I stranded in what felt like the end of the world and was surprisingly close to the edge of our world map. Now please do note that this is not a depressive story as it starts in a place called Puerto Natales in Chile – Patagonia. My travels had only been going for about one month by now and I was ready to embark on a ship. That ship however got delayed because the weather was so bad. The delay took two weeks! That’s a long time, even for a backpacker. I went to a hostel and shared the room with 3 other travelers. They told me they were leaving town because they had just completed the W trek. But what is that? I’d never heard of it! Then I remembered that one of my Australian travel buddies was coming to this town as well for some hike. It must be the same! I called him up and he and an English girl were planning to go do the same W trek the guys from the room spoke about. You know what, plans can change. I’ll take a flight out instead of that ship but before I do that I’m going to join my friends on the W trek! Well, as you might expect this was a great decision. We started off trying to set up our tent in the town park to be sure we’d know how to do it in the middle of the wild nature park of Torres del Paine. Soon after we took a boat to the middle of the park and started walking. I carried a backpack with food supplies, my Australian friend carried the tent and our new friend from England carried the cooking gear. We were off to an adventure for 4 to 5 days and didn’t know what to expect.
I had emerged into this trip without any preparation. Even as this seems so stupid, I had my friends who were more prepared than I was in advance and our heads together worked it all out. We walked, hiked, made base camp, saw glaciers, cooked noodles in the wild, saw the sunrise from our sleeping bags, went from snow to sun to rain and wind within half an hour and created a very good friendship. Torres del Paine was all I never and ever expected.
- Renate Rigters
- : In 2007 I made my first trip all by myself and I have been traveling a lot and living abroad ever since. I write, photograph and create videos about adventure, culture and I mention some mindset during my travels. So far I’ve visited 40+ countries and lived in 4 of them, but Greece is now home. I meet people around the globe who inspire me and I see beautiful nature that amazes me by its purity. Being outdoors and getting to know the local people and their life stories is something truly amazing.
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- : With this travel blog I want to inspire you to follow your dreams and take adventures exploring the world. Nothing is more amazing than being able to arrive at untouched beaches and meeting local inhabitants who help me discover the soul of a destination. I want to share my adventure travel stories and captivating movies & photography for the independent adventure and outdoor traveler who is curious about local cultures and likes to actively explore.
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- : This is the first time this story has been published.