Chronicles of Suz

In what feels like no time at all, I had to say goodbye to my first Remote Year city: Buenos Aires. I arrived in Argentina a month ago with minimal expectations and honestly not a whole lot of interest in the country, relative to my excitement about some of the other locations I'll be living in throughout the year (lookin at you @Croatia @Portugal @South Africa!!!). Happy hour during our first week of RY which simultaneously feels like it was a million years ago and also 5 seconds ago And WOW did Buenos Aires change that for me. I fell in love with the city almost immediately and I fell hard. From the murals on every street corner, to the vibrant, super friendly locals, to the extremely laid back pace of life (yes, even slower than San Diego), I jived with Buenos Aires on every level. Toward the end of the month, I began reflecting on what aspects of the city stood out to me the most, and here are some of the highlights: The people: I'll also lump "the...

A very popular topic of conversation on Remote Year is Side Tripping. Beyond the 12 cities in 10 countries in 3 continents we live and work in throughout the year, this group of travel addicts plans a wide variety of shorter trips (think one to five-ish days) to other destinations because you know, #yolo. Here's what's on the docket of trips currently being discussed: Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Iguazu Falls (prob spelled that wrong), Mendoza (Argentina's wine country), Galapagos, Rio Carnival in Brazil, Lollapalooza in Chile, and the list keeps growing. I physically, not to mention financially, cannot participate in every trip, and you better believe I want to. Yes of course this is a great problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. So far, I have been doing a nice job of actively enjoying Buenos Aires, my home for this month, and I have been resisting most temptations to book trips, BUT I haven't gone full cold turkey. One of one billion cool murals in Buenos A...

I've been putting off writing this because I have sooo many thoughts and I do not know where to begin, and probably could never end.  I guess I will start with: I've been touched by friends/fam who have already reached out to ask how things are going so far and I generally respond with something along the lines of "SOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!" Sorry I can't be more articulate, but it's the truth!  I am definitely in some sort of honeymoon phase... whether it's with Buenos Aires or Remote Year or 2018... I don't know but it's fantastic. I've been as giddy as a kid on Christmas for the last 7 days and I seem to not require sleep and not get hungover despite excessive alcohol consumption. The constant warmth and sunshine also don't hurt (sorry East Coasters)! Everything about this experience so far has exceeded expectations. Every day is packed to the brim with new sights, tastes, words (no hablo español but I need to learn stat), stories,...

Longmeadow is doing it's part with the weather to make sure I want to GTFO. Single digit temperatures getting worse by the day are NOT OK and making those 90 degree temps in Buenos Aires look extra Bueno. How did I pack my life in one suitcase and still have room to spare? How many things am I forgetting? Will the Canes win the Orange Bowl tomorrow? Will we see the Turnover Chain? Is the Turnover Chain going to be a thing next year? Should I bring my Turnover Chain on Remote Year? #gocanes Should my New Years resolution be to care less about the Canes? Can't wait to spend NYE with a bunch of randoms in a foreign country! (not sarcastic) This time next year those randoms are going to be my travel family! Last night I got caught up watching Remote Year vlogs and they were great (and way cooler than a blog). Is anyone going to read this blog? Do I attempt to learn to vlog? Oh wow still didn't notify my credit card companies about this. Doing that now, BRB. Is San Die...

Fourteen days left in the USA. Fourteen days left to get last minute items, figure out my phone situation (yep I should have already done that), say my last goodbyes, notify my credit card companies, write this blog post... And it's still not really hitting me. The countdown number gets smaller and I just keep chilling like "hey living with Mom and Dad for a couple weeks is cool" (I already moved out of my San Diego apt to have some fam time before my departure). I swear part of me still thinks that after Christmas I'm going to hop back on a plane to San Diego to resume life as usual. But another part of me is like HEY SUSAN IN TWO WEEKS YOU WILL BE LIVING IN ARGENTINA. Sorry, I had to write that in caps to really drive the point home for myself. The next two weeks are filled with holiday parties, bowl games, Christmas (obviously), goodbyes (wahhh) and are going to go by before I click publish on this post. G2G attempt to process...see ya in Buenos Aires ...