Adventure Travel Blog Posts

This kids now have choir practice in a new location, one that is about a ten minute walk from our home, in a direction we don’t normally walk. Between our home and practice, a McDonald’s. I could smell it while I waited for practice to adjourn. I decided to surprise the kids with a pitstop […]

I understood that living in Santiago was not going to be cheap. Chile is not a low rent country, and Santiago is a city larger than Los Angeles. However, I’m taken aback by the high cost of living in Santiago, especially when incomes for average residents are so low. It gives some perspective into the […]

Wilson continues to excel in skateboarding, trying and failing and trying and succeeding. Each time we visit the skate park, which is once or twice a week, he improves. He continues building on the skills he’s developing, even when it means pushing through the pain of a hard fall. Here’s a video of Wilson learning […]

In recent weeks, Spanish is coming more naturally to me and, I think, all of us. When we first arrived, I felt we constantly had to tell people we don’t speak Spanish or understand something they said in Spanish. Now, about four months into our immersion here, we can carry out many daily interactions in […]

Though it didn’t make the news, the sprinkler scandal of Vitacura rocked out little world. Our home has a high wall around it. The wall creates an inner courtyard containing a patio, lawn, pool, and driveway. Outside the wall, there’s still property belonging to this home, and there are strips of grass, bushes and trees. […]

Santa Clause in Chile has the persona of Viejito Pascuero or Papa Noel. With November coming around, Santiago is beginning to burst with summer Christmas. At one of our nearby malls, Open Kennedy, the kids and I waited for Katie outside of a store while she finished some secret Christmas shopping. In the central area […]

I’ve mentioned in the past that one of my small joys in the evenings is to watch hikers descend the mountains over Santiago. Each night, at sunset, the headlamps illuminate the summit and begin filing down the mountain trails at dark. We joined up with another family to make the hike ourselves last weekend. We […]

I’ve yet to develop beyond a basic understanding of commerce are made in Santiago. Of course cash and credit cards are accepted, but there are methods of payment and transaction here that I’m still coming to understand or downright avoid. I’ve not gone online to thoroughly research the mysteries in the Chilean payment systems. I […]

We had heightened expectations to participate in the family 5k in Lo Barnechea this weekend. However, as we often find in Santiago, we were foiled by our mistranslation of schedules, plans, and other logistics. Road closures delayed our arrival to the parking area for the race, and since we were late, we missed the busses […]

Spring has sprung in Santiago. Though nights can still be cool, the hot sun of the southern hemisphere blasts the city during the day. The heat has warmed the pool water, and the kids have finally christened the swimming hole. The pool is open! La picina es abierto!