Time to Fly!

We can hardly believe the day has finally come! :)

We decided we wanted to keep a simple posting of our adventures as we start in Medellin, Colombia & head South through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, etc. Like most of you know, we have a pretty flexible and open itinerary, and since we can't really tell you where we'll be at any given time, we figured the best we could do is update loved ones as we go :) One of the main ideas in planning this trip was to plan as little as possible, leaving ample room for spontaneous discovery, living freely, and being able to have the flexibility to decide what we want to do in the moment. Our first three nights will be spent in Arcadia Hostel in Medellin, Colombia, and then after the three days we'll decide where we want to go from there, if we want to stay longer, etc. It will be a trip full of taking it as it comes & just going with it :)

For a bit of background, there's 3 of us: Jackie Blumenthal, Kevin Ash & myself (Angelica Barrera). Kev has a blog you can also follow at http://idstl.blogspot.com/ & I'll be writing in this one on behalf of both Jackie & myself. Kev will be traveling for about 6 months & will head back to the States in May, & Jack & I are thinking 9-12 months (more or less), depending on our funds & where our paths may lead. Only time will tell :) While we're down there we plan on working on different farms, working in hostels, volunteering in an animal refuge in the Amazon, doing lots of hiking, etc. We're aiming to do this as economically smart as possible, so we're going to try to find things that can give us housing in exchange for our work, provide food in exchange for volunteering, etc.

Before we fly off we'd like to say THANK YOU to all of you who love, support & cheer us on. We acknowledge that while the territory we are venturing into is exciting & beautiful, it is also unknown and sometimes dangerous. We promise to take every safety precaution possible, to stay alert & aware of our surroundings, and never put ourselves in potentially compromising situations. We want to come back safetly just as much as you do :)

Until next time y'all, take care of yourselves! And we'll be sure to do the same. Deep breath, stand tall, wings spread wide - South America here we come!!!

A & J