Next stage of the journey

(This was originally written in June 2012)

In just over a week I embark on the recon trip for the next phase of my life’s journey. I am heading for Peru to see if I can live there for the other 6 months every year – it is complicated but I do not meet the strict (financial!) requirements for permanent residence in Brazil, despite having lived here for almost 3 years with no outside support (not allowed to work for financial gain on a volunteer visa, which is coming to an end), and owning my own house here! So I can stay here as a tourist for 6 months, and rather than return to the UK (too cold, and cannot afford it!), am hoping that I can find somewhere suitable in Peru.

I am visiting two places primarily, Pisco just South of Lima (the Capital) and Huanchaco way up in the North. I am visiting two charities while there to see if I can be of use to them for the duration of my time in Peru, but failing that will also be looking to see whether my limited budget would stretch to simply living there. I am trying hard not to make my mind up before going, but must admit that the Northern option already holds sway as it looks a nicer place, and there are more volunteering options there, but I am going to Pisco first next week, so my opinion of that will not be clouded if Huanchaco is as amazing as it sounds!

My Spanish is poor, to say the least, though I understand it pretty well, having spoken Portuguese (which has a lot of similarities) since I was 7, but feel (hope!) I know enough to manage, and am sure I will pick up a lot more while there. I just hope I don’t have to try and write anything – upside down exclamation marks, and weird letter combination pronunciations! (Won’t get started on the “v” pronounced as a “b” problem either!)

I am also going to experience the joys (?) of long distance bus travel – 8-9 hours from Lima to Huanchaco, though the buses are air-conditioned, and some have fully reclining “bed-seats”. Not really looking forwards to that, but guess I will see a lot more of the country-side (plan on travelling by day so I can sleep at night in a “proper” bed!), and it is an experience I feel I should not miss.

I will return to this post after (if not during) my trip with how I got on, and whether my search for a second “part-time” home is really over.

Update: The trip was an amazing success, and Huanchaco will be my Peruvian home for the foreseeable future!

Huanchaco, Peru