33,008 feet in the air, is as good a time as any to begin putting fingers to keys and see where this takes us. 

I’m on my way to Argentina. A trial run of sorts. I’m travelling with my good friend Tanya and will be there for two weeks. The plan is to spend the bulk of our time at her home in Salta (northern Argentina) and then finish up with a few days in Buenos Aires before we make our trek back to Canada. 

Unfortunately, our husbands can’t make this trip. Mine is still working on a few projects that will see him through to October. After he finishes those, he and I will make the leap back to Buenos Aires for at least four months.

It’s actually fitting that we would choose Argentina for our first full winter away. It was during our first vacation to South America more than five years ago that Frank and I hatched a plan that would utimately have us working a whole lot less and living a whole lot more. After that trip we got started right away putting elements of the plan in play. Testing assumptions. Saving. Investing. Downsizing. These steps worked hand-in-hand. Selling a house bigger than we needed, freed up money to invest. Having a smaller place also limits what you can take with you and certainly limits what you need to buy to fill it.

We found that getting rid of things we’ve been hauling around for years was very freeing. In the end, it seems that the stuff we owned, actually owned us. No more.

So, “Why Argentina?”

It checks many boxes. Ultimately, any place we plan to be for several months must have a lower cost of living than Calgary (that’s actually most places). Argentina is considerabley more affordable. We’re big city folks. Buenos Aires is a very large urban centre, which we have seen parts of and that has hooked us to see more. And their summer happens during Canadian winters. We are done living in snow and sub freezing temperatures. 

Will it be the place we come every year? Doubtful. We are more nomatic now without all that stuff weighing us down. What will next year hold? Will we long for roots in one place? We’re fairly confident that we will be stronger still from this adventure. The beauty is we don’t have the answers, but we’ll share them with you when we do. 

Now, there is a cafe con leche calling out to me. Maybe even some alfajores, too.