1.11.11 Departure

A day of ones and new beginnings… Fortunately we left about three hours before our flight this morning and were able to get rerouted to Dallas connecting to Santiago. We avoided the Chicago to Miami connection and a snowstorm and expected delays.

So we have lots of time in Dallas before we leave tonight at 9pm, arriving tomorrow at 10am Santiago time. Chile is three hours ahead of Minneapolis, quite a bit to our east, which was a surprise to all of us.

Things have changed a great deal since the most recent time Dan or I were traveling and living abroad back in the 90’s (Dan in Costa Rica teaching English in ’92 and I was training Peace Corps Trainees in Dominican Republic in ’96). How we know we’re not in our twenties - exploring the world – anymore.

1. Then: We traveled with a duffle bag or big backpack. Now: As you can see by our departure photo, we don’t travel light.

2. Electronics explosion! Then: I think I had a short wave radio. J Now we have: 2 laptops, 2 smart phones, 4 e-readers, 3 digital cameras, 4 Mp3 players, and several small bags of cables! Wow…

3. Then: Maybe during a long layover before Dan or I might find a quiet corner to read something like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Now: we have spent the last couple of hours at the Internet Station, charging devices, checking e-mails and in Dan’s case, working.

4. Then: Much to our parents’ chagrin, it might have taken a couple of weeks to receive word that we had arrived and all was well. Now: Well, here you are…thanks to the blog, you are able to get updates perhaps sooner than you would prefer! :-)

Alright, I promise the next post will be from Chile… Thanks to everyone for such nice e-mails, messages and goodbye skypes.

Hasta pronto, Laura