We left the United States on October 4^th, 2018 to begin our adventure in South America, but the trip didn’t start out as planned. We missed our flight out of Minneapolis reminding us that for the next year we would need to be flexible and go with the flow.

Now with a year of travel under our belts and a year of new travel possibilities that we are considering, it’s time to reflect on the lessons we have learned. We learned some lessons for the first time, while others we knew but were encouraged by fate to re-learn.

 1.  Slow travel is the best speed for us

We traveled slowly for the past year to fully immerse ourselves in each place we visited (Medellin, Colombia; Lima and Cusco, Peru; Quito and Cuenca, Ecuador and Guadalajara, Mexico).

We stayed in each location for 2 weeks to 3 months and in one place for 6 months. After a few weeks in a city, we found ourselves relaxing into a groove with Spanish lessons most mornings, touring tourist sites and local attractions, discovering new neighborhoods, eating restaurant lunches, resting in the late afternoon, and taking evening walks.  Retirement rocks.

2.  New Things

Travel has shaken up our lives and we have learned a new way to live. We are reclaiming the more relaxed and adventurous people we were before we became immersed in our careers. What a relief to leave behind the long hours and stress of our jobs.

3.  Travel smart and be happy with less

To travel smart is to travel light. Living out of a suitcase for a year leaves room only for the essentials, and we haven’t really missed much. In fact, we feel lighter and freer than when we had a house and all the possessions filling it.

3.  Markets are fascinating places

Local markets can be chaotic and intense places to wander around. We have been almost overwhelmed by the smells, sights, and sounds. And we saw interesting things for sale, like big stacks of chicken claws, baskets filled with insects, and strange-looking fruits and vegetables.

4.  Local food is the best

Local food is great especially in countries with amazing food like Mexico and Peru. Whether it’s the food trucks of Medellin, the small 10-seat restaurants of Cuenca or the street vendors of Mexico, there is great food to be had. The food is not from well-known, highly trained chefs but from people who know how to cook and are making a living. We’re glad they wanted to share their food with us.

5.  Extreme or crazy food is rarely legitimately good

Eating things like guinea pig, fried grasshoppers, giant ants, bugs, etc. can be really fun! But it turns out there’s a reason people eat chicken or beef. When going for the weird stuff, dipping in sauce definitely helps.

6.  We love eating out and we have a new love for spicy food

In countries with low prices, we can afford to eat out every day. We love learning about a culture through its food. For example, in Mexico, simple foods with spicy sauces and accompaniments bring flavor to a whole new level.

7.  Speaking the language (even a tiny bit) is super useful

It’s amazing how positively locals respond to even the most broken attempts at speaking their language. They usually find it endearing and doors opened for us.

8.  You don’t have to be rich (by western standards) to travel

We spent less money every month traveling full-time than we did to live monthly in Minneapolis. We realized that people from high-income countries are ridiculously privileged. We can travel just for fun because we are rich compared to the rest of the world and we don’t even know it. Travel taught us a little humility.

9.  We have common ground, but we are not all the same

People around the world all want the same things–work, family, love, laughs, etc. There’s common ground everywhere. Even though we are all the same (and in a grand sense we are), for us, travel also emphasized how different cultures can be.

10. Weddings

Travel long enough and you’ll eventually end up somehow crashing a wedding. We’re not exactly the wedding crashers but we did watch a few weddings during our travels.

11. We’ve learned to let it go and to accept life

Yes, the train will be 2 hours late, we were “up charged“ by the locals, the enchiladas or the water gave us intestinal issues, Marc’s bicycle tire decided to puncture during our return journey. A million and one things can happen but it’s okay because this is exactly what makes traveling spontaneous and fun! We never know what’s going to happen next and we have to take it in stride and enjoy the journey. (Marc is a master at not sweating the small stuff, Kathy is still learning but has improved).

12. Is it safe?

The world is not as dangerous as we thought. As in any country, you have to pay attention to your surroundings and refrain from providing the opportunity to be taken advantage of. As they say in Colombia, “No dar papaya” (don’t give papaya (opportunity)).

13. Good days and bad days

Not every travel day is amazing—we had some bad days. We took the time to regroup, relax, and tried again the next day.

14. Looking Back

After being out of the country for a year, we now have a better, deeper appreciation for what we had at home. So many things we took for granted: safe drinking water, well-maintained streets and sidewalks, clean lakes and rivers, reliable government services and clean air.  We are so blessed to have lived our adult lives in Minneapolis and we appreciate our hometown even more than before we left.

15. We tried new things

Whether we were staring at a menu realizing we had no idea what the items were or jumping on a bus that we hoped would take us somewhere familiar, travel is exciting. We did new things, got ourselves into situations, and turned them into memorable experiences. (We ordered tacos in Mexico not realizing that the main ingredient was crickets (because we forgot the word in Spanish for crickets) and ate half of it before realizing that the chopped-up bits were not beef or pork).

16. In the zone

Travel is a great time to be more mindful and appreciate the little things. We’ve had several instances in which a parent approached us on the street after hearing us speak English and introduced us to their child and asked us to practice English with her. Many times while we were hesitating at a corner, a stranger in a car stopped in the middle of the street to ask us if we needed help. And one of my favorite little things is a little plastic handle which clips to my ‘To-Go’ (para llevar) coffee latte that I received at a little coffee shop. I carried it with me through South America.

17. People of the world

We met really interesting people from the U.S., Australia, Ireland, Canada, Israel, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, England, and other countries. Long term travel is full of opportunity to meet other fascinating travelers who have had amazing adventures.

18. World connection

Travel has made us feel just a little bit more connected to the world. When we were in the U.S. and heard news of foreign places, we often ignored it.

Now, when the news is about other countries, we sit up and pay a lot more attention. Recently we found ourselves genuinely worried about the economic issues of Ecuador, elections in Peru, and the Colombian peace accord with FARC. I keep thinking back to Pablo, our guide in Medellin, who told us with such raw emotion about the history of conflict in his country.

19. We realized that people are not their countries and we are not the United States

There is nothing like travelling to make you realize that when the U.S. talks about a military conflict or going to war with another country, the people that will be harmed are just like the people we met in cafés, the children we saw on their way to school, and the families strolling the streets arm in arm in the evening. Suddenly it becomes personal and it is not okay to see them injured or killed.

Of all of the benefits of traveling, we think that this is the most far-reaching and important. People are our most treasured gifts in this life. We were able to meet people and to develop a love for other cultures, religions, and lifestyles. We are all one people.

20. We need to take much better care of the Earth

Overfishing, loss of rainforest, litter, climate change… it feels like so much is slipping away so fast. Every country and city we visited has experienced shifts in their weather and climate. It’s real and people experience it every day.

21. We didn’t wait to live our lives

We understand that we are incredibly privileged to be able to retire early and to be healthy enough to travel. We wanted to travel and learn about other cultures before obstacles in our lives preventing us from leaving. And we’re glad we did. We are also privileged because our families picked up the slack while we’ve been gone.

22. It’s the experience that matters

Experiences are much more valuable than belongings because experiences stay with us in our memories and become a part of our story in ways that possessions never will.

But the one thought we keep coming back to is “we are so damn glad we did this”. We followed our impulses, and we will always remember incredible experiences that make us smile. So, in years to come, while sitting at a park bench, you may see smiles on our faces. We’re just reminiscing about our adventures.