Victoria horseriding in Capilla del Monte

On facing fears

I was in a tunnel 15 feet under the ground, only just big enough to crouch and crawl through. The lights had blown a few moments earlier, just in time to see a bat skim the crown of my head. I peered through the darkness, uneasiness setting in as the earthen walls crumbled beneath my … Read more

Alien shop in Capilla del Monte

Hunting for UFOs in Capilla del Monte, Argentina

Prayer to Pachamama in Capilla del Monte

“I can’t wait to get back to the mountains” I said, as we trundled down a hill in Cordoba city on the way to a new hostel. Steve agreed. We’d been in the city for a few days and liked it – there were next to no tourists and it had a spritely bustle that had been a novelty after weeks in Patagonia – but the yearning for nature had soon kicked in. As our words registered, we leapt to the same conclusion: “What are we doing then? Let’s go,” and we hailed a taxi to the bus station.

Our chosen destination was Capilla del Monte, a small town about three hours outside of Cordoba, which our couchsurfing host had told us about. It’s famed for UFO sightings and has an abundance of vegetarian food – enough to sate both Steve’s and my curiosity.

Read more

Wax Freud

Why are so many Argentines in therapy?

I started to notice it in Buenos Aires. Friends would meet me a drink “after therapy”, my Spanish teacher would fit me in around her sessions, and everyone would pepper conversations with “my therapist says…”. I soon realised that nearly every Argentine I met was either in, or had been in, therapy – but more … Read more

Eguisheim, France – Real-life fairytale village

Why this is no longer a quest

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up, travel quote

The word quest has been niggling at me for some time now. Before we left, I was delighted with it. Yes, we were on a quest around the planet to find the answer to how we wanted to live in this world – to find what makes us happy – to, dare I say it, find ourselves. But something isn’t sitting right with that statement now. It implies there’s an endpoint and a definitive answer to who we are and what we want, when actually it’s a state that lives in constant flux. All we really know is what we want now – the quest to find a way to live ended the moment we woke up to that and stepped out of our lives in London. Before that moment, we were dreaming of ‘something else’, but now we’re living that dream.

Read more

Victoria on the Ruta de Vino near Mendoza

Bikes and wine in Mendoza: 6 tips for a safe combination

When I dreamed of biking round the Mendoza wine region, I conjured a scene of quiet streets and pretty landscapes. What I didn’t envisage was speeding cars and heavy goods vehicles. Combined with wine-soaked tourists and narrow roads, this could be a disastrous combination and, having not been on a bike in years, I must … Read more

Rainbow favela

A visit to Rio’s favelas by cable car

We were a bit unsure about visiting the favelas as the idea of a favela tour felt a little voyeuristic and uncomfortable. But when one of our couchsurfers, Aline, asked if we wanted to go to a favela for lunch with her, this seemed much more reasonable. As she said, we were just visiting a … Read more

Tea, cakes and Welsh cowboys in Gaiman, Patagonia

A rare post written by Steve! Growing up in the south-west of England, a short drive across the Severn bridge to Wales, I was always both fascinated and amused to hear about ‘Welsh cowboys’ lurking somewhere down in the wild and unforgiving landscape of southern Argentina, half a world away from the green and pleasant … Read more