At about 1:00 in the afternoon, the power went out in the Panama City International Airport. There wasn’t much of a reaction from the staff in the Copa Club lounge though so Megan and I continued as usual. I had been about to take a nap with Megan on bag watch after our layover showers, business class travel is rough. We we’re half way to our destination, Santiago, Chile, and a trip we had been talking about for well over a year. An hour or so later, with power restored, headed to the gate for the next half of the flight South.
Our plan was to fly into Santiago and head to the coast for 4-5 days, staying in Valpariso where Megan studied aborad 10 years before, and then Pichilemu, a surf town we had been scouting online. After this we would fly to Puerto Montt and Northern Patagoina in order to visit the new Chilean park, Pumalin Park, and spend time in nearby Puerto Varas. Then make the final leg to Southern Patagoina and visit Torres del Paine, and the adventure hub of Puerto Natales. We decided on this two and a half week iteniary after years of wanting to move abroad to live for a year. Originally we thought to simply quit our jobs and move, first to Pichilemu, then it was Puerto Varas since streetview in Pichelemu looked a bit rough. In retrospec, this may have been, if not a mistake, a bit more than we bargined for. While it would be nice to have a much extended break from our busy lives, we both ended up having a fantastic time despite the abreviated scope of the trip, and are already looking forward to our next trip aborad.