Patagonia Changed My Life – A Travel Film

I've felt Patagonia calling me for a while now drawing me all the way south to its wild rugged environment from thousands of miles away as close to the bottom of the world as I've ever been and after months of bustling City Life of all consuming anxiety and overwhelm of feeling myself drifting further and further away from my true self this call to Nature became all consuming an instinctual Drive I could no longer fight so I surrendered to the call I surrendered to the Joy the peace and the inevitable challenges that will undoubtedly accompany this once

in A- lifetime Adventure let the journey to Patagonia [Music] begin the adventure begins here in El calap a small picturesque town in the Santa Cruz province of Argentine Patagonia on the shores of Lago Argentino I'm here with my mom who will be joining me on this week-long adventure that has been on both of our bucket lists for years we flew into El calafata yesterday from buenos Iris the day before the rest of our hiking group was scheduled to join us but things are already starting to deviate from the plan of all days for there to

be a nationwide airport strike in Argentina it would be the first day of our group trip wouldn't it there have been rumors that this was going to happen for the last couple days we're all kind of hoping that the strike would just magically not happen but last night at 9:00 p.m. shark everyone who's still in Buenos ciris their flight got cancelled there pretty much no flights flying in or out of Buenos Iris and I think all over Argentina I'm not 100% sure but we are now having to push our trip by a day everyone rebooked

their flights last night late so fingers crossed that everything goes to plan and they're able to get here to El califate in time but yeah just never a dull moment is there so we're making the most of our extra day here in El califate spending a few hours working at a cafe walking around Lago Argentino blissfully unaware that this was just the first of many unplanned challenges to come our way on this [Music] trip luckily everyone's flights were rescheduled for early this morning and arrived just in time for all of us to make the 3-hour

bus ride to El shaen a village that our guide Pilar says will make el califate feel like a big city and as if on Q we exit the town limits say goodbye to the glacial Blue Water of Lago Argentino and suddenly there is nothing but vast dry land cracked in two by the sparsely trafficked two-lane road heading Northwest I stare out the bus window at the Arid mountains in the distance The Towering Boulders on either side of the road the sudden disappearance of any form of civilization and I feel an unmistakable sense of Peace wash

over me bringing tears to my eyes as I realize that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be [Music] about halfway through the drive we turn left off of Route 40 toward the final stretch of the drive toward lsha 10 but nothing could have prepared me for what we were about to witness wow oh my gosh we have the most perfect conditions to see Fitz Roy driving in literally staring at this iconic Mountain I am on top of the world we all are this is so incredible [Music] we finally arrive in elsha 10 a tiny

Mountain Village in Los Gladis National Park and by the time we arrive at our hotel around 400 p.m. we're absolutely buzzing with anticipation to get out on the trails and within minutes we're making our way through elsha 10 toward our first ever hike in Patagonia [Music] it's been a long travel day for many of us so today's hike is very relaxed and chill as we take in the scenery for the first time share mate at the beautiful viewpoints and get excited for tomorrow's 16m [Music] Journey dinner tonight is at laia one of elsha 10's most

beloved establishments and the moment you walk inside you instantly feel at home with its cozy Charming atmosphere and food that reminds me of my grandma's cooking exactly what we need to prepare our bodies for tomorrow's Journey you any questions no are we ready [Applause] all right today is the day literally the day we've all been waiting for we're starting to trip out on a bank doing the hardest hike first well I guess second count yesterday we are hiking to mount Fitzroy which is really one of the reasons why people come here to elsha 10 we

are all feeling the nerves the excitement the cold the wind yesterday we definitely got the best weather possible here in Patagonia today's a little more like Patagonia we' got some overcast clouds a little bit of rain it's cold it's windy but we're really getting the true Patagonia experience today how you feeling I'm ready I'm a little nervous but it's okay mostly I'm annoyed because my water thing is leaking the goal of today's 16m Trek is to make it to the base of Mount Fitzroy a pyramid-shaped granite monolith towering more than 11,000 ft above sea level

unfortunately there is a pretty good chance of rain this afternoon and the clouds are already starting to roll in but according to parar Patagonia weather can change on a dime so we're taking our chances conditions are crazy right now it's starting to get really windy and rainy but there's this beautiful rainbow that's super low it's encouraging us it is cuz it's starting to get interesting for sure the radar didn't predict rain until several hours from now but like I said before Patagonia weather has a mind of its own so we put our hoods up and

continue the track which has been so incredibly beautiful so far first we stopped at one of the most stunning viewpoints I've ever seen oh my gosh an impossibly glue Glacier called pedras blanas and after walking through lush green forests and filling our water bottles up in a nearby stream we're finally ready to start the final Ascent to Laguna De we're a good amount of the way in which means the real challenge is about to begin because right before you get to the lagona we have a very vertical climb for I think about 3 km as

you can hear the climb has already begun so wish us luck 15 minutes out it's raiding sideways Spirits are high before the final Ascent to the top we quickly put on our fleeces underneath our windbreakers to prepare for even colder temperatures at the lake which considering how cold it is right now we're going to need it yes we did it obviously Fitzroy is completely covered in rain clouds at this point but considering that all of our hands and feet are completely numb with cold we don't really care we're just happy that we made it at

all we spend maybe five minutes at the lake before it's too cold to stand still any longer and we start making our way back down the mountain and despite the positivity and Good Vibes throughout the climb we all hit our low point at different times mine happened during the descent from the lake to the campsite so I couldn't bring myself to film any of it I was too busy trying not to fall or cry or both but suddenly after 2 more hours of hiking through the worst weather conditions I've ever experienced on a trail the

Sun finally decides to make an appearance just as we're making our way through this beautiful vast Valley and let me tell you after hours of hiking in soaking wet clothes socks and boots it makes you appreciate moments like these a thousand times [Music] more but despite the miserable weather conditions and not being being able to see Fitzroy up close this is still one of my favorite hikes I've ever done from start to finish we were surrounded by some of patagonia's most beautiful and varied Landscapes and while the final Ascent through the icy cold rain and

wind was terrible and painful in the moment there is zero chance that any of us will ever forget this day and for me that's a true [Music] adventure with the radar predicting gorgeous weather for the remainder of our time in El shell 10 I naively thought that yesterday's hike would be the biggest challenge of this trip but boy was I [Music] wrong the next day started out absolutely beautiful with Clear Blue Skies as we climbed up Rock faces zip lined over canyons and relaxed at a traditional Patagonian ranch with perfect views of Mount [Music] Fitzroy

but that afternoon as my mom and I were strolling through elsha 10 looking for a cafe I started feeling this deep ache on the side of my right foot I think nothing of it at first but as the day goes on the pain gets worse and worse to the point where I'm limping anytime I have to put weight on it I never Twisted it or fell on it or anything like that so I went to bed thinking that I could just sleep it off but this morning the pain is still here and we're about to

leave on a 14 mile hike of course the thought of not going doesn't even enter my brain so I wrap up my foot pop some Advil and pack my hiking poles for extra support and for the first hour of our trk I'm not worried at all fully convinced that the pain will simply disappear once my muscles warm back up so I focus on the beautiful panoramic views keep ause positive attitude and start listening to music when the uphill climb steepens but now we're 2 hours in and I'm starting to accept the fact that the pain

isn't going away at all it's actually getting worse well it's either I keep trying to push through the pain even though it's getting worse and worse or we keep going and then I can't continue and then the entire group has to turn around so uh it's been the best interest of everyone if I just go back it just sucks because I feel like I could run up this mountain like I am physically like so ready to go but my foot is just not in the best shape for whatever reason it came out of nowhere yesterday

after the VF fora so I don't really know what's up with that um really sucks cuz I just want to be with everyone and this is like our last like big hike so just disappointing and frustrating but I can't really do anything about [Music] it [Music] it's one thing to turn around and go back by choice but being forced to quit when all you want to do is continue is quite another it's frustrating it's maddening but above all it's incredibly humbling but if I've learned anything from Patagonia these last few days from the volatile weather

to the rugged terrain to unexpected injury it's that control is an illusion especially out here in a place where you are truly at the whim of Mother Nature in her rawest and purest form so there's no point in fighting it there's no point in getting pissed off about the weather or an injury or the fact that your trip isn't going to plan because the truth is you never had any say in the matter not here not in Patagonia so the best thing you can do is to Simply surrender and that has been the biggest lesson

I've learned through all of this is to stop fighting the inevitable and just surrender to Nature because it's a hell of a lot more powerful than any one of [Music] us I can't say I expected things to turn out this way for the entire group to leave on our final hike in elsha 10 without me but I do have several weeks left in Patagonia and the best thing I can do is to figure out what the hell is going on with my foot so I head to the tiny local hospital in town and explain the

situation to the doctor who has clearly seen this type of injury before looks like a I don't know the name English planter fasciitis maybe I had that as a kid okay now you have to put eyes yeah stand up on the ice P okay and a bit of rest and something for swollen yeah luckily it's not broken or sprained or anything like that but I've had planner fasciitis before and it is something you need to take seriously in order for the pain to go away it can take anywhere from a week to several months to

heal depending on the sever and how well you treat it and with all the big hikes I have planned in the near future I'm going to do everything I can to recover as quickly as possible as we make the 3-hour drive back to El califate this afternoon I was expecting to feel a sense of disappointment or frustration with all the setbacks I dealt with on this adventure but I actually feel none of that instead I simply feel grateful grateful that I was able to be here in the first place that I handle these challenges with

Grace and that I still have several weeks ahead of me to explore Patagonia even further it's truly a privileged to be here at all with or without an injury however I do feel something else on top of all this gratitude and acceptance and that feeling is determination It's the final day of the group trip and I am attempting to go on our final track of the trip which is actually an ice treack it's a little more chill than previous days so hopefully I can handle it I've been icing my foot like crazy and our guide

par who is literally amazing lend me a pair of her hiking shoes cuz we're about the same size because I think the reason I'm having issues with my foot is partly due to the new hiking shoes I've been wearing so yeah I'm wearing some new ones today I feel really good if hurting but not a crazy amount yeah wish you Lu the perito Moreno Glacier is one of 48 glaciers in the southern Patagonian ice field also known as the third largest freshwater Reserve in the world it's not the biggest glacier in this ice field but

it's by far the most popular because of its easy accessibility just a 48m drive from El califate and a quick walk down a short set of ramps and you're staring directly at one of the most breathtaking natural wonders on Earth the contrast of the blinding White and the vibrant icy Blues is incredibly beautiful and every few minutes chunks of ice crash into the glacial Blue Water it's truly a sight to [Music] behold finally it's time to begin the adventure that we've all been waiting for we board a catamaran that takes us even closer to the

glacier and this is when we truly realize how massive it is the Pitto Moreno Glacier is 97 square miles and to put that into perspective it could easily fit the entire city of buen Osiris inside of it with plenty of room to spare the closer we get the smaller we feel and I'm starting to grasp the sheer size of this Glacier even though we're just seeing a tiny part of it after about 20 minutes we get off the catamaran and begin our 40-minute walk along the coast moving closer and closer to this towering mass of

ice I stare at the tiny black dots moving along the glacier in front of me and realize that that's about to be us we reach a small camp where we are fitted with crampons and helmets before taking our first steps on one of the biggest glaciers in the world our first step on the glacier oh wow there's holes everywhere we've barely even done anything and I'm I can't stop freaking out this so crazy once in a [Music] lifetime otherworldly that is the only word that begins to encapsulate what this experience is like we are surrounded

on all sides by towering glacial Hills deep blue crevasses and small lagoons it's like walking through a frozen [Music] ocean before we head back down the glacier our guides surprise us by chopping up a block of the glacial ice and pouring some Scotch whiskey on top for us to enjoy Che we left Pitto Moreno Glacier on a high Not only was I able to complete the hike despite my foot injury but we all agreed that this was by far one of the coolest things we had ever done I highly recommend putting this experience on your

Patagonia Bucket [Music] List as our Patagonia group trip comes to an end Snippets from The Last Week begin flashing through my mind the Epic drive into the mountains of el shaten sharing mate on our first hike together as a group frozen fingers and soaking wet boots at Laguna Dees being absolutely humbled by the Patagonia terrain and sharing all of it with my amazing mom and a badass group of women who decided to Adventure through Patagonia with a group of strangers this trip will live forever in my memory and the slice of paradise will live forever

in my heart thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next [Music] video