Preparing and Budgeting for a New Adventure.

**This post and the following posts will be based on my travels in South America from November 29th to December 22nd. I was in Buenos Aires for a week volunteering, then I traveled to Puerto Madryn, Puerto Iguazu and Machu Picchu.**

Buenos Aires confirmed, but where else?

After my Habitat for Humanity trip in Kenya, I almost immediately applied for a trip in Argentina. By Easter, I already sent in my deposit and knew I would be spending a week volunteering in Buenos Aires. I purchased my flight ticket in late September. Not tickets, ticket. I did this for two reasons. First, I didn't have the extra money for the return ticket at that point in time and I wanted to make sure I definitely had a ticket to get to Buenos Aires. Second, I knew I wanted to stay on after the trip and do some traveling around the country. 

It was three days before my plane departed for Buenos Aires when I finally decided I should make some type of plan for the remainder of my time in South America. I knew I wanted to be home by Christmas, so that was easy. That gave me exactly two weeks to spend on my own exploring. 

I already had a vague idea of what I wanted to do. In Australia, someone recommended going to Peninsula Valdes. I've also heard of Iguazu Falls before and saw pictures from the amazing Devil's Throat. So those two were pretty easy to decide on. I looked at flights and the flights were really expensive, so I was a bit put off at first. After some more googling, I discovered that Argentina has a pretty great bus system, so I looked up bus tickets, and they seemed reasonably priced. While looking at the bus information, I tried to get more ideas. A bus from Buenos Aires to Lima caught my eye and that's when I decided Machu Picchu would be my final destination. 

The hardest part of planning my travels at that point was timing everything just right. Since I decided on traveling by bus, I need to ensure I gave myself enough time for transportation while also having enough time in each place. I made sure to have three bus times picked out for each trip just in case one time sold out or I missed the bus. Basically my plan was this - 

December 8th - Leave Buenos Aires in am
December 9th - Arrive in Puerto Madryn in am
December 10th - Puerto Madryn
December 11th - Leave Puerto Madryn in pm
December 12th - Arrive in Buenos Aires in afternoon, Leave BA in pm
December 13th - Arrive in Puerto Iguazu midday, go to falls
December 14th -  Leave Puerto Iguazu in pm
December 15th - Arrive in Buenos Aires in afternoon, leave BA in pm
December 18th - Arrive in Lima
December 19th - Plane from Lima to Cusco in am, afternoon in Cusco
December 20th - Train from Cusco to MP in am, spend day in Machu Picchu
December 21st - Train from MP to Cusco in am, plane from Cusco to Lima in pm, plane from Lima to NYC around midnight

I didn't bother looking up hostels at that point, but I did make sure to buy my return flight from Lima to Cusco, my return train from Cusco to Machu Picchu (apparently they sell out really quickly, so best to buy ahead) and my flight from Lima to NYC. I also didn't bother with the bus tickets at that stage since I wanted to pay in cash and get a better rate at Retiro Bus Station in Argentina.

Overall, I definitely was not as prepared for this trip as I have been on past trips. I wouldn't attribute this to carelessness, however. Personally, I found it exciting. Two years ago, when I was planning my solo trip to Poland and Greece for a week and a half, I probably wouldn't have found deliberate unpreparedness that exciting. But after two years filled with a lot more travel and personal growth overall, I've found a sense of security in the unknown. And as long as you stay safe, it's pretty awesome. 

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Budgeting.

The cost of the Habitat for Humanity part of my trip was $2,110 (I know, super expensive!). Habitat trips are pricey, but a lot of the cost goes as a donation to both the Habitat for Humanity office in America as well as the office in the country being served, Argentina in this case. The rest of the cost goes toward providing transportation, housing and meals all week. Fortunately, I had quite a few people support my trip and I was able to get a stipend from my school, so I didn't have to foot the whole cost of the Habitat portion myself. 

Including flights, bus transportation, accommodation, food, my Argentina visa, tours and entry fees to the different places I went, I budgeted $3000. Just to put this into perspective, close to $2000 was spent solely on transportation. This includes my flight from NYC to Buenos Aires, my return bus ticket from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn, my return bus ticket from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn, my bus ticket from Buenos Aires to Lima, my return flight from Lima to Cusco, my return train from Cusco to Machu Picchu and my flight from Lima to NYC. 

Sure, I could've saved quite a bit of money if I chose to cut a place out of my itinerary, but I chose three places I really wanted to see at this point of my life, and I don't regret a single penny spent. 

If you look in the right places, you can find great discounts on flight tickets. Just because you want to go across the world doesn't mean it has to be expensive! 

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Packing.

I've packed for a lot of international trips before, ranging from a week to four months. But I've found the more I travel, the less time I leave to pack. I had to head out to the airport for my flight to Buenos Aires around 10am on November 29th. By 5am, I was still unpacking my bags from Australia. In my defense, while I got back to the states that Monday, November 25th, I wasn't actually home until November 28th. Anyway, by 7am I was finally packed and ready for a short nap before the drive to the airport. 

To the left, you'll see what I brought with me for my three week trip. I have to say, this bag was probably one of THE BEST purchases of my life. I swear, Mary Poppins must've had the equivalent purse - I kept putting things in and still had tons of room!

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My Packing List.

Clothes

3 work shirts (left in BA)
3 work pants (left in BA)
1 dress
1 bikini
1 long sleeve shirt
4 shorts
1 pants
1 sleep shorts
1 sleep shirt
4 undershirts
7 shirts
15 underwear
2 socks
5 bras
1 rain jacket
1 hoodie
1 baseball cap

Entertainment

 2 books
1 journal
1 actuarial study book
2 small notebooks
1 flashlight
2 power adapters
2 pens/ 1 pencil
ipod
ipad
ipad charger
phone charger
phone
headphones

Day to Day Items

toiletries
glasses
makeup
medicine
3 contact lens sets
hair clip
comb
three hair bands
sunglasses

Necessities

wallet
passport
flip flops
sneakers

My first Habitat for Humanity trip, I brought a suitcase. My second trip, I brought a big duffle bag. This trip, I brought a backpack. And it was perfect. It was the first time I've flown internationally and didn't check a bag. The bag fit perfectly in the overhead luggage compartment and once I landed, I was able to get on with my life and not have to wait at the luggage carousel stressing about whether or not my bag would come out. No matter how much I travel, I still get anxious when it comes to getting my checked bag after the flight. 

In Hindsight.

Looking back at my planning, I wouldn't change much. I did wish I had another day at Machu Picchu - one day just didn't cut it at such an amazing place. Other than that, I was happy I had a relatively loose plan. The main lesson this trip really taught me was not to stress. So many times we travel and we stress out about time and when we're going to get to a place and what happens if we're late and all of those what if's, but none of that crossed my mind this trip, mainly because nothing was really set in stone (except the train and flights). One of my buses was a couple hours late, but it didn't really matter because I'd get to my location when I got there, there was no reason to fuss about it. It turned out to be an awesome trip, as you'll see by my next posts, and I'm happy with how everything turned out!