come get me, so I ended up sleeping in the ER waiting room until I totally randomly met a friend and fellow journalist, one of the photographers from the newspaper I used to work at, who was interviewing people at the hospital – and he lived, like, half a mile away. So he helped me walk to his house (which was hard in a blizzard anyway, worse because I was so weak) and he and his wife lent me clothes and let me stay in their younger daughter’s room; a day and a half later he drove me home because my neighborhood STILL had not been plowed, but my family carved a path from the house to the street behind it (which was plowed) so I could trek across our yard back home. It was the craziest thing ever to go less than 5 miles and back.
omg, WHOA. That is some story. I’m glad you made it home though!!!
what a great trip!! how was the Machu Picchu, hike?!?
i was on a 14-hour flight home from China and they kept us on the plane in JFK for 7 hours before letting us into the airport. Then we didn’t get our luggage for days. 🙂
It was good!!! We were both tired and dehydrated from stomach issues…but still so awesome.
and GOOD GOD that is awful. JFK, man…
@Theodora Blanchfield: yay glad you liked it. such a big accomplishment. yeah it was quite the DAY
Yay! Would love to hear more about a) Machu Picchu in general and b) logistical challenges that future travellers might learn from and c) what happens when you have a surprise FOUR days in a foreign city!?
Hope 2018 brings you all the joy!
Yes!! I definitely plan on writing a very detailed post on MP since it wasn’t super logistically straightforward.
And a surprise 4 days in a foreign city ends up to be pretty awesome! 🙂
You two look so cute together – very happy for you! Sounds like an amazing trip, even with the snafu – and when travel gives you lemons……make lemon-aid!
Travelling and seeing the world is the best experiences you can have…I hope 2018 brings you many more travels as well