Preamble + Patagonia - 4 Ideas How to Travel Safely in a Covid-19 World
/by ERIK ORTON
I always think it’s going to be that way, until it changes.
We drove through the Columbia River Gorge wowed by its lush beauty. Two weeks later it went up in smoke.
We visited Notre Dame and listened to the rehearsal of a Bach cantata. 4.5 months later, the roof crashed to the floor.
Our daughter was going to leave her apartment, until she couldn’t. Alison is in Japan and, for the past two weeks, has been instructed to stay inside. She is going on week 3 of quarantine.
We’re all scared of car wrecks, cancer, freak aneurisms, getting fired. But I don’t often think about a pandemic. I take for granted I can attend a class, visit another country, go to church. Nope, nope and nope.
I went downtown today for a class at Google. The receptionist informed me it was cancelled. All classes were cancelled until further notice. We Ortons are supposed to go to New Zealand in May to house sit. Or not. That’s in limbo. I was planning on going to church this Sunday. Maybe not. So many things I took for granted.
And that, my friend, is my preamble to this post. There are so many things I want to do in life. I’m constantly reminded—by events like Covid-19—why it is crucial not to wait. I never know when the Columbia River Gorge will burn, when the roof of Notre Dame will collapse, when Covid-19 will put me in lock-down. Whatever matters to us, let’s stop waiting.
And now the post:
One year ago we packed into the Upper West Side Patagonia store for the book launch of Seven at Sea. We were grateful for the friends, family, colleagues and curious Patagonia customers that joined us in this celebration. Emily and I shared stories from our book, sang a few songs and did a quick Q&A. One of the last questions was, “What do you want to do next?” My response: “I want to go to Patagonia.” I swore it wasn’t product placement. That was a year ago.
In high school, I had a picture of Torres del Paine National Park taped inside my locker. At the time I didn’t know where it was located in the world, but I knew it was exceedingly beautiful and I wanted to go there someday.
Los Cuernos in Torres del Paine National Park. Photo by Erik Orton
I lived in Chile for two years doing missionary service in the country. I learned the language and loved the people but never left the city of Santiago. I left and never went back. That was 25 years go.
I dreamt of going back. I dreamt of brushing up my Spanish and visiting old friends. I dreamt about going south and climbing something big. But I wasn’t ready. I was out of shape and I didn’t have the skills, or the time, or the money.
This is a broken record for me. I’ve played this sad song for a long time. It’s the same reason I never went to Yosemite, Finland or Europe after growing up there. They felt too big to pull-off. And if I did manage to pull them off, I secretly worried there would be disappointment. Either the place and the people wouldn’t live up to what I’d remembered; or worse, I wouldn’t feel ready to enjoy all their goodness. Either way, I would feel let down.
At a time of travel-phobia, here’s what I’ve learned about “once in a life time trips”:
Get over it. I’ve held off on taking many a “once in a life time” trip because they’re intimidating. I’ve put a massive burden of expectation on that one experience. I want it to be perfect, so I wait for the stars to align. But they never do. Time, money, traveling companions. They never line up. I’ve learned to not let those misaligned stars hold me back. I tried for most of a year to find a climbing partner for Patagonia. When nothing came together, Emily said, “Just go. You can scout things out. You’ll learn a lot and it will make it easier when we go next time.” I like the way she thinks.
Assume you’ll be back. We’ve been to a handful of places we thought would be once-in-a-lifetime trips. Assuming you’ll be back improves a lot of things. If you thought you’d only go to the grocery store once, you’d be a wreck. One reason you can handle it is because you know you’ll be back. You don’t have to experience everything in one run. You can sample those glazed cake donuts next time. Trust the universe. If you’re going to Fiji, don’t scramble around feeling like you have to see and do everything in one trip. You end up doing everything and nothing at the same time. If it’s as amazing as you hope it will be, you’ll figure out a way to return. And it will be that much easier since you’ll know the ropes. Enjoy your time and—if you love it—plan on coming back. You’ll figure it out.
Experiment with flexibility. Some people prefer to have their whole itinerary planned and confirmed before leaving their driveway. I, on the other hand, am a flexibility addict. Although more demanding, I’ve found that “figure it out as you go” travel has some real upsides. When SJ and I left on our Patagonia trip, we had a place booked for our first night only. The rest we figured out as we went. We stayed at 3 Airbnbs, 2 hostels, and 1 campground (4 nights) and crashed with friends in Santiago. Our only booked transportation were our flights. All in, we took a local Chilean flight, 2 long distance buses, a couple of taxis and rented one car. It is a lot more work to stay flexible, but it’s also the best way allow pleasant surprises happen on your trip, and can save you some headaches. I fell asleep in our lovely Airbnb in Puerto Natales. However a dog started barking around midnight and didn’t stop until sunrise. I was grateful I’d only booked one night there. On the flip side, we decided last minute to rent a car instead of take a bus into the park. If we’d stuck to our original plan, we would have missed out on all the other parts of the park that were difficult to reach by bus. Try buying a one-way flight and booking only your first night. You might be surprised where it leads.
Scout it out. Emily and I are big fans of scouting things out. For us, scouting it out means going somewhere new, gathering information, getting exhausted from all the newness, and going home to rest and absorb. We’ve found this helps us do bigger, more challenging things, because we don’t let ourselves get worn out or overwhelmed. Sometimes we leave the kids (teenagers) in the car and scout out a new grocery store. Other times, it’s a new country. Alison and I did this with Yosemite several years ago. That trip paved the way for two long-term stays in Yosemite with the whole family. Our hope is to go back to Patagonia with as many kids as we can next year. It was scary before and it’s still daunting, but it feels more doable. And that’s the point.
The hope is for me to climb Central Tower of Torres del Paine. Emily and the kids will hang out in the valley and explore the rest of the park. I’m really grateful to a wife who encourages me to go, even when I don’t have a climbing partner. I’m grateful to kids (Alison and SJ, I’m looking at you) who are willing to be my traveling buddies when they know traveling with Dad can mean a lot of walking, carrying heavy gear and extreme cold or hot. I’m grateful for the friends we meet around the world and how we all manage to stay in touch despite time, distance and limited financial resources.
I’m already so grateful for my trip to Patagonia and Santiago. Mark Twain was right, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”
Torres del Paine when we arrived at sunrise. Photo by Erik Orton
To celebrate the 1-year birthday of our book, Seven at Sea, we are offering a $7 discount for autographed copies, available only in our Fezywig Shop. (Use code: 7OFF.) All items are 25% off thru Mar. 17 (use code: BIRTHDAY) including our brand new “What Could Go Right?” cozy mug.
If you’re hunkering down for a quarantine (like Alison in Japan) it’s the perfect time to read a travel book.
$7 off autographed hardcover book - Code: 7OFF
25% all orders - Code BIRTHDAY
