"Mission" Statement

The South American Adventure was my girlfriend's idea. I can't be sure, but I believe it developed from her desire to not join the Peace Corps so she could still be with me. Her plans for graduate school demand that she "do something with her life" between academic ventures. After her summer in Ecuador, she came home with the strong desire to return. I've never been abroad before, but I have always know that I want to travel. After three months of trying to communicate across continents, I knew that I wasn't going to let her leave the country again without me. Thus the South American Adventure was born.

Our vision is to spend at least a year in the Central Andean countries of South America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru). While there we will volunteer and take internships for worthy causes, mixing in a few side trips to climb mountains every now and then. We will have our plans for the first few months arranged before we leave in July. After that, we intend to establish contacts and network to find the best opportunities. Think of it as our alternative to the Peace Corps; we won't be tied to the same place, and we will be able to take "vacations" as we choose.

My hope is that this blog will serve to keep our friends and loved ones updated on our travels, act as a memoir that we can draw from in the future, and be interesting to read for everyone.