My Adventures and Travels

I had my first bus mishap when I attempted to leave Pucon. I bought my ticket in this little store with the name of a bus company on it, so I foolishly assumed that bus company would be the company my bus ticket was for. SOUTH AMERICAN ROOKIE MISTAKE: Assuming things will be a certain way, because that certain way makes sense. Long story short, Pucon has about 10 different bus stations, and it's a small town. I went to the wrong one and missed the bus. Luckily, my destination (Osorno) was a popular one and buses left for it every couple of hours. I had to eat the ticket price, but luckily it all worked out. I took a roughly 4-hour ride to Osorno, which is where I had to go to connect to get to Bariloche. This time I made it, AND there were tickets available to Bariloche, too. Yippee! That ride went over the Andes, over the Chile-Argentina border, and was supposed to take 6 hours, but took about 7.5. Luckily it was really scenic. Getting across the border was time-cons...

I've decided to start a little "how to" series, basically of things I wish I'd known when I decided to move! I hope this will be helpful to others who are thinking of doing the same thing. Hopefully it's not too for those of you who know me and are hoping for personal updates...or I guess if it is you can just pass on to the next post! So far, here is my biggest piece of advice for anyone thinking of moving abroad: Have some money in the bank. You will need it for expenses that inevitably come up, and to tide you over while you wait for that first paycheck! Luckily I had some money saved, and I got some money when I sold my car in the U.S. If I hadn't, I would have really struggled. Even though my current employer paid a $1500 (US) moving allowance and a $500 shipping allowance, I found that I needed a lot more than that to get just the basics. (The point of this post is *not* to bash them at all-I'm lucky they paid some expenses! My point is just th...