For three weeks we lost it. The travel wind blew out of our sails and we officially became travel lazy. We’ve been on the go since the beginning of the year, exploring new places and constantly reseraching what to do/see/eat next.
Any perpetual traveler will agree that when you are in travel mode – staying somewhere for over a month is considered settling down. Not only did we settle down in a Buenos Aires apartment, but we got travel lazy.
- We told ourselves we would get some work done – which we have
- We told ourselves we would take spanish classes and learn as much as we can – which we have
But outside of accomplishing these two (very important) tasks we have been (happily) lazy. In a country that boasts of its steaks, we have cooked in our apartment 99% of the time for the past month. I started with a long list of things we should see and do in Argentina including Iguazu Falls, Patagonia, Mendoza etc…
Yup… we didn’t do any of them.
We sat in our apartment (gladly, except for the broken heater) working, cooking and enjoying not travel planning for the month. We enjoyed the overly simple meals we cooked at home almost always accompied with a delicious $5 Malbec. We were content with not packing our backpacks and being able to purchase more than 100 ml of liquids at the supermarket.
We walked around the city and got to know the streets and swing of life in BA, but I could tell our travel enthusiasm took a break this month. We didn’t go out of our way to put ourselves in new situations or meet lots of new locals…we just were there. Some might say we were relaxing, but we didnt relax. We took 20 hours a week of spanish class and when we weren’t speaking español, we were writing, programming and generating lots of new ideas. Our minds weren’t relaxed, but our travel oomph took a break…we got travel lazy.
I’m not done with Argentina—I’ll be back in the summertime to explore Patagonia and Iguazu Falls is a must next time around. I’m not leaving disappointed I’m leaving excited to be on the move again, ready to cruise through the Galapagos, search for scary creatures in the Peruvian Amazon and hike to Macchu Picchu.
Do you ever get travel lazy?
I’m writing the same post this week. We have been on the road without a break since April and I just realized that we have maxed out. Needed a break from work and touring,
Abigail.
Where are you taking a break?
Tony and I get travel lazy all the time! We were always on the go in South America and thought that we needed to do/see EVERYTHING. Once we arrived to Europe, we were drained. We now love traveling slowly and renting apartments for months at a time… And we have learned that tourist traps are not our scene and we would much rather spend a day getting some work done at our place, wandering around a city getting lost and in search of good food, and relaxing each night with a bottle of wine…. So we TOTALLY understand you guys! 🙂
It’s good we’re on the same page then! 🙂 Hoping to break out of our laziness a bit through Ecuador and Peru.
Haha, I find it funny it’s Buenos Aires you became travel lazy in. I’ve met countless people who have ended up spending a month or two there unexpectedly. I’ve never been but I guess it’s the cheap wine and chilled South American way of life, must get people feeling like slowing down a while! I’m secretly planning to get travel lazy there when I get to Argentina!
It makes sense especially when you can rent an apartment there for less than a hostel. We did enjoy plenty of good Malbecs while we were there too!
That doesn’t sound like a bad month to me at all! Sometimes it’s nice to take off your “traveling” shoes for a little while and put on your “living” shoes. I think there’s a distinct difference between the two, and both have incredibly valuable merits. Sometimes we’re not meant to dash around to every amazing tourist site, sometimes we’re meant to sit on a park bench and revel in the difference of the moon from another hemisphere, observe the unrestrained joy in an old man walking past, and (of course) drink gallons of incredible wine without feeling the pressure of actively pursuing an “experience.” So you may not have traveled Argentina this time, but you definitely lived it. How wonderful!
Well said. Reminds me of when every time someone says we have to do something because “you’re on vacation.” This isn’t vacation, it’s life! 🙂