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 😊
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