¡Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

Regarding travel, I have grand visions of traveling around the world with no definitive plans and enjoying moments as they come. Slow travel: a deliberate, unhurried approach to exploring destinations is what I want to do. And in my visions, I am a free spirit, soaring beyond the boundaries of my comfort zone with no hesitation or fear and living my happiest life.

So, when an opportunity to travel sort of like that presented itself, I excitedly embraced it. However, a brief time later, seconds really, the fearful part of my brain reminded me of who I am at my core: a woman with low self-esteem who is frightened of the unknown.

Once I acknowledged my self-doubt, it blossomed and consumed me. For weeks I struggled. The internal battle raged between my anxious, overthinking self and the self who yearns to have amazing experiences and live spontaneously.

Should I go on this trip or not?  

Sadly, I decided I was going to let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass. I didn't have faith in myself, but when I shared my thoughts with a friend, she asked me what it was that scared me. Good question. What was I afraid of? I didn’t have an answer other than I lacked confidence.

I love Isabella. We have known each other a long time. She has traveled to faraway places and travels for months at a time around the United States in a van with her dog. Her opinions matter so when she called me out on my bullshit reasoning, I listened. 

With her encouragement and a reminder that I wouldn’t truly be alone as our mutual friend, Shawn, would also be in the city, I realized how ridiculous I was being. Although I was still hesitant, I bought a non-refundable plane ticket so I couldn't change my mind again, as well as booked a non-refundable stay at an Airbnb.

¡Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires! Welcome to Buenos Aires!

**

I sometimes look for signs of whether something is meant to be or not and when my flight out of SLC International Airport (with a layover in Houston) was cancelled, I wondered if perhaps this was an omen. I’m no maintenance technician, but apparently, it’s a big deal when the in-air collision sensors on an airplane malfunction. 

At first, the flight was delayed about 20 minutes, then we were allowed to board and just when everyone got settled into their seats, we were told the flight was cancelled and got kicked off.

I stood in a long line for about an hour waiting to find out my fate. Other passengers were booked for flights departing later that day, but flights to Buenos Aires were limited and I would have to wait until the next day. 

The United Airlines clerk assured me I was booked for a 1pm flight so I returned home (thanks Kip for the pickup) and started my pre-trip preparations all over again. However, when I arrived the next morning to check in, I wasn’t booked for anything!

Could this be another sign?

Nope.

Within 10 minutes, although it seemed like an hour, I was rebooked correctly and sent off through security to find my gate. The roughly 10-hour flight went smoothly, and I landed at Ezeiza International Airport at 8am on Thursday, September 26, 2024. I didn’t know it then, but this trip would change me. 

Somewhere during the next 21 days, I found a little thing called confidence.

Sidenote: When the plane landed in Buenos Aires, there was a bit of a tussle in the back of the plane and I heard many of the other passengers saying, “Hey" over and over. I turned around and a younger man was roughly grabbing the front of an older man’s shirt. The older man held up his hands in surrender and with an accent exclaimed, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry.” His wife had already made her way up the aisle and asked me if she could pass. Why? Because they were trying to make their connecting flight and wanted to be one of the first passengers to deboard instead of the last. In English, the younger man then said, “Let him pass,” and let go of the older man. I couldn’t tell if he was American or maybe Australian, but I thought, "Great impression he’s making if he’s American.” (Insert eye roll). Eventually the couple got to the front of the plane without further issue. I hope they were able to make their connection.

Sidenote: Marcos, my Uber driver from the airport to my Airbnb, didn’t speak English, but we were listening to Kenny Rogers on the radio, and he knew the words to the songs! Using Google Translate, I asked him about his taste in music. He said he also liked Lionel Ritchie. Music truly does cross barriers and connects people for on the way to Palermo we hummed along to every song.