I believe that we were born free spirits, destined to meet each other from birth. We met in our late twenties in Salt Lake City Utah in 1991, after I had moved from Connecticut, 2,300 miles. One of the first things Chris asked me was…”would you be willing to sell everything you own and travel with me?” My answer didn’t take a second thought…”Of course” and the world opened up to us. We hit the road in 1993 and haven’t looked back since. Our need for travel and discovering new cultures, took us all over the world.
We traveled long before. Cell phones, GPS and computers. We had to get maps from AAA, travel books and a big paper map for each state and country we planned to see. When the cell phone and GPS came out, the world became so small and our lust for travel and increased our thirst for overseas travel.
Fast forward 32 years… we set ourselves up so we could retire early. We started planning a life overseas. My dream of being a writer, photographer and artist finally came to fruition.
This book is a collection of travel memoirs taking you, the reader, along with us on our travels. Submerse yourself in the descriptive words and stories. Laugh and cry with us. Feel our fear and our joy, but most of all, enjoy.
A sliver of moon hangs in the inky black sky, like a sentinel awaiting its queen.
The mirror still water shines back its likeness in a wavy white streak.
A dark orange glow appears on the horizon, outlining the dark mountains painting them with a warm grey.
As if to welcome in the rising sun, the moon sinks lower and the dawning light comes up to meet it in a fond embrace.
More colors, the likes of which leaves a mind to wonder how this can be so.
Pinks, yellows, greens, purples and blues all surround the land, making the water match the pastel and vivid pallet of the awakening sky.
A small splash and a ripple spreads out in the four directions distorting the colors into a wave of rainbow light.
The colors grow steadily more muted as the suns creeps closer to the horizon until her first tiny glimmer then a burst of warm light as she grabs the shimmery rope of light reflecting on the water and pulls herself free of her nightly bondage.
All is quiet…tranquil…I am awash in the warm glow.
I shake off the chill of night and bask in the morning light, welcoming the day.
There’s something about sitting just beyond the reach of the rain—close enough to feel its breath, far enough to stay dry. The sky opens without hesitation, releasing sheets of water so thick they blur the jungle into a faded watercolor painting, soft greens melting into gray. The mountains disappear first, then the trees, until the world beyond the porch becomes only shadow and movement.
The sound is hypnotic. Not the gentle tapping of a passing shower, but the deep, steady roar of rainy season rain. Massive drops crash against the broad ridged jungle leaves, each one answering back with its own hollow percussion. Together they create a white noise so complete it drowns out every wandering thought. The world narrows to rain, thunder, breath.
Lightning flashes suddenly, turning the jungle silver for a heartbeat before darkness folds back over everything again. Then comes the thunder—low, rolling, powerful—traveling across the hills and fading toward the unseen ocean in the distance.
Cool downdrafts push through the storm like nature’s own air conditioner, carrying mist that drifts across my skin in soft waves. Goosebumps rise on my arms as the damp air wraps around me, a welcome relief after months of relentless heat and dust. Everything smells alive again—wet earth, soaked wood, crushed leaves, the sharp green scent of the jungle waking up thirsty and grateful.
And with every steady pulse of rain, something inside me quiets.
The storm doesn’t demand attention. It lulls. It pulls me into a trance-like stillness where time slows beneath the rhythm of falling water and flashing skies. No urgency. No noise beyond nature itself. Just the methodical heartbeat of rain returning to the earth.
My artist finally stirred again—quietly at first, then with intention—and decided it was time to create.
I first made a white-water rafting piece while in Chile, and this one is its miniature companion, brought to life here at home in Costa Rica. It’s not tied to a single memory, but to something we’ve always loved—the pulse of the river, the teamwork, the thrill of moving through wild water together.
The entire scene fits in the palm of my hand—about 6 inches long and 3 inches wide, waves and base included. The raft itself is just 2 by 3 inches, and the paddlers… no bigger than your little toe. Tiny, intricate, and somehow still full of motion.
It took most of the day to complete—hours of careful focus and quiet immersion. There’s something grounding about working so small, about shaping energy and movement into something you can hold.
And so we arrive at the quiet terminus of our northward journey—not with a grand finale, but with that soft, reflective stillness that comes when something beautiful has run its course.
What began on the Futaleufú River–unfolded into 875 kilometers of winding roads and wonder along the Carretera Austral, carrying us south to Puerto Río Tranquilo and then gently back north to Puerto Varas. But distance feels like such a small measure now. What we gathered along the way cannot be mapped in kilometers.
There were days when the sun broke through, spilling gold across jagged peaks and glacial rivers so impossibly turquoise they felt imagined. And then there were the rains—the long, steady Patagonian rains that blurred the edges of the world and pulled us inward. Yet even then, especially then, the landscape held its magic. Mist clung to the mountains like breath, waterfalls awakened everywhere at once, and the road ahead felt like a secret slowly revealing itself.
We were not without our small missteps—a tire with its slow leak interrupted our plans—but even that became part of the story. It led us, unexpectedly, into the warmth and generosity of strangers, into shared laughter and gestures that needed no translation. In those moments, Chile revealed itself not just in its landscapes, but in its people.
The road demanded something of us. It was good, yes—but never easy. It asked for patience, attention, humility. And in return, it offered glimpses into a life shaped by resilience. The places we stayed—simple, weathered, full of character—felt like quiet witnesses to generations who carved out existence in this wild and beautiful edge of the world.
We stumbled through Spanish, sometimes clumsily, sometimes triumphantly, and in doing so found connection. We met people who, for a moment, became part of our story. Some will remain only as flickers in memory—a shared meal, a passing conversation, a smile exchanged on the roadside. Others… perhaps we will meet again, somewhere unexpected, as travelers do.
Because that is the quiet truth we carry with us now—the world, vast as it seems, has a way of folding in on itself. Paths cross. Stories intertwine. And somewhere down another road, in another country, a familiar face may appear again like a gift.
And so we leave this stretch of Patagonia not as we arrived, but fuller—of wonder, of gratitude, of moments that will live on in the hidden corners of our minds and as a steady glow in our hearts.
Our southward push along the Carretera Austral has finally brought us to the edge of how far we were willing to go. Not because the road ends, but because something in us said: this is enough… for now. Mile by mile, the signs had been stacking up—subtle at first, then undeniable—whispering that Puerto Río Tranquilo would be our turning point.
And then came yesterday’s drive.
Six hours that didn’t just pass—they pressed into us.
The kind of hours where you feel small in the most humbling, awe-struck way. We are nothing more than passing specks in a landscape that feels eternal—mountains rising like walls of time, valleys carved by glaciers that were here long before us, rivers born from snowmelt rushing with quiet authority toward the sea.
Everywhere you look, something is falling—water spilling from impossible heights, cascading down cliffs as if the mountains themselves are unraveling. Around each blind curve, another scene steals your breath: trees clinging to landslide scars, their fallen kin scattered below like bones in the valley.
The rivers are unreal—turquoise, pale blue, glowing as if lit from within. They surge and twist, hurling themselves over edges, dissolving into mist that catches the light and becomes fleeting rainbows. Above it all, jagged spires of granite pierce the sky—entire cities of stone reaching upward, their snow-dusted peaks vanishing into thick, wandering clouds.
And then—just when you think the palette couldn’t deepen—autumn arrives. Reds. Golds. Entire hillsides set quietly on fire against the endless green of the forest. Open fields stretch out like a breath between heartbeats… only to be interrupted by mountains that shoot straight into the blue, unapologetic and immense.
And the road?
It doesn’t guide you—it tests you.
Sometimes smooth, often not, it coils through the land like a living thing. One moment you’re gliding, the next you’re gripping the wheel through mud thick enough to swallow tires. Hairpin turns come without warning. Massive trucks and buses take up more than their share of the road, forcing you to trust instinct over sight. And somehow, others fly past at impossible speeds, spraying mud and indifference in every direction.
So yes… this is where we stop.
Not because we can’t go further—but because we’ve seen enough to understand what this place is asking of us.
And still, we’ll turn around and do it all again.
Because that’s the thing about this journey—there’s one way in and out–it gets under your skin.
Along the way, it isn’t just the land that leaves a mark. It’s the people.
Like William and Anna, from Argentina. We met them at a lodge tucked deep along a fjord lake—so remote the outside world simply… disappeared. No signal. No distractions. Just water, mountains, and whoever happened to be there with you.
Dinner wasn’t really a choice—either the formal restaurant or the quieter bar. We chose the bar. That’s where we met Sebastián, the bartender who softened the edges of the place, and where William and Anna waved us over.
What started as shared space turned into shared stories—half English, half Spanish, all laughter. The kind of conversation that feels easy and rare at the same time. And just like that, by morning, they were gone. A fleeting connection, sealed in memory.
Patagonia has a way of doing that—giving you moments you can’t keep, only carry.
And then there’s the heat beneath all this ice.
Hot springs—unexpected, almost surreal in a land that feels carved from cold. The lodge itself existed because of them. Steam rising into crisp air, water pulled from deep within the earth, warmed by the same volcanic forces that shaped this entire region.
Some springs are nothing more than a hollow in the rocks, others feel like hidden sanctuaries—caves, pools, small cascades of warmth. You sink in, and for a moment, the cold, the road, the miles… they all dissolve.
It’s nature’s quiet kindness.
And all along this journey, we keep catching glimpses of other places we’ve known. A waterfall that feels like Iceland. Peaks that echo the Dolomites. Glaciers that pull us back to Alaska. Then suddenly, a stretch of land that could be the American Southwest, or a valley straight out of the Rockies.
It’s as if Patagonia holds fragments of the world—but refuses to be compared to any of it.
Eight hundred seventy-five kilometers. Roads that challenge you. Ferries that carry you. Landscapes that stay with you long after you’ve passed through them.
And now, we pause.
We exhale.
We loosen our grip on the wheel, uncurl fingers that didn’t realize how tightly they were holding on.
I gaze into the glow of a blank screen, listening to voices dripping venom, men in masks spitting hate as unseen puppeteers tug the strings… violence dispensed like cheap candy, their mouths snapping open like machines built only to wound.
And yet beyond that darkness, the people gather. They rise in quiet reverence, a hush that holds more power than any shouted threat.
I watch the monks reach the end of their long walk, a pilgrimage carved in bare feet and prayer, a walk for peace that has brushed against thousands of hearts and left them trembling awake.
We stand with them… hands clasped, souls yearning, hoping their gentle wisdom might shift the tides, open the eyes long sealed by fear, send a wave of love sweeping across a land torn open by ignorance and stitched with lies.
Our nation’s cloth hangs shredded in the wind. And still… we hold the edges, refusing to let it all come apart.
It is time to turn the page before the snake slithers out and consumes the fragile hope we’ve just lifted from the hat.
Can hope rise above this? Can peace be nurtured in soil scorched by division? Can its roots dig deep enough to cradle the lost as they stumble after false prophets into the yawning abyss?
Can we survive this season? Rebuild what was broken? Learn again to love our neighbor without trembling in our own doorway?
Can we silence the tidal wave of lies, the loud, empty rhetoric that poisons minds and sells fear to those desperate to belong even if belonging means bowing to power, forsaking truth, forgetting the dignity of honest labor and the humility of shared struggle?
Yes. But only if we choose it. Only if we step forward now… not in rage, but in courage.
Only if we admit that change is not coming unless we become it.
It is time.
Time to rise. Time to rebuild. Time to reclaim the heart that beats beneath this fractured nation and remind it softly, fiercely what it was made for:
Love. Peace. And one another.
May all beings suffering find and end to that suffering and peace. ☮️🕊️🙏🏼 J
Listen the streets are humming with a truth too loud to bury. A rising drumbeat from the soles of the people who finally say:
No. More.
We won’t carry this poison in our lungs anymore. We won’t swallow injustice like it’s the cost of living.
We rise linked arm to arm, heart to heart a single force moving forward, a single flame refusing to go out.
A force for peace. A force for fairness. A force that whispers equality and roars it, too.
No more heavy hand of the man. No more blood running down streets where children should be playing. No more brothers of color treated as less than sacred. No more stolen bodies, stolen futures, stolen names.
No more. Say it until the sky memorizes us.
We stand unbowed, unbroken, a force to be reckoned with.
We refuse your threats. We refuse your silence. We refuse to pretend we don’t see the wound when the whole nation is bleeding.
In silence we gather but never in fear. Non-violent, but never weak. Our voice carries the weight of those who were never allowed to speak.
Your guns are your courage you cowards. Your masks are your shields thin fabric to hide the fear of a world waking up.
Because we are growing. We are rising. We are finding strength in each other in unity, in compassion, in the simple truth that love is the greatest rebellion.
Strength for the weak. A voice for the unheard. A wall against tyranny.
This country may be divided, but the people the people are finding their power.
And together, with our feet planted in the earth, with fire in our throats, we speak the words that no regime can smother:
The breeze gently caresses my face. The sound of the waves rolling softly onto the shore soothes me. A tree behind me in the jungle hums with cicadas. The tide is rising toward the full moon high, and soon we will move to higher ground. Soft music plays in the background.
My day began with deep yoga meditation and a sound bath.
I take a slow breath of clean, warm, salty air, leaving a faint taste of salt on my lips. My new friends are enjoying the surf. It feels blissful, almost trance-like.
This is my day of peace, and I offer any merit I gain simply by being kind, sharing it with all beings who are suffering.
I enter the sea, grateful for its coolness. The waves rise and crest in a foamy froth. The sun dances across the choppy water, stretching as far as I can see. I breathe and submerge beneath a crashing wave. Energy moves through my body as I rise again and breathe. Salt stings my eyes, and the current seems to flow out through my feet. The rhythm repeats, again and again.
I notice the contrast between heat and coolness and reflect on my own state of mind — peace alongside worry, tenderness beside ache. For a moment, I hold a gentle prayer for the safety of those who live for what is right, who serve not only themselves but others. My heart breathes toward their pain, their sacrifice, their suffering — with compassion and quiet hope.🕊️J
It feels as though the world’s leaders have lost their minds. As if they’ve slipped into a dangerous game of power and ego, moving pieces across a board without regard for the lives beneath their hands. And the rest of us, “we the people”, are left standing in fear and disbelief, asking the same question over and over again: What on earth is happening inside their heads?
It is not the powerful who pay the price for this madness. It is the people of every nation…the families, the neighbors, the children – who carry the weight of political insanity and unchecked greed. Not greed for what is rightfully theirs, but hunger for what belongs to everyone else. Somewhere along the way, the balance tipped. The power of the people was quietly traded for the power of the power-hungry. And now we are left wondering: when did this happen… and when will enough finally be enough?
The death toll rises across the globe. Once, as US Americans, we watched distant horrors unfold on foreign soil, believing – naively, that they could never reach us. Now that violence has been carried to our own doorsteps. We the people are no longer observers. We are witnesses. We are participants. And it is time…long past time – to pull our heads from the sand. There can be no more looking away. No more pretending this is someone else’s problem. It is time to wake up, to smell the gunpowder and tear gas, and to say with one voice: enough is enough!
The message we’re fed is muddled and poisonous…voices everywhere, shouting over one another, spewing hate, distraction, and recycled lies. A fog of smoke and mirrors meant to confuse, divide, and exhaust us. And still, astonishingly, so many cling to it. But others are stirring. Others are seeing clearly. Others are standing up and whispering, then speaking, then shouting: this is not okay.
I hear the sorrow in the voices of friends and family left behind to gather the pieces of shattered lives day after day. I see their courage as they stand for what they believe in, even when the deck is cruelly stacked against them. I feel it when my own family must walk into a grocery store accompanying a neighbor, afraid to go alone. That fear brings me to tears. This was once a peaceful place to call home.
When did it become acceptable to plant terror in the soil of a society? When did killing in cold blood become normalized? When did mass violence stop shocking us?
We now watch armed, masked men fire into crowds. We see chemical agents – once banned by the world, now used on citizens. And then we hear the lies, smooth and shameless, poured from the mouths of leaders as the moral fabric of the United States frays before our eyes. It is shameful.
Some days my faith wavers. My resolve feels thin. The obstacles loom so large they seem impossible to climb. And yet…somewhere deep inside – my heart steadies itself and keeps beating. Because even surrounded by madness, truth still exists. Because even drowned out by noise, compassion still speaks. The lies and the truth are both on full display now, painted in living color. And we are being asked, urgently, to choose.
Our lives are already being disrupted. Maybe not by bombs falling from the sky, not yet…but by fear, division, and the slow erosion of safety and trust. The tipping point is no longer ahead of us. It is here. We can choose to stand, peacefully, courageously, together – or we can hide and hope the storm passes us by. History has shown us where silence leads.
This moment is calling us back to ourselves. Back to humanity. Back to the understanding that power has always belonged to the people when they remember who they are. Not through violence, but through unity. Not through hate, but through truth. Not through fear, but through love that refuses to be extinguished.
So I ask again…not in despair, but in determination: When is enough, enough?
I believe the answer is rising, quietly but unmistakably, from the hearts of people everywhere.
Two Travelin' Chicas... 