6 Months In, Where Do I Stand?

Alright folks, gird your loins, because this one’s a doozy.  Monday marked the 6-month anniversary of my time here in Buenos Aires, and I’ve decided to sit back and take stock of my experiences here.  So kick back, brew some coffee, and don your reading glasses.

When I first decided to come down to Buenos Aires, I had two friends that were supposed to accompany me.  Offering me assurances that they were definitely coming, I went ahead and purchased my one-way ticket to Argentina.  Lo and behold, they both ended up having to back out.  Being forced to fly solo was a bit scary at the time, but I had a two months to wrap my head around it and ended up relishing a chance to strike out on my own with a complete lack of a support network.

My arrival in Buenos Aires and my first few weeks were a frenetic mix of culture shock, settling in, and scrambling to complete my TEFL course.  The language barrier was also firmly in place, since my Spanish was very rusty at that point and came from Spain besides.  Once I finished my course and started to get my bearings, I began teaching English and job hunting for other opportunities on the side.  Make no mistake, living as an expat on a TEFL salary is no easy task, and those pretty websites pimping the experience fail to illustrate the financial reality of what it really is.

It was after a month or so of being here that the idea of a blog came up, more from my laziness towards answering personal emails than any burning need to write.  But once I started writing I quickly realized I enjoyed it immensely and it became a sort of cathartic release when something baffled me or I had a particularly trying day.  Once people began commenting on my writing, I figured I’d give it a whirl as a means to support myself.

Not a week after I started looking into freelance resources and ways to break into writing, I nabbed an interview with MiniHostels for a staff writing position.  They actually checked out my blog when we spoke, and I ended up getting the job.  I enjoyed working for MiniHostels, and got paid to research and write about what I loved (travel).  I wrote tour reviews, backpacker articles, and itineraries, I got to interview hostels and businesses, and stayed for free at hostels in our network.  All in all, a plum job.

I worked for them until January, when a cash flow crisis caused us writers to get snipped.  Since then I’ve bounced around from writing gig to writing gig, and have landed some steady work doing web copy for a couple of companies.  I hope to launch my own website for my services soon, and then be off to the races.

So here I am at 6 months, bouncing around from apartment to hostel to apartment, working whatever job comes my way, and trying to stay afloat down here in America del Sur.  It’s been a hell of a ride, and I’m excited to see where the merry-go-round will let me off.  I’ve looked into hopping over to work on an organic farm down in Patagonia for a month or two, and teaching English in summer camps in China and Italy.  I’ve got no set plans or responsibilities, I’m rudderless, but I like the feeling of uncertainty and not knowing what the next day will bring.  I originally planned on settling down in the US after a year abroad, but at this point I have no idea when I’ll make it back, this is just too addicting.

If you’re just out of college and debating whether to pull the trigger on a crazy trip, or you’re wrapped up in a job and want to take a break for a round the world trip, do it.  This experience has been mind-blowingly awesome.

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