A Year Ago Today

 

A Year Ago Today

Today marks my first day as a 32 year-old…and also exactly 1 YEAR since leaving the United States!!! So, where are they now? Who are they now? What comes next? And what will Connor’s next hairstyle be? These are the true questions on this episode of… A Year Ago Today. 

I know it’s cliche to say, but as usual TIME DOES FLY. We left a year ago from Phoenix the day after celebrating my birthday with my family (eating some delicious Thai food for a send off). It feels like just a month ago we were there and yet an entire year filled with travel has happened in between. 

Let’s reflect:

• Started in Patagonia Chile in April 2025 (their fall time) - very cold and rainy, lived in an old sheep shed, no heating, lots of good hard/physical labor, ate predominately meat for 1 month (shout-out carnivore diet), were on our own for cooking/eating, started our relationship with Yerba mate, and really got to experience the EXACT opposite of our “comfortable” life we were living in California; spent 2 months here total 
• Flew to Cordoba, Argentina to start our next volunteer stay - a remote, small farm with an ex-monk; stayed in a beautiful, bio-constructed room, most sustainable/“off-grid” place we have stayed, ate lacto-vegetarian  (first time going without eggs in our lives hahah), ate all meals with him that lasted approx 2 hours (may have had a mental breakdown or two.. but that’s a different story), less of a work-load and got to do more creative tasks, constructed our first structure from scratch, and started our journey into spirituality/meditation; spent 2 months here as well
• Next we went west to San Juan/Mendoza area of Argentina to another small farm hosted by a girl our age - learned a lot here about gardening/biodynamics, experienced more of the Argentinian culture here with asados (barbecues) and their signature drink: Fernet with Coca Cola as well as late-night dance parties to Argentinian music, first time in awhile we got to spend time with people our age, spent about 1.5 months there
• Said chau to Argentina and flew to Cusco, Peru - to stay in the Sacred Valley with a host with a much smaller garden and a house-full of volunteers; BIG learnings/growth here during this time; the environment of being in the high Andes mountain range was beautiful, our first time living in more of an indigenous community, lots of gardening and organic fertilizer knowledge, deep questions and conversations with our Russian guru, Abby completing her yoga teacher training and Ayurvedic course, Connor doing a Vipassana meditation course, and many other new activities to progress our spirituality; Spanish is FINALLY improving (for me at least… we will see what the next year holds for Connor); spent 3 months here
• Decided Ecuador was our next stop (Abby excited to return to this beautiful, small country) - headed to the coast to live on an “island,” our first experience with a warmer climate on this trip and a unique work-exchange with house/pet sitting, not having a daily work schedule and getting to spend a lot of time however we wanted, got to go in the ocean everyday, our “laziest” era, plenty of hammock naps, spent 1+ month there
• Made our way inland in Ecuador with a small tour around Quito, the capital - realized we don’t love big cities; landed at our host’s house in Mindo, the cloud forest; another experience of house/pet sitting, got to train a sweet Rottweiler puppy, lots of birdwatching, waterfalls, and chocolate, made many connections with locals, spent 1.5 months there

That brings us to… where we are NOW! The Amazon basin of Ecuador! Not quite the deep Amazon jungle, but close. We are pretty much getting all the good parts of the jungle…less mosquitos, less rain, and less ginormous bugs and animals that can eat you (although we did see a small boa constrictor). We are back doing more volunteer work at an eco-lodge in a large conservation area. And even MORE bananas, if you can imagine. It is the perfect, peaceful place to spend our last 2 weeks in Ecuador and ultimately in South America. 

What comes next? We are heading to Costa Rica to spend 2 weeks with family and friends. It will be great to see some familiar faces and get some real-life hugs! At the beginning of May, we have tickets to cross the pond and start the next part of our journey in Europe (starting in Portugal). Wow. Feels surreal. 

There is both a sadness and readiness to be ending our time here in South America. Who we are now reflects all the experiences (both challenging and beautiful) we have been through over the last year. We talk about this topic often… do we feel different or changed? In some ways yes and others no. We feel like the same Abby and Connor, yet there is more of an authentic part of us that has been discovered while traveling. We hope to continue uncovering more of this as we go! 

We miss you all, love you all!

Con amor, 

Abby y Connor 

Need a wasp nest removed? You know who to call. 

Seeing butterflies emerge from cocoons! 

It’s like 1st grade all over again

Visit to the Mariposario

Banana bread galore!

Banana Ice cream (we don’t waste bananas around here) 

Birdwatching Tour 

LOOK - A BIRD!

Don’t worry.. it’s not her first South American piercing

Baby’s first piercing

Hummingbird whisperer

New earrings, who dis

Platanos all day err day

Those gringos love their farmer’s markets

Making rings from a Palm tree shell

$3.50 Almuerzo (daily lunch special)

Discovered a new passion…ROCKS

Some morning birdwatching

Puppy… in a cup

Goodbyes to our local friends

Making the Wirth Family Dentistry Dynasty proud

Going into surgery or getting his teeth cleaned?

Welcome to the Amazon!

New digs in the secret bookshelf

River cutie spotting

Locals drying cocoa beans on the roadside

Harvest of the day - so much beautiful fruit around here!

Ecolodge Volunteer House

Animal control relocating the boa constrictor

Reunited with my Yoga classmate - peeling chontaduros

Local swimming hole

Can you spot the 32 year old Yogi?

River hike

Waterfalls on waterfalls

Birthday Gurl