Oh, the Places We'll Go

As many of you know, Ted and I have been dreaming about this trip for a long time. As our savings and planning came together and we realized that we were actually going to be doing this, we were both incredibly excited and amazingly overwhelmed.

Though please don’t interpret this as complaining, the last couple weeks in Colorado were some of the most stressful and emotional that I’ve had to deal with in my recent memory. The logistics and planning involved in moving, taking a leave of absence from work, organizing bank accounts, purchasing insurance, and oh, how the list goes on, is certainly complicated. And as family, friends and fun are so important to us, Ted and I juggled our insane To-Do lists with trips to Michigan and SW Colorado as well as happy hours, ‘family dinners’ and concerts with our favorite people.

For anyone that saw or hung out with us in the last month or so – thank you! We not only love and appreciate you, but you probably have done or are doing us some sort of favor!

For letting us stay at your house after our lease was up; for letting us store anything from musical instruments, a foosball table to a CAR at your home; for helping us move; for letting us borrow a truck; for making us lasagna; for taking us to the airport; for coming out to say goodbye at the Boulder happy hour and Zen Mustache show; for volunteering to drop off our car in SE Parker and encouraging us to stay and have a beer instead; for keeping our mail and bills and life in order while we are away; for picking up extra projects at work in our absence; for your phone calls and hugs and supportive words; for everything I’m failing to mention here but that made our trip a reality – THANK YOU!

Those two words do not do justice to the enormous amount of appreciation we have for the people in our lives that we love – but we mean them from the bottom of our hearts and are 100% positive that this trip would not be possible without you.

Now, come visit.

In planning for our trip I booked two nights in a hostel in Quito so we would have somewhere to stay when we first arrived. I remember when booking online how excited I was to learn that our ‘Deluxe Private Double’ would be a whopping $26/night. Not sure exactly what you’re going to get when you book online, we were pleasantly surprised/relieved to learn that our little room had a double bed, a nice-sized private bath (with hot water), and a cable TV. Our hostel also has an amazing terrace overlooking the city and a welcoming lobby full of fellow travelers, day-trip information, computers, etc. Not bad at all.

In addition, the hostel is run by a lovely couple that does everything from changing the sheets and making breakfast to calling the airlines to help travelers find their lost luggage (see previous post!).

In addition to cheap lodging, our meals here (we’ve only had two so far!) have each been at total of $3. Yep, $3 for coffee, a croissant, an egg and a fruit cup for each of us. And $3 for arroz con pollo (rice with chicken, beans and plantain) and sopa de cameron (soup with shrimp and potatoes).

I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities to spend well beyond these reasonable prices, but it’s good to know that we can sleep comfortably and eat deliciously and remain well within our budget.

After a whirlwind couple of days – tying up loose ends, visiting friends, and a bon voyage Zen Mustache show – Ted and I arrived in Quito, Ecuador (via Miami, FL) safe and sound. Sadly, our backpacks did not but we’re optimistic they’ll be at the airport tonight when the next flights from Miami arrive. We have been told that having our backpacks delivered to us is probably not going to happen so we’ve decided that a quick trip back to the airport is in order.

Upon arriving we were reminded that Quito is at 9222 feet so though it is quite close to the equator, it’s actually cool with temperatures probably in the 60s today. We also learned that South America is much closer than you would think – our flight was only 3 hours and 40 minutes from Miami. We’re on the same time zone as Chicago and Minneapolis which is crazy to think about because we FEEL like it shouldn’t be so.

We spent the day wandering around by foot and exploring different plazas, churches and windy roads of the ‘Old Town’. The ‘New Town’ is on the agenda for tomorrow.

Ted has had to quickly dust off his knowledge of Spanish and is doing quite well. We’re told that the New Town (aka ‘Gringolandia’ – seriously!) has quite a bit more tourists and I imagine English speakers will be more common there, but for now we’re getting by with what we’ve got and are quite enjoying it.

Well, I think that’s about it for now. As we continue to decompress from our last few insanely busy days in Colorado and adjust to the wonderfully overwhelming new sights and smells of Ecuador, I imagine we’ll become more descriptive and exciting bloggers and storytellers!

In the meantime, we’re safe, we’re happy and we’re excited to see what comes next!