Why Travel Solo?

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are who'll decide where to go." -Dr. Seuss

I was born an extrovert. Those who are close to me know how true this is: my instinct to introduce myself to everyone and my nonstop chatter with those around me. While ordering a coffee one time in the Denver airport, I introduced myself to the barista and eventually discovered that we had a mutual friend. One of my best friends who was with me asked, "Kerri, have you ever met a stranger in your life?" So then, my love for solo travel may seem somewhat contradictory. But as I see it, my extrovertedness is what makes traveling alone possible and so so enjoyable. As my parents wouldn't hesitate to point out, there's obviously limits to solo travel (especially as a woman) in regards to safety. But, as Dr. Seuss explained, it's a matter of using the "brains in our head" to make good decisions!

I've found that I'm happiest when there's a compromise between solo travel and group experiences. As a study abroad student, I'm not claiming to be a completely independent traveler, seeing as how I have spent the last two weekends surrounded by friends from all over the world, with a couple days in the middle of exploring by myself (and classes of course 😉 ) And, this coming weekend, I'm headed to Santiago, Chile for bit of solo adventuring! Here are the top reasons why I encourage everyone to travel alone at least once in her life!

1.) Master of itinerary 💁🏻
Maybe this is the most obvious of the benefits of solo travel and it's definitely one of the most tangible! You can wake up in the morning and decide where you want to go and what you want to do. But I think my favorite part is that you choose where, when and what you want to eat! You want to sign up for a last-minute tour? Go for it. You want to leave a museum early? You're out. You want to try three different empanada joints instead of going to an actual restaurant? No problem. It's your chance to indulge in what makes YOU happy!

2.) Personal growth 💪🏼
For me, solo travel has been one of the most intense tests of confidence and independence in my life. It's obvious that traveling through an unknown land in a foreign culture by yourself never fails to be daunting. You learn to ask for help along the way and, in the end, it's so rewarding in that it allows you to discover how capable you really are. Picking up on Chilean slang from locals at the market, navigating through the streets of Valparaíso with a REAL paper map...how could solo travel not change a person?

3.) Conversation 💬
Wait a second. How can one of the benefits of traveling alone be conversation? It may seem somewhat contrary, but I'm not referring to chatting with a travel companion or close friend, but instead making small talk with strangers, locals, and other travelers. People traveling alone seem to spark curiosity and concern from others, for good reason! I think it's the sense that, if you're alone, they won't be interrupting anything if they ask to sit with you at breakfast or tag along on your sightseeing for the day! And this conversation is what makes an authentic experience!

4.) Authenticity and immersion 👀
Authenticity and immersion goes hand-in-hand with the conversation that comes with solo travel. Someone perusing a local artisan or fresh food market is much less likely to be perceived as a tourist than someone in a big group. Not only are you treated less like a tourist, but you're forced to immerse yourself completely in the host culture. This is one of the most popular reasons that students study abroad: the hope to be completely immersed in the language, the people and all aspects of the culture. Alone, you're forced to start up conversation in Spanish with those you meet instead of chatting in English with your friends. Even this can be uncomfortable, it makes for a much more memorable experience!

5.) Global friendships 🌎
Personally, this is one of my favorite parts of living in another country by myself -- the global friendships I have made! There's Idri from Albania, Pol from Israel, Camille from France, Victoria from Germany, David from Colombia, Nikola from Denmark, Renata from Sweden, Noah from Switzerland, Franci from Italy, Sarah from Canada, Eva from Iceland, Alize from Belgium, so many from Argentina and Chile...I think you get the point. Having these friends from all over the world has changed my perspective in ways I never knew possible. US global relations become more personal rather than political and disasters abroad aren't simply news flashes, but reminders to check in on my friends. And plus, how cool is it that I could go so many places in the world and just dial up a friend to get a local's suggestions and a free place to stay?

6.) Reflection and recognition 🤔
Lastly, exploring alone 6,000 miles away from home makes the saying "You don't know what you have until it's gone" hit a lot closer to home. While traveling solo has so many benefits, it also makes me miss the adventurous spirits and companionship of my siblings, parents, boyfriend, best friends, and cousins. Often, I find myself longing for a conversation in English, someone who understands my crazy sense of humor, or simply an adventure partner! But that's yet another benefit of solo travel: time to reflect and recognize how lucky we are and amazing this life is! And, like I said, it's a matter of balancing solo travel and group experiences!

Love from Chile,
Kerri 💕

A happy medium between solo exploration and...

Group adventuring! 

Beaches ➡️ Mountains

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again - to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more." -Pico Iyer

During my last week in MT, some friends and I were imagining what my life in Chile would be like. Seeing as how the country's average width is 112 miles, we joked that I could be surfing one day and hiking in the Andes the next. Isn't it awesome how dreams turn into reality when we have the courage and motivation to pursue them? Last week, I was surfing on the beaches of Concón and, only a couple days later, backpacking in the Elqui Valley of the Andes Mountains!

I wrote my last blog post the night before I went surfing and promised I'd let you know how it went. 🏄🏻 Well, let me tell you, I am by no means cut out to be a professional surfer, but it was one of my favorite days in Chile yet! There are tons of local surf shops lining the beach, where you can rent boards and wetsuits for the day. I bought a 2 hour introductory class that was 1:1 with Javier, my instructor. For these 2 hours, I think I rode about 90% of the waves all the way to shore, thanks to Javier basically doing all of the maneuvering of my board. After the lesson, Javier let me keep the equipment for another couple hours while he went back. Thinking I was pretty cool, I paddled out and caught a wave, only to find myself scraping along the sand and swallowing more saltwater than I thought possible. I may have only rode about 15% of the waves in by myself, but it was still a day very well spent on the beaches of Chile! 🏖

The next couple days were fairly uneventful (as if that's even possible while studying abroad) with classes and what-not. Yesterday was a national holiday, thanks to the Assumption of Mary, so everyone had a long weekend. Three other exchange students and I (Chile, Albania, Colombia, US), along with four of our Chilean classmates, decided to go backpacking in the Valle del Elqui, about 7 hours north in the Andes 🏔  With all our tents and sleeping bags and food for the next three days, we took a bus Friday afternoon 6 hours north to La Serena, where we stayed in a hostel for the night. Saturday morning, we headed into the valley to a small "pueblo" (village) called Pisco Elqui and set up camp right outside of town. The weekend was surreal; complete with stargazing tours, bike rides, pisco/wine vineyard and distillery tours, hikes, and bonfires ⛺️  The trip was exactly what I needed after a whirlwind couple weeks! We got on the bus at 12:30 this morning and arrived back in Viña del Mar at 6:30, just in time for me to make it to my 8 am biochem class! Let's just say I took a looong "siesta" this afternoon 😴

Throughout all of my experiences abroad, I've found that the most helpful thing to do when I'm missing home is to communicate: talk with people I miss, tell my host family how I'm feeling, and share emotions with other exchange students. But I'm also lucky enough to have some mentors guiding me through this experience, most of whom have gone through these same travel stages of culture shock and homesickness. Earlier this week, a Carroll professor who I am very close to was able to put into words "those feelings that catch you at the strangest times, of homesickness and weariness combined with anticipation and quest for discovery." Luckily, the anticipation and quest for discovery has so far outweighed the homesickness and weariness; but by no means are the homesickness and weariness lacking. Know that I think of home, my family, and friends often. Skype soon and keep in touch!

Love from Chile (from the beaches to the Andes),
Kerri 💕

The squad (Chile, Colombia, Albania, US, Germany)

The Andes and Muscat vineyards 

Biking to the Pisco and wine distillery tour

Campfire time

Hitchhiking to camp

Settling In! 🇺🇸 🇨🇱

"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted." -Bill Bryson

As my sister pointed out to me earlier this week, the Olympics are two weeks of "ridiculous patriotism," of cheering wildly for athletes you have never heard of competing in sports you know nothing about, simply because they are waving the right-colored flag. Imagine a room, then, of sixty students from all around the world watching the first day of competition at Rio 2016. As an Italian athlete competed, there were hoots and hollers. When the German team was shown, there were even more. Then a Spanish athlete, French, Colombian, Swedish, Swiss, Thai, Chinese. Finally, an American gymnast entered the arena and I let out a cheer. But then, I looked around the room and realized that I was the only one rooting for Michael Phelps and Gabi Douglas and Serena Williams. Right then, I realized something: I was a minority and will continue to be a minority for the next 5 months. Being the only American in my group most definitely has its ups (like not having to argue Trump vs. Clinton with fellow voters) and its downs (like no one truly understanding how great peanut butter is) but, no matter what, it's an eye-opening experience, to say the least.

On August 27, 2012, 10 days after I had arrived in Argentina to study abroad, I wrote in my blog, "It's not better, it's not worse, it's just different." These past two weeks in Chile have brought me back to this idea so many times. The more I travel, the easier it becomes to tell myself this and appreciate the cultural differences. That being said, it's a matter of time and willingness to learn about others that makes all the difference! 

I had a wonderful second week settling into my new routine here. Classes at UTFSM started and I think I finally have my class schedule figured out. It turns out that I don't have classes on Mondays or Wednesdays, which I'm excited about because it'll allow me to do a bit more exploring (and homework, of course 😜 ). All of my teachers have been really helpful and understanding, especially when it comes to simplifying the basics of biochemical engineering as it relates to the Krebs cycle! The class I think I'm most looking forward to is Pre-Colombian Civilizations! Since I am the only student and my professor is fairly laid-back, he explained that we could learn about the indigenous Chileans by conversing with fishermen at the port and about Mayans by visiting local museums; what a great way to learn in a foreign country and culture! 

Aside from classes, I've been able to get to know the city a lot better this past week, too! Whenever I stumble on a new cafe or pasteleria (pastry/dessert shop), I can't help but try it out! I think I'll definitely know the best of the best by the end of my time here 😊  Yesterday, I took a micro (bus) about 20 minutes north to Concon, which is more of a small surf town. I walked around, ate empanadas, talked to some fisherman and, my favorite activity, went sand-boarding on the dunes! It was so beautiful and so much fun (pictures below)! Today, I slept in, went to mass downtown, tried out another cafe, and then relaxed and watched the Olympics with my host family and little siblings. Since I don't have class tomorrow, I'm planning to go back to Concon and try my hand at surfing 🏄🏻! I'll let you know how that goes...

As you can tell, all is well here in Valparaíso! I'm most definitely experiencing the ups and downs of culture shock and being away from everything I'm used to but, all in all, I'm staying busy and making the most of my time here! As always, thanks for following my travels and know I miss all of you! Keep in touch. 

Love from Chile,

Kerri

Left my mark on the Dunas de Concon! 

Playa la Boca: the main surfing beach

Beautiful views atop the Dunas de Concon

Las Carmelitas Catholic Church