It all started with some butterflies

Background: Two friends and newly qualified clinical psychologists decide to take some time off between doctorland and work to pause, look back, and figure out what comes next! The "funemployment" period was split between two parts; the first part was spent travelling in beautiful Asia. This blog documents part two of their adventures taking place in South America from January to April. Their journey begins in Brazil, takes them through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and ends in Colombia- just in time for the girls to return to London for their graduation!
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Leaving London was so nerve wrecking this time round, very different than when I was leaving for Asia. The 2 days of anticipatory butterflies were not pleasant. The more nervous I felt the more I realised how out of my element I feared I would be. At the same time, this prospect made me feel stupidly excited. Followed by feeling overwhelmed and nauseous. Butterflies and nausea may be what I needed though to shake me up and appreciate what was coming. In its own way, my body was forcing me to realise what an adventure this was going to be. Feeling alive, its a good thing. 

After saying hi and bye to people in London, the big day arrived. I met Hannah at the airport and could immediately sense she was feeling as nervous as I was. We were unprepared but unprepared together so somehow that felt better. After a 12 hour flight from Heathrow to Rio de Janeiro, intercepted with impromptu dancing and stretching at the back of the plane, our South America journey had begun!

We took a taxi from the airport to our hostel, the Contemporaneo hostel in the Botafogo area. There was a party going on when we arrived. We checked in and got our pack of towels and sheets. The hostel was quite modern and clean. We were only staying in a 4-person room but still felt overwhelmed. The room was quite tiny to be fair and on our first night we had a loud snorer and Hannah was welcomed by men shagging in the showers. 

The next morning the snoring man was gone and we were told by Diego, our awesome other roommate, that we had been using the men's bathrooms. Also turned out Diego was the manager of the hostel bar so our room got the a/c on throughout the day (luxury compared to the alternative of off at 9am!) Things started looking up after the first night.