2022: What a Year!

I've written up a little summary of my travels and life in general on this blog at the end of each year since 2019, and even though we're now at the end of January 2023, I still want to continue the tradition by writing about my 2022!

2022 had its challenging times, but overall it was one of the best years of my life so far, especially in terms of travel. Here's my summary of the year, as well as what I'm planning for 2023!

Life in General

2022 was really defined by the fact that I finally was able to move back to Chile in February, and that Claudio and I reached the milestone of renting our first place together in April. These are things that I dreamed about when I graduated from university in 2019, and it probably would have all come together sometime in 2020 if it wasn't for the reason we all know about. As it turned out, I would have to wait over two years for it to happen (and I definitely thought at times that it would never happen). But I did it in the end! Moving to another country, particularly one on the other side of the world, is never easy, but it's especially hard during a global pandemic. So the fact that I achieved this life goal is definitely something to be celebrated.

We've faced our challenges since February, particularly at the start of my time here. Finding an apartment was hugely difficult, and moving in was hugely expensive. In addition, the job I had between March and October was low paid and often stressful. I also faced some mental health problems in the middle of the year, which are largely better now, thankfully.

Another thing I've found hard at times is the feeling of being behind where I would have expected to be in life by now (again we have the pandemic to thank for that, at least in part). I always thought that by 27, I'd have a solid career and be generally more settled in life - I see my peers reaching milestones, and I sometimes feel a bit like I'm a teenager on a Gap Year in comparison to them.

But I've come to realise that there's no point in trying to tick things off as quickly as possible - it must be a challenging situation in its own way to still be very young and to have no more goals left to achieve or milestones left to look forward to. So while I have goals that I want to work towards (particularly career-wise), I know that I'm still young (even if I'm pushing 30, haha) and that things will come in their own time. And I also really appreciate the opportunities that this year in Chile has given me - I've had some amazing experiences and travelled to some incredible places, which I wouldn't have been able to do so easily if I had got a "serious" job back in the UK, for example.

Overall, looking back at the last year, I've done so many things that I wanted to do for a long time, and I feel like life has been so much fuller compared to 2021. Right now, I'm in a place where things are pretty good: I have a wonderful partner in Claudio, he's doing well in his career, I'm enjoying the work I'm doing at the moment, we have a nice apartment together, and we have lots of supportive family and friends both here and in the UK. You can't ask for much more than that really!

Travel

In terms of travel, 2022 has been the best year of my life, without question. My Year Abroad was pretty great, but last year managed to surpass even that! During those 12 months, I visited two new countries (Peru and Brazil), two New Wonders of the World (Machu Picchu and Cristo Redentor), and several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I remember being absolutely desperate to visit places like these when I was stuck at home in 2021, and I definitely feel like my Wanderlust has been satisfied to a certain extent since then!

Here's a little recap of each trip:

April - Iquique: Our first trip of the year was to this city in the Atacama Desert, and it was great fun! We enjoyed exploring the architecture and beaches in the city, and we also had a brilliant road trip to the ancient Atacama Giant geoglyph and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Humberstone and Santa Laura salt mines.

May - Parque Nacional Conguillío: This was a real "roughing it" weekend away, in which we slept on buses and spent a whole day walking in the freezing cold. Although it wasn't the most relaxing trip to say the least, it was still great to see some of the beautiful landscapes of the south of Chile. 

June - Arica and Tacna: On this trip, we visited the northernmost city in Chile and the southernmost city in Peru, as well as their surrounding areas. One of the most memorable parts was seeing the Chinchorro mummies, which are even more ancient than their Egyptian counterparts. I also loved the beautiful beaches in Arica, and the charming city of Tacna, which is off the usual Peru tourist trail.

August-September - England: After 6 months of living in South America, it was really nice to go back home for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends. During this time, I revisited some of my favourite spots in my local area, and also went on a trip to London, where I visited the Greenwich Meridian for the first time.

October - Cusco: For the first few days of this solo trip, I stayed in the city of Cusco and explored the sights of the city and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Then I took a train to the village of Aguas Calientes on the edge of the Peruvian jungle, before hiking up to the iconic citadel of Machu Picchu. This trip was a real adventure and a longtime travel dream come true!

December - Rio de Janeiro: This was also a longtime travel dream come true! Claudio and I had an amazing time exploring this beautiful city (even if the weather wasn't quite what we were expecting!). We also spent a really memorable day sailing and snorkelling around the paradise beaches of Arraial do Cabo. We hope to go back at some point in the future!

My Plans for 2023

Travel wise, I don't expect 2023 to be quite so much of a bucket list year as 2022, but it's already got off to a good start! Earlier this month, we had a fantastic weekend in Papudo and Valparaíso, which I'll be writing about next on this blog. Other plans include time in Algarrobo with Claudio's family next month, followed by a coach trip to Mendoza in Argentina, as I will need to leave the country before my visa expires. And of course I'll be going back to England at some point this year, but I'm not yet sure for how long.

This is because my plans for the rest of the year are still very much up in the air, and I have no idea in which part of the world I'll be living in a few months' time! Funnily enough, back in the middle of last year, when things were more difficult, I felt pretty desperate to get settled somewhere in Europe as soon as my year in Chile was up, but over the last couple of months, I've found that I don't really want to leave. In fact, I'd be quite happy to stay here another year and continue doing the work I'm doing now, but unfortunately the cost of a temporary residency visa for UK citizens is just too extortionate for me to pay for a second time.

So at the moment, my plan is to stay in Chile on a tourist visa for 2 or 3 months after coming back from Mendoza, and then go back to England, at least for a visit. After that, the question is: Chile or Europe?

While Claudio and I see ourselves settling down somewhere in Europe eventually, Claudio has a good job here, and if I could get a similar job (where a work visa would be covered by the company), staying here a year or two longer would be a good option.

So I've decided to leave things to fate by applying for jobs both here and in Europe, and seeing what happens. All I know is that my goal for this year is to get my foot up on the career ladder, which in turn will allow me and Claudio to achieve our other goals in life. So it's going to be a year of hard work, but it's all going to be worth it in the end.

Well, that's just about covered everything! All that's left to do now is to sign off by wishing everyone reading this a great 2023 and many travel adventures!

Charlotte 😊

2022 travel highlights from left to right, starting from top left: Parque Nacional Conguillío, Chile; Playa El Laucho in Arica, Chile; Greenwich Park in London, UK; Machu Picchu, Peru; Piscina Tupahue in Santiago, Chile; Pão de Açúcar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Arraial do Cabo

It's taken me a while to write up all my posts about our trip to Brazil - it's been a really busy month - but now I've finally arrived at our last full day! Claudio and I spent this day outside of the city, sailing and snorkelling around paradise beaches.

We had known that we wanted to do a day trip like this during our holiday, but initially it was difficult to decide where to go! Arraial do Cabo, Búzios and Ilha Grande were the options we were debating between, but eventually we decided on Arraial, because not only is it the most convenient one to get to, but also because the photos online look absolutely incredible. We were really hoping that we'd have a day of sunshine, and that the beaches would look just as amazing in real life as they did in pictures. Fortunately, that was exactly what happened!

We booked a full-day tour which included transportation, a boat trip and a buffet lunch, and came to something like 80 pounds for the two of us, which was pretty great value! The minibus came to pick us up at our hotel at around 7am, and once everyone was on board, it was time to make our way over to Arraial, which is about 3 hours to the east of the city of Rio de Janeiro, but which is still located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. We made a stop about halfway through the journey at a motorway service station that was very similar to the ones we have in the UK. (It was surprising to me, as in Chile motorway service stations are not a thing, and we just have to stop at petrol stations!)

The minibus was quite cramped and stuffy, and I felt pretty sick by the time we finally arrived. But I was happy to discover that the weather was sunny and hot. At last!

We made our way to the port and were taken to the boat where we would spend the next 4 hours or so. 

I was really excited for the trip, but as soon as we set off, the motion sickness that I already had from the minibus journey got 10 times worse. Other people on the boat were drinking and partying, whereas I was staring at the horizon and trying not to throw up!

After what felt like a long time, we reached our first stop, Praia do Farol (Lighthouse Beach), which is located on an island. Here we had to ride on little motorised dinghies in order to get to the beach, which was quite fun!

We had rented snorkels on the boat, but we didn't see much underwater at this particular stop. That didn't matter though, because the beach was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. The ocean was turquoise and a perfect temperature, and the sand was white. We only had 20 minutes there, but we could have easily spent hours swimming and sunbathing, given the chance!

One of the best things about this stop was that the swim in the ocean completely cleared my head, and I could enjoy the rest of the boat trip afterwards without feeling sick.

Our next stop was Praia do Pontal do Atalaia back on the mainland. Here we had our first snorkelling success, seeing some white, yellow, and stripy black and white fish of various sizes! There's also a grotto here (Gruta do Amor - Grotto of Love), which we swam to. We had 40 minutes at this beach, but they went by in a flash, and again, we felt like we could have spent much longer there! This was really turning out to be the trip of a lifetime!

But it was our third and final stop that turned out to be the most memorable. This time we didn't take a dinghy to a beach; the boat stopped at a spot some distance from Praia do Forno (Oven's Beach) and we could jump straight out into the water, which was about 15 metres deep!

Claudio and I had a truly amazing experience snorkelling here. Even though we didn't see turtles as we'd hoped (Arraial is well known for its turtles), we still saw some incredible wildlife. There were more fish here than there had been at the previous stop, and what made it even better was that there was a beautiful coral reef of many colours, which we explored together. I've always dreamed of visiting Australia and seeing the Great Barrier Reef, and I'd never expected to experience something similar in a completely different part of the world!

We had just 15 minutes at this particular stop, but those 15 minutes were definitely one of those times that we'll remember forever.

Then the time came to head back to port.

After a late buffet lunch in the town centre, we headed back to Rio, arriving at around 8 or 9pm. It had been an amazing day, but we didn't want it to end yet!

So after dumping our stuff in the hotel, we went to Copacabana Beach for one last paddle in the sea and a caipirinha. While we were there, we had the fun surprise of seeing the "Holidays are coming" Coca-Cola truck pass by, driven by Father Christmas of course! (I hadn't known it really existed outside of the adverts!) It was a nice end to a really special trip.

Both of us were a little sad to leave Rio (especially because there was finally sun in the city on the day we left!), but I'm sure we'll be back at some point in the future. I think it would be really nice to spend at least a month there (preferably a dryer month than December!), visit places like Ilha Grande, Búzios, Paraty and Petrópolis, and try to get fluent in Portuguese. That would be a dream!

Since we got back, a lot has gone on - Christmas, New Year, and even some more travelling! But first I want to write my round-up of the year, which has become a tradition for me on this blog. So that will be coming next, followed by a couple of posts about our recent travels within Chile. 

See you soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Three here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Rio de Janeiro: Day Four

Our fourth day in Rio de Janeiro was unfortunately a lot less exciting than the first three days. This was mainly because the weather forecast lied to us! Despite this, we still managed to have some good moments.

The previous day had been very rainy, as expected, but according to the weather forecast, this day was meant to be dry, apart from a little bit of rain in the morning. So we decided to start the day at the beach!

When we left the hotel, it seemed like the sun was trying to come out, which was a positive sign. But as we got closer to Leme Beach, it started raining. We hoped the rain would go away soon...

One of the interesting places we saw on our way to the beach was the iconic hotel, Copacabana Palace. We'd watched a video about it on YouTube before our trip, and seen just how luxurious it is on the inside. On the outside, it's absolutely huge and really does look like a palace. If you have an unlimited budget, it's surely the best place to stay in Rio!

Leme Beach is actually located along the same stretch of sand as Copacabana, but it is much quieter, and was recommended to me as the best beach in Rio by one of my Brazilian students. It's a beautiful setting, but unfortunately we didn't get to see it at its best, because it really started to pelt it down with rain when we were there.

Eventually, the rain got so bad that we had to put on our raincoats and make our way back to the hotel. This was the real low point of the entire holiday. The walk back seemed to take at least an hour, and to make matters worse, one of my flip-flops fell apart! (Claudio very kindly swapped his with mine.) By the time we got back to the hotel, we were soaking wet and more than a little fed-up. This was meant to be our dream summer holiday in Brazil, but it felt more like being at the seaside in Britain!

After showering and getting changed, I took the opportunity to go down to the lobby and do a bit of work I needed to do, and then we went out to find some lunch and decide what to do next, given that any outdoor activities were impossible. We initially wanted to go to Museu do Amanhã, a science museum, but it closes at 5pm, and we realised that by the time we would get there, we'd have very little time to actually see anything.

In the end, we went to Shopping Leblon, a very upmarket shopping mall. I wanted to find a new outfit, given that some of my clothes were wet from the morning and the previous days, but everything there was too expensive! But one of the great things about the mall were the views from the roof - from there you can see the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, which is absolutely huge, and the Jardim de Alah (Garden of Allah) canal, which flows down to the sea and is what separates Ipanema from Leblon.

By this point, the rain had eased off quite a bit, so we decided to leave the mall and go out and have a wander around the area. But of course, almost as soon as we stepped outside, the rain started up again!

So instead, we decided to go back inside and look for a café to try a Brazilian coffee - definitely an important item on the travel list for a trip to Brazil! We found a nice place called Café Zinn, where the coffee was great, and I think I appreciated it even more because of the rainy day. 

Overall, it was disappointing that we couldn't spend the day doing the things we wanted to, but these things happen. 

The next day was the last full day of our trip, and luckily it was a lot more memorable than Day Four! We took a trip out of the city in order to visit some of the most beautiful beaches in the country... I can't wait to write about our amazing experience there!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Three here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!

Rio de Janeiro: Day Three

Our third day in Rio de Janeiro was something a little bit different. As Claudio and I had expected, it was a very rainy day, so we decided to skip the beaches and head for the city centre.

The city centre is not the most famous part of Rio, but it has some fantastic sights, and definitely can't be missed!

We decided to start off by seeing Theatro Municipal, which is perhaps the most beautiful building in the entire city. The grand architecture of the theatre and the buildings surrounding it, along with the rainy weather, reminded me of the times I've gone sightseeing in European cities, like Vienna, Bratislava and Paris!

Our next stop was the cathedral, which was something completely different! It was designed in a modernist style, and doesn't really look like a church at all. To be honest, it made me think of a Dalek, but it was actually inspired by Mayan pyramids. 

In fact, the interior of the cathedral is more spectacular than its exterior - once you're inside, you realise just how huge it really is. The stained-glass windows are also very beautiful.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked over to Arcos da Lapa, also known as Carioca Aqueduct. This is a beautiful architectural landmark, which is made more impressive by the fact that it was built in the 1700s. 

Fortunately, the rain started clearing up when we were here, so we could finally take some photos without our rain coats!

The final place we went to see in the city centre is probably its most famous sight - or at least the one that gets posted the most on social media! Escadaria Selarón is a huge set of steps made up of colourful tiles, some of which have paintings on them. There are also various murals surrounding the steps. Interestingly, Escadaria Selarón was actually created by a Chilean artist, Jorge Selarón. You can definitely see the Chilean influence there, and it's hard not to be reminded of Valparaíso and its many colourful staircases and street art.

One of the most memorable sights for me on Escadaria Selarón were these two beautiful cats sleeping next to each other. They looked so perfect!

It was also a nice surprise to discover an Indian restaurant (Hoje Tem Curry) located right on the steps. (I introduced Claudio to Indian food when he was staying with me and my family in the UK, and now we're both big fans!) We decided to go there for lunch, which turned out to be a great choice, as they offer a deal which includes a curry and all the trimmings!

After our delicious curries, we went to take a photo of a nearby street, simply because it reminded me of a street I'd seen in Lisbon in November 2019. The street in question had had yellow and green banners, which had made me think of Brazilian carnivals, and given me Wanderlust to visit Brazil. So it was pretty amazing to finally be in Brazil over three years later, and to see a street with almost identical banners!

By this point, it was the afternoon, and we decided to head away from the city centre and to go to our next stop: the Botanical Garden. This seems to be a less-visited attraction compared to other places in Rio; maybe it was just because of the rain, but we had the place almost to ourselves for the couple of hours we were there. It's a huge area filled with trees and plants from all over Brazil and other parts of the world, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

The first part we saw was this little garden inspired by Mexico, which was filled with cacti. It's amazing how it survives in the completely different climate of Brazil!

 

One part we really liked was the Japanese garden. It was so tranquil and relaxing to sit under the little shelter there, protected from the rain.

Another beautiful and tranquil aspect of the Botanical Garden are the three waterfalls that you can find not far from the entrance.

In fact, the entire garden is incredibly beautiful and peaceful - it's hard to believe that it's in the middle of a big city!

But by far the most memorable thing about the Botanical Garden were the monkeys! We saw some medium-sized ones leaping about from tree to tree near the waterfalls, and some small ones climbing up and down the tree trunks on the other side of the garden. They were adorable! It was hard to get decent pictures of them, but I'll always have an amazing memory of the experience of seeing them in their natural habitat.

And that concludes my account of our third day in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro!

Next I'll be writing about Day Four, which was admittedly the least exciting day of our trip, as we had another full day of rain, but this time we hadn't been expecting it. However, we tried our best to make the most of the situation, and we had some nice moments along the way. A blog post will be coming very soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!