Tag: Buenos Aires Posts

In 2011 I spent three months living in the beautiful country of Argentina in South America. I enjoyed my trip so much that in 2012 I went back and spent another two months there. From the steaks and tango in Buenos Aires, to the vineyards of Mendoza, to the rolling hills and epic landscape of Patagonia, the Argentina scenery all around the country is absolutely amazing. If you’re thinking about taking a trip to South America, then definitely make sure you visit Argentina, one of the prettiest countries that I’ve ever been to. It’s also a great place to eat steak, if you’re a meat eater. Here are a few of the photos I took during my two trips representing some of the beautiful Argentina scenery. All in all, I had an amazing five months in Argentina, with the highlight being a four day trip to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost […]

In just a few days I’ll be leaving for the city of Buenos Aires again. As people who read this blog know, I started off this great travel adventure of mine last year in that very city. At the time I was a pretty green traveler, and struggled with the language and figuring out how the city worked for the first month or so of my trip. I was frustrated a few times, and a little disheartened with how hard it was at first to meet people. But I eventually overcame most of those obstacles, and probably grew as a person in the process. When my three months were up in Argentina, I was looking forward to heading to New York and to Ireland. But I really enjoyed my time in Argentina, the people I met, and the culture I got to experience. Over the last year or so I’ve […]

In North America, it’s pretty easy to get by without carrying much cash around. For the most part I pay for all my smaller purchases with debit these days. If I have a larger purchase to make, I generally use my credit card to accumulate some points. But outside of North America and Europe, it’s been my experience that cash is generally still king. And while having a credit card is great for emergencies (such as being able to get a hotel or a flight in a pinch), I generally make a run to an ATM machine once a week and pull out enough cash to get me by. Local currency is best for obvious reasons, but it also helps to carry some foreign cash as well. In most places I’ve been to, many establishments will usually accept either US dollars or the Euro as well as local currency, so […]

Six months ago I was sitting back in my apartment in Chilliwack trying to figure out where the first destination on my big adventure would take me. I immediately thought of the Caribbean, since it was an area I had been to many times and I was familiar with. Since the goal of my trip was to also work while exploring the world, that meant wherever I ended up would have to have decent access to the internet. That took Cuba off the list, as well as most small towns. I was actually homing in on the Dominican Republic when, out of boredom, I started thumbing through The 4-Hour Workweek, a popular book on vagabonding and extended vacations, once again. In the book, Tim Ferris discusses his love of Argentina, and in particular, the City of Buenos Aires. Often described as “The Paris of South America”, Buenos Aires is a […]

I’ll probably do a summary post on Buenos Aires the night when I leave, but this is my last weekly update from Buenos Aires. My little widget says that I’m leaving my apartment in four days, at which point I’ll be migrating to a hotel for my final night. I’ve been trying to get my landlord to commit to a time to do the final walkthrough so I can get my damage deposit, but he hasn’t responded to me. I’m not worried, since I do hold the keys and he can’t really rent it until he gets them back from me. But it would be nice to have that all in place for peace of mind. I’ll send another email in a few days and follow it up with a phone call. The apartment I’m in has worked pretty well. The only downside (and it’s a pretty big one) is […]

So, I’ve lost track of how many days that I’ve been here. I was originally coming for something like 87 days, so it must be near day 80 or so. As the title of the post says, I’m down to only 8 days left. I spent the weekend down in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. I had a great time, and was almost sad to leave when the time came. Staying in a hostel was a great experience, and I always had people around. Compared to Buenos Aires, where I work mostly solo during the weeks, it was nice to have some company around again, even if for a few days. I’ll do a full trip review as soon as I have an evening to spare here, but I’ll highlight a few things. First, I did indeed see penguins, and they are as cute as I imagined. […]

Yes sports fans, it’s time for another update. Today is day 65 in Buenos Aires. About an hour ago I had my last hair-cut in the city, and going forward there are a bunch of “lasts” about to happen. In fact, it seems like most of the expats I’ve met in the city are already gone or on their way out. A guy named Emerick from Montreal left two weeks ago, and another guy from New York is leaving this weekend. I suspect many people came to experience a summer in Buenos Aires, and now that summer is trailing off, it’s time to leave. Everyone I’ve talked to had enjoyed their time here, but like me, are now ready to leave. According to my little widget, I have 18 days left in the city (technically 19 days, but my widget is counting down to the day I leave my apartment). […]

This last week was a weird week. I met up with a few friends and had some great times, but it was also the first real time I’ve been homesick in any capacity. There was nothing really that happened to make me feel that way, I was just sitting around and realized I was a long way from home. So I spent a day or so of being a bit melancholy. Thankfully the feeling has past, and it’s business as usual again. Weekends always get me excited, mostly because I have more opportunities to get out and explore on Saturday and Sunday than during the week. My Mac widget says I have 26 days left in Buenos Aires, so three weeks and a bit. A friend of Rebecca’s, Henry, is flying in from Chile at the end of the month and I’ll do what I can to show him around […]

I went for a walk at lunch to clear my mind, and ended up strolling through a little park in Palermo. There was an empty bench that was cast in a bit of shade from a large tree, so I sat down with the intention of relaxing for a few minutes while listening to music. About 45 degrees to my right was another guy on a bench casually reading a book, and 45 degrees to my left was another guy who was taking a little nap on his bench. Just a couple of dudes enjoying a nice sunshiny day in the park. A few minutes later, this old women approaches the guy reading a book and starts muttering to him in Spanish. I sort of assume she’s asking the guy for some money, since that’s the vibe she’s giving off. I’m not sure what they said to each other, but […]

It shouldn’t be a huge surprise based on the previous few entries, but I’m starting to get a tad restless in Buenos Aires. Unlike Canada where the WiFi is generally reliable, the WiFi here is pretty spotty, which makes it hard to get out of the house to work. The last week and a half it’s been absolutely terrible, with constant drop outs and complete blackouts for an hour or more from time to time. Back home, I would often go to Starbucks to break the day up a bit, but the WiFi at the nearest Starbucks has been down about 50% of the time I’ve been there, and none of my e-mail works for some strange reason when I’m on theirs. There are a few other coffee shops around, but they all have pluses and minuses as well. So needless to say, I’m getting a bit of cabin fever […]