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Travel Flashback

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The trip that probably changed the course of my life to travel is probably when I traveled to Bolivia at 17. I signed up with an adventure travel company, Where There Be Dragons, and off I went with a dozen other teenagers to South America.

This trip was certainly more adventurous than any other I have done since. In Bolivia we hiked through the Andes for weeks at a time reaching peeks of more than 16,000 feet. We stayed in villages with limited electricity and running water. I seriously shared a rock bed with straw underneath a straw roof with hanging corn. I bathed every few days in a bucket of freezing cold water. I herded sheep at ate a bland grain for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Of course I stuck some Mike & Ike’s into each meal since I smuggled them all the way from Miami.

I picked out one photo that really sums of this trip. During our 5th day into a two week long trek we arrived at a very long river. The only way around was to walk far out of the way. Our group, including three leaders stopped, thinking about what to do.

I can be pretty lazy so i’m not going to pretend I did this for the adventure but because I really did not want to make this trek any longer than it had to be. So I suggested we jump across and before anyone could really argue with me I jumped.

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  1. Nice! Sometimes that's all you can do, just jump. I mean, metaphorically, you know? You can apply it to anything. I wish I was doing adventure treks when I was seventeen.

  2. I never thought of it that deeply but you're right. Many accomplishments come from doing things even if I have no expertise to start (businesses, travel, etc.). I am definitely fortunate I could do something like this at that age. Otherwise I may have never discovered my passion for travel, or it could have taken many years.

  5. It’s kind of represents what everyone else in the background was thinking at the time 🙂