South America: The Great Adventure

I thought the following departure email sent before leaving for a year in South America was worth reproducing here in the blog as a first entry.

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Well, the game is afoot.

Friends and family,

Well, the game is afoot. For those of you I haven't touched base with in some time, the following is the latest and greatest:

I resigned from and finished up my tenure at Houlihan Lokey this past October. After 7+ years in the wonderful world of investment banking, I decided that I'd had my fill and was ready for the next chapter of life.  By way of recap, I hopped in a car in June of '99 on a cross-country drive for a 2-month summer stay in Los Angeles and ended up not leaving (no surprise, seems to happen to a lot of folks). I started at Houlihan Lokey in April 2000 and it was a wild ride right up until the end; to all my former co-workers still grinding it out in the trenches, my hat's off to you and thanks for everything.

First on the agenda after resigning was, well, nothing.  I enjoyed a couple months of r&r and general decompression in SoCal (sleepin' in, eating breakfast at 10am or later, heading to the gym around noon before an afternoon at the beach, going surfing at 10am on a random Tuesday, taking a 2-hour bike ride at 3pm on a random Thursday). Basically I indulged in the good life for a spell.

And so now....since I'm footloose and fancy free and completely sans responsibility, a great adventure beckons to the South.  I packed up virtually all my belongings into a storage POD, moved out of my apartment and sold my car in the second week of December and boarded a one-way flight out of Los Angeles to Chicago. After Christmas with the family, it's time to hit the road.

Tomorrow (Jan 12), I board a flight thru Mexico City bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina. I expect to spend most of 2008 traversing South and Central America, with the goal being all 21 countries in the next 12 months or so.

By virtue of receiving this email, you have a invitation to meet up with me anywhere along my travels for however long you wish. As the trip will be rather organic, the following (beyond late Feb) is very fluid but should touch on the highlights:

Jan 13 - Mar del Plata, Argentina

Jan 19 - Puerto Madryn, Argentina (Peninsula Valdes)

Jan 28 - Ushuaia, Argentina (Tierra del Fuego National Park)

Feb 3 - Antarctica, the Falklands and South Georgia (via the ship Professor Multanovskiy)

March - Chile & Easter Island, Central Argentina (the Andes), Buenos Aires

April - Brazil (Iguazu Falls, the Pantanal), Uruguay, Paraguay

May - Bolivia, Peru (Machu Picchu)

June - Peru, Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands

July - Colombia (Cartagena, Tayronas National Park, La Ciudad Perdida, avoiding the FARC)

August - Venezuela

September - Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana

October - Brazil (Sail the Amazon from Manaus to Belem, Rio de Janeiro)

November - Central America, Southern Mexico

Mid-December - Fly back to Chicago

The above may be more than I can bite off and chew, but that's my optimistic plan for now.  We'll see how I fare after a couple 20- or 30- hour bumpy bus rides through the Andes (maybe I'll be home in 3 months after I come to my senses).

However, if I find my rhythm, this may simply be stage 1.  Even more optimistic, I'd like to do a true around-the-world trip during 2009.......and will tentatively plan on hitting the following: French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, SouthEast Asia, China, India, Nepal, Europe, Morocco, Southern Africa. But we'll see how I feel after South America, maybe I'll be aching for civilization and sushi.

You can follow my travels and keep in contact via the below:

email: (redacted)

Skype: timothyshoup

Blog: http://realtravel.com/member-m6325620-timothyshoup.html

flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos /timothyshoup

mobile: +1 310 430 3832

All the best and keep in touch,

Tim

P.S. If you know anyone who will be in my part of the world, pass along their info....I'm always happy to meet new faces.