And we're off

      I spent my prime summer days, weeks and months gearing up for this trip. I was either studying bus routes from farm to farm, weighing the pros and cons of spending five versus six weeks in Chile or doing some other task in preparation of the September 8th departure date. But now (September 11th) this flight is so much different than how I had dreamed of it. Instead of leaving from Washington D.C. right beside Reed, I departed from Syracuse, New York as an independent passenger. After an emotional weekend celebrating the amazing and loving life of Bob Flickinger, my uncle, I begin this trip with a heavy heart but a greater appreciation of my family and life.

The WWOOF USA logo

     For most of you, a word in the first paragraph probably looked like a highly improbably, but rather funny, typo: WWOOF. It is pronounced just like the word we use to teach babies the sound of a doggie, with no extension of the double “W” or need to shout because of the capital letters. WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) is a great program that arranges people who are interested in sustainable agriculture with organic farms. Although the umbrella WWOOF organization does little more than publish a catalog of farmers who are interested in hosting WWOOFers and charging a $40 fee to access the catalog, it does establish the agreement between farms and WWOOFers where WWOOFers can work and learn on an organic farm in exchange for room and board. Essentially a free, mutually beneficial relationship.
After the whirlwind that is the senior year college process, Reed and I were coincidentally in identical situations going forward: so excited to be going great colleges (Matt at Middlebury College and Reed at Colorado College), but even more excited to be starting our colleges in the winter. We spent the next few weeks in Natalia’s ceramics class thinking abut all of the incredible possibilities for our fall. We could hike the Appalachian trial, travel around Europe, photograph Nessie and Bigfoot, discover the meaning of life and then be featured on Good Morning America to talk about our discovery. We could do anything. And then we got to planning…
After weeks planning, our three month long trip has evolved to its final form. We will spend just short of seven weeks WWOOFing in the United States, return home for a week before heading off to Chile to take four weeks of Spanish classes and go on a week long hiking expedition in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile.
On the domestic front, we will spend about two weeks each at farms in the northwest United States: one in Lynden, WA, just south of the Canadian border; one in southwest Oregon, just a stone’s throw from the Pacific; one just north of Bend, in central Oregon; and our last farm is in Northern California. Each farm is completely different from the one before it. One of our hosts keeps a Gerson diet, vegetarian without any salt or oil. Another one grows exotic fruits and claims to “coexist” with hundreds of domesticated animals ranging from chickens and cows to llamas and emus. And another farm grows over 200 different types of vegetables. I’m pumped.

Chilean Flag

In Chile, we will take Spanish classes for two weeks in both Vina del Mar, a fairly wealthy town just north of the culturally rich Valparaiso and Santiago, the capital of Chile. Hopefully with a bettsp of the Spanish language, we will travel to Torres del Paine in Patager graonia, the southern tip of South America and the “end of the world.” We will spend seven days traveling throughout the park, seeing mountains and glaciers. I’m pumped.


Thanks reading and I hope that you will continue to follow this blog as our journey unfolds. I’m so pumped.