The word has turned loco - but I'm home!

Over two months have passed, which was supposed to be two weeks. It has been chaotic, it has been fun, overwhelming, crazy, very frustrating but mostly amazing. An alternative reality.

The long and wonderful journey home started like this...

Puerto Williams is such a small and picturesque town. The trees covering the mountains have turned red during my journey and the layers of snow on the mountain tops are growing for each day. The wild horses, cows and the stray dogs of the island are shedding their fur to get prepared for winter and so must the people who are staying behind do as well, well prepare for colder weather atleast...but grooming would not hurt. This city will hold a special place in my heart. A city where so many people, that I now call my friends, came together during the covid-19 pandemic. We have been through quarantine, boat arrest and then lockdown with a curfew. Due to the port of Micalvi being considered as one house, where the yachts constituting rooms, we have been able to socialize a lot more with people then the rest of the inhabitants of the city has- or the rest of Chile for that sake. So, I was finally able to go home. It was a struggle. A long, long protracted process of getting the correct authorizations from the correct authorities while being directed back and forth, trying to combine the different information we have been given into something useful. It does not make any sense why the process of getting permission to leave Puerto Williams has been so painfully overly complicated, when in the end the authorization was given through email without any concerns about us possibly carrying the Coronavirus. The world has really gone crazy though, in multiple ways. Countries are blaming each other and politicans are pointing fingers, people loose their jobs and the economic situation is getting out of hands. On the upside pollution has drastically decreased, but instead humanity decides to pillage the rainforest some extra?! Seriously? Sorry... got side tracked. Anyhow, due to this crazy world the travel home took some time and was not cheap. Me and Rory, who was my brave and ever so funny travel companion, started with a neat ferry ride of 31 hours to Punta Arenas through the breathtaking landscape of Parque National Alberto de Agostini. In Punta Arenas the lockdown was lifted only 2 days before we arrived, which meant we didn't have to do quarantine (good!) nor sleep at floor in the airport (yeah), we were even able to book a hotel online (nice) which turned out not to be open...(oh shit, where do we go, curfew is on in 30 mins?!) but since quarantine was lifted we got help (phu). Also, due to the quarantine being lifted the streets was swarmed with people during the day (scary!), lining up for different shops, not keeping their recommended social distance. I wouldn't be surprised if Punta Arenas will get hit hard by a second wave of Corona soon...even though they kept atleast 2 soldiers with automatic weapons outside every supermarket, to make sure you had your temperature taken before entering. Mixed feelings about their safety measures...

Getting onboard the first of many transportation means...

... Just an inch bigger than Colon

... as you can see by the look of the containers. Nope. None of those were my cabin..

The rush of getting of were fierce as it was only two people getting off...

After 3 nights in Punta Arenas we flew to Santiago and from there we managed to catch one of the last flights to Miami before Santiago went into full lockdown until end of May (!) Of course not without some adventures on the way, for example we managed to get ourselves locked in in a closed off section of the airport. Not entirely our fault I would say, why leave a door like that unlocked in the first place? Obviously we managed to escape this airport prison, since we both made it back home. An angry cleaning lady found us and called security... In Miami me and Rory parted, he went home and I continued my journey. Next stop was Atlanta. Stayed for one night, during these hours I feel like I've experienced the true Atlanta. I was offered a fake Id, the police came to the hotel due to some fight (3 cars, I was not in the fight) and people seem to like Trump? From Atlanta I flew to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam, after some computer/ticket issues, to my final destination: Gothenburg. The entire trip took me approximately a week.

Another kind of stuck...

Thank you Igor and Samantha for saving us and helping us, more times then I can count on one hand. Thank you CC for sharing all your craziness, stories, dogs and warm fireplace. Thank you Robb for always being ready to share your coffee and VHF (and for not having corona..!). Thank you Space odditity for always accepting some extra company. Thank you Rory for being my travel companion, Chile, it's good for you! And of course, thank you Captain and the Colon crew for having me a "little bit" longer then expected on the boat... I had a blast!

But let's not do quarantine again.

"home sweet home" (Observe only 1 pair of socks!)