I’m about to wrap up a two year gig in Texas that has kept me anchored really close to home. It’s time to bust out and I decided to do it big time. I want to stay awhile so I needed someplace inexpensive. I want to be in a city so there will be lots to do without having to travel continuously. So…I’m heading to Argentina for three months! I chose Buenos Aires for several reasons: it’s a long ways away, I’ve never been there or anywhere else in South America, it’s got a hopping cultural scene, it’s one of the most “European” cities in the Americas and it’s way cheaper than Europe. I speak enough Spanish to get by and I look forward to being much more fluent by the time I get back. Best of all, I’ll be trading Dallas summer heat for a mild winter climate. So here’s how the planning has gone so far…
First, I got a book. The internet may have all the information you need to plan a trip like this, but I find that having a good guidebook from a source that I trust gives a framework to judge what you find on the web. I chose Moon Handbooks Buenos Aires both because I know the Moon Guides have a strong Latin American line and because I’ve heard the author, Wayne Berhardson, speak several times at Wide World. I know he spends a lot of time there, owns property, is married to an Argentine and knows what of he speaks. I read straight through the book trying to get a sense of the city so I’d be able to take my next steps: buying a plane ticket and choosing a place to stay.
I looked into a lot of ticket possibilities like flying out of Houston or Miami instead of Dallas, or making stops in Mexico. I spent hours on intratours.com and searching the web for deals. I knew I didn’t have enough miles to get an awards ticket on American but I figured out that if I bought mileage from the frequent fliers program, I could book the direct flight that I’d really rather have for about half the price especially since I used a mileage sale to earn an extra 20% on miles purchased. I wound up saving about $600 on my ticket. It’s possible that I’ll miss out on some great last minute deal but I’m the kind of person who would rather lock in an acceptable expense than gamble on a last minute bargain.
Next, I started looking for a place to stay. If you do any research about Argentina on the web you’ll immediately run into ads for short term apartment rentals. The rates on these rentals looked very attractive but I was cautious about spending so much money with companies I didn’t know anything about. I went back to the Moon Handbook and saw that Wayne had good things to say about more than one of these companies and from his website, I learned that he uses one of them to rent out his own place. Still wavering on which part of town would suit me best (funky San Telmo for the tango? the hip scene in Palermo?) I sent Wayne an email asking for advice to which he graciously responded. I spent some quality time with a good map of the city (I like the one from Borch) and then, after looking at about a thousand places, I decided my priorities should be: price, access to internet, full kitchen, not far from transportation, close to opera and symphony. Once I had those things in mind, I was able to choose this apartment in Recoleta, an area of town that would be roughly analogous to midtown in New York City. I spent some time emailing with Denise at the agency (whose English, by the way, is perfect) and then used my PayPal account to make my deposit. These agencies require that you pay the balance in cash on arrival along with a damage deposit that is refunded at the end of your stay. I checked out some message boards and almost everyone agreed that, despite the leap of faith aspect of leaving several hundred dollars with a total stranger, this system works fine. The agencies do charge substantial penalties for cancellations so be sure to take out travel insurance if you’re worried about this.
Since I’ll be staying such a long time, I did some other basic leg work. I checked my passport to make sure it’s not due to expire anytime soon. I visited the Argentina page at the state department to make sure I didn’t need a visa (I’m allowed 90 days without one). While I was there I took a look at Uruguay, too, since I’m hoping to take the ferry across to Montevideo for a day or two. I’m considering a trip over the mountains to Chile as well since I’ve read that the bus ride offers fantastic views. I checked out the Chilean Embassy site so now I’ll know to add in the cost of the “reciprocity fee” into my calculations of the expense of that trip. I also looked at vaccination recommendations through convenient links from the state department to the CDC.
Packing is my next big consideration. Staying for three months, especially for winter months, is going to require serious planning and a bigger suitcase than my trusty Eagle Creek 19″. I talked to the experts at Wide World, weighed the merits of wheels versus carry straps, compared the capacities of various bags, thought seriously about life time guarantees and finally narrowed my choices down to the Rick Steves 21″ Roll Aboard or the Eagle Creek Load Warrior LT 22. Fortunately, I already have an assortment of packing cubes, compression bags and locks along with passport pouches and other necessities. I’ll need to take a serious look at my usual packing list. I’ll plan on buying things like shampoo and toothpaste when I arrive and use the space to pack an extra sweater or more socks. I’ll be taking my trusty packable duffel bag so I’ll be able to bring back all those tango shoes and leather jackets I’ll be buying.
I’m definitely going to need to stay in touch while I’m in Argentina. I’ll have my computer with me so I’ve set up Skype and I’ll be able to talk computer to computer with other Skypers for free (did I mention the apartment comes with wi-fi?). I’ll also subscribe to their “Skype In” service so I’ll have a U.S. phone number that connects to my computer. That way non-computer types like my mother can call me inexpensively. Of course, I’ll still be blogging and on Facebook so everybody will be able to keep up with my fabulous adventures.
Do you have suggestions for things I should do while I’m down south? Email me at Terrell@terrelltravels.com. I’d love to hear your ideas!
Tags: argentina, buenos aires, terrell, travel
