Here we go again!

Oh yes, it's travel-time again! The last time I went away for a long time was in 2010 when I went to New York with my parents. I will not be away for that long this time, but I will spend the next few months in Latin-America. As in New York, I will write a blog, this time in English. I'm a bit rusty after almost two years without any conversation in English, but I'll manage, I hope.

The title of this blog is "Letters from Latin-America". A bit cheesy, I know, but I didn't want to name it "Heltnes travel blog" or something like that. That's so ordinary. And for those of you who've noticed, yes,  this is the same blog as in NY. I thought it would be nice with the same address, so I've just changed the layout and header a  bit. I've also added a fancy like-button. Feel free to browse through the old posts.

Anyways,

As most of you know, I decided to take a gap year after I graduated high school in June. These last few months I've spent working at the local supermarket saving money for this trip. Unfortunately, I got sick in September and remained ill untill December, so I haven't been able to work as much as I had planned. Despite this I've been at work for over 600hrs, so I've managed to save up a decent amount. The only thing that sucks is that I had to spend so much of it on gear, insurance, vaccines and stuff.

Many people have asked "why Latin-America?". The only thing I knew when graduating was that I wanted to do something different before college. I wanted to travel, see the world, experience something new, and all that stuff. I spent countless hours browsing the web and considering my options, and in the end, I chose Central-America. Its exotic, got loads of things to do and see, and its not your typical charter-destination. For a history geek like myself, its kinda like heaven with ruins and ancient civilizations everywhere. In addition, it's pretty much as far away from Norway as its possible to get, and that isn't such a bad thing either. Not to mention the awesome tan I'll be getting.

As for my plans; I haven't booked any tickets except for Oslo-Guatemala. The only thing I do know for certain is that I will spend the first 6-8 weeks learning Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala. I will also be doing some volunteer work.  After that I don't know precisely where I'm going, but as of now, my plan is to spend a couple of weeks in Mexico before travelling south through Central-America and ending up in Colombia.   I first planned on doing South-America as well, but I realized that I don't have enough time and money to see it all, so that will have to wait for another trip. My ETA in Norway is sometime in May, but I haven't booked any return tickets yet.

Regarding my blog, I will try to update it at least once a week. I will probably have rather good internet access when in Antigua, after that it might not be so regulary. It there is more than a week without any lifesigns, either here or on facebook, there's three possibilities;

1: I'm in the middle of nowhere with no wifi (quite possible)
2: I do have an internet connection, but I'm too busy having fun (this might happen, but its not very likely.)
3: I got kidnapped by geriljas or drug lords. (probably not, but in the unlikely event, please pay any ransom notes. I'll pay you back (i hope))


All jokes aside; I know that I'm going to a rather turbulent region, and I will be careful. No showing off my tablet or anything, no getting wasted with sketchy locals, and no chasing after girls into dark alleys. As for my health, I've taken all the necessary vaccines,, and I've got plenty of malaria pills. I think I will be allright, as long as I'm careful and use common sense.

Departure is at 13:00 on saturday, but I will try to write another post before that. If not, wish me luck!

Planning, planning, plannig