Preparation.

Two months and counting until I return to South America. Two years of arduous saving, preparations and fantasising over landscapes and stories in books, about to come to fruition. Excited? Definitely. Nervous? Definitely.

It is strange. 5 years ago I travelled to South America with a group of people I didn't know, to teach English in rural Peru before backpacking around the famous gringo trail, and getting as far as Mendoza in Central Argentina to the South, and Montanita on the Ecuadorean coast to the North. Back then I was an immature, impetuous teenager, with next to no experience of foreign countries, and no grasp of Spanish. I was flinging myself fearlessly into the unknown. Yet for some reason now, returning to a place I have a degree of familiarity with, accompanied by my wife, and able to speak Spanish, my apprehension is greater.

I think one reason for this is that my expectations are greater...as i mentioned above, I have been working for two years towards this trip, and I want it to be incredible. I have also pored over books about the countries we are visiting (first stop, Argentina!) and this perhaps has led to me over-thinking the trip! Another reason is that now, as a (mostly) responsible adult, I am much more concerned about the impact of tourism on developing countries, and being an ethical tourist can be difficult. It is difficult to know whether the money you spend will help, or help to impoverish the people you meet along the way. With tourism burgeoning worldwide, and the problems of climate change looming, this pressure on the individual to act, spend and think responsibly will increase as the 21st century runs its course.

But my nervousness and apprehension is far outweighed by my own excitement and fervent imaginings, and the enthusiasm of my beautiful wife Natasha. She has never travelled to South America, and I am sure she will love it. We have a modest budget, a one way ticket to Buenos Aires...and heads full of dreams!!!