Reflections: five months on from South America

Five months on from South America and having to abandon a lifelong travel dream due to Covid-19, there has been plenty of time for reflection. I should have been flying home from Brazil this Saturday.....

I don’t think there’s anyone on the entire planet who wouldn’t say it’s been a crazy year so far with the ever-changing circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. You’ll remember my own scary encounter back in March with the sudden onset of lockdown in Ecuador and the battle to get home to the UK.

There was never really any time to register the whole situation of what was happening and how a lifelong dream of mine – something I never thought I would be able to do – was devastatingly cut so short. After all, how could I complain? People around the world were dying and I had the good fortune to have my health and a family home to return to. I guess there’s bigger things in life than travelling.

Why did I go?

I do look back fondly on those magical five weeks making my way through Colombia and Ecuador without a care in the world. Even the sixth week spent entirely in lockdown in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito had its moments that still raise a smile. The entire experience was much needed after a rather dire 2019 that consisted of working in a job in which I was truly miserable.

Apart from my colleagues, who were amazing, the only reason I stayed in the position was because I needed to remain in order to afford the trip in the very first place. Cue January 2020 and a new-found freedom, with a desire to travel South America to clear my head and return with a goal. Whilst it was nowhere near the planned six months, the six weeks I did have were sufficient.

The Plan

What had been the plan? In that time, I had wanted to make my way down through South America from Colombia and round to Brazil, taking in the likes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay in the process. The top two priorities were Machu Pichu and Christ the Redeemer as they are two of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World, but in between were a host of other exciting attractions.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Colombia. I saw some incredible places such as Minca and the Tatacoa Desert. In Ecuador too, Mindo’s cloud forest and the views from Cruz de Loma were simply magical. Yet, if I’m really honest, it all went wrong just as I was about to start the things I really wanted to do. Completing the Quilotoa Loop had been on my list from the day I first started researching Ecuador. It was literally the night before I was due to begin the hike that news reached us that the government was closing the borders.

The second thing I wanted to do most in Ecuador was visit the Devil’s Cauldron waterfall in Baños. I travelled there the following day once I’d reunited with Cat, Pip and Casey, only to find it was closed as a result of the pandemic. A second major blow and one I knew was the death knell for the entire tour.

Alex, Casey & Pip on the coach from Latacunga to Baños

Upon Reflection: Five Months On From South America

With it being nearly five months on from South America and my return to these shores, I’m good. I have been from the day I got back and, I’ll be honest, that has completely surprised me. When I was under lockdown in Quito with Amy and Jack from @weareadventuring, they talked about how they felt like they were going through the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Okay, so there might have been some denial on my part initially, but I can’t say I ever really felt the middle three. It’s almost like I skipped straight through to acceptance pretty much early on.

Which makes me wonder – did I really love travelling on my own? Is the fact that I’ve never been absolutely devastated that it was cut short a result of never truly enjoying it? Or have I become more mature, accepting that these are unprecedented times and that there was absolutely nothing I could do about it? They’re all valid questions that have popped into my mind at one point or another.

Learning The Difficult Side To Solo Travel

Upon reflection, I do think it was the latter. There’s no doubt that in all honesty, for the first two weeks I really struggled and questioned whether solo travel was for me. There was a number of occasions where I thought about whether I could do it and if I should head home.

The trip to Casa en el Agua a couple of days in was a prime example. As a solo traveller, I had to make friends with many people travelling in pairs or larger groups and, whilst I’m a reasonably confident character, I won’t deny this was tough. Especially when leaving those people and being on your own again. It felt like you’d invest your time in getting to know someone, only for them to go their separate way and you’d be back to square one. It really is a learning curve.

Yet, things got better and I really do think that by the third week, I was starting to get into the swing of things. Together with Jaime and Martina, I built a little crew of solo travellers in Salento for our hike in Valle de Cocora, ensuring no-one was on their own. I met back up with Pip and Cat, ending up spending 10 days with them on the road and having some of the best experiences on the trip, both sides of the Colombia-Ecuador border. Beer pong with the likes of David and Anna made for a great night in Quito.

They were happy times and memories I’ll keep forever. That’s why I think my lack of any real emotion since returning is more down to acceptance that it is what it is.

A ray of sunlight on Valle de Cocora — Valle de Cocora

The Future

I should have been coming home this Saturday as that is when my travel insurance is set to run out. Who knows, I may have ended up extending it and staying out there longer – we’ll never be sure. Five months on from South America, what I do know is that 2020 hasn’t gone the way I thought it would. I’m cool with that. Touch wood I’m actually really grateful for how it has gone so far and what I’ve been doing.

I said earlier how I’d use the six months to clear my head and form a goal. As it goes, six weeks was sufficient. Having qualified in marketing before my six years in recruitment, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in this field. The second part of my goal was to return to some form of independence and buy my own house.

So how is the plan coming along? Well, I’m in a new marketing job that I love (and will be writing about in a separate post shortly) and have a goal of buying a house in the next six to nine months. Something I would not have been in the position to do financially had I completed half a year on the road.

Life is literally like travelling. You never know where you’ll end up. Yet, you’ve got to get yourself out there to move anywhere at all.