I FREAKEN MADE IT! I can’t believe that I’m in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. Right now I’m listening to Sodastereo, an Argentinian group that recently got back together after 10 years apart, wearing nothing but my boxers in a heated room, after having had a hearty lunch and a hot shower.
Was it worth it? I think about all the things I could have done with some $18000 – $20000 I had spent on this trip, and the answer is a resounding YES. It was worth every single dollar. And even if I knew before I started out that I would have gone through all the trouble I had gone through to get to where I am today, I would have done it. It was definitely hard. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. I could see why people said I was crazy. I could see why people would quickly dismiss the very idea of even thinking about making the trip even if the idea did come strike their mind. But I did it, and I have never been so proud of an objective I had set for myself and accomplished all by myself.
The last sentence makes it sound like I had no help. Obviously not. I had several people who helped me along the way. What I mean is making the trip without a companion to share the burden with. No one to share the frustrations as well as the joys with, for more than 2 months. It may not sound like much, but it definitely adds to the level of difficulty of such a trip.
As far as I know, I’m the youngest person to have single handedly financed and executived the drive from United States or Canada with a car.
Today started out abruptly enough. The ‘chofe’ or the ‘driver’ wanted to drive. For his name sake, I suppose, but this pissed me off. I wanted to drive the entire way, start the trip on my own accord and finish the trip behind the wheel. He eventually switched places, saying I need to go slow, then. This guy upset me several times. He was also 23, had not gone to college because nobody accepted him, and had worked as a driver for about a year, mostly for trucks. And he talked so fast that I just couldn’t understand him. He wouldn’t slow down. Soon, I returned the favor and started speaking in English to him. He had a flair of arrogance that I could have done without.
The drive was beautiful. I don’t know how it is at spring and summertime, but the snow added much to the ambience. It was tough, though, having to go fairly slow for a city that was less than 200 miles when we started out. I was close enough to be impatient and anxious, but also close enough that I needed to be patient and cautious. There was plenty of snow on the road, enough to be dangerous.
I got to the city at around 12:30PM. It was somewhat anticlimatic. I stopped to take a picture at the entrance where the city welcomed me to the ‘Southernmost City in the World.’ 1) At this point, I was fairly upset at the ‘chofe’ because of his attitude along the way, telling me what to do at every turn with the same irrefutable arrogance. 2) And I was upset that I couldn’t finish the journey with my car, and I had felt like I had cheated my way to the end, getting a fresh start from Rio Gallegos. 3) On top of that, Ushuaia had become just like any other city that I had stopped at. You go, look for a place to sleep, and that’s about it. No big ceremony or anything.
But a lot of things changed quickly. 1) We drove to the end of the road, the southernmost route of the world. Afterwards, I found a hostal to stay at and said my goodbye to the chofe. I was very relieved and started to do things on my own again, the same freedom that I had enjoyed. 2) Then I noticed that I was no longer thinking about my car. The trip was done and I would have no use for the car anyway. The strong sense and belief that I had accomplished what I set out to do overcame any doubt over the legitimacy of the last bit of the trip. I no longer had to worry about what to do with the car. Surely the process went backwards, but it also meant that I was done. Completely done. I didn’t have anything else to do, nothing more to worry about. I was done. 3) Ushuaia has its particular charms. It’s backed by beautiful mountains and fronted by a pristine channel. It was different than all the other cities I had been to.
I took out my victory cigar and strolled along the bay, with the words “El Fin del Mundo. El Principio de Toto” behind me. The end of the world. The beginning of everything. Rest of the world’s civilizations literally lied behind me. I took a puff and it started to hit me. I was somewhat disappointed at first by how I felt coming into the city. But walking around, reflecting on what I had gone through. Knowing that I had reached my objective slowly overwhelmed me. I let out a shout of joy and settled on a rock next to the channel to sit on to bask in the moment.
I reflected on every major event of my past. The divorce of parents. Immigration to America. The remarriage of parents and turbulent fights between all of them. The suicide of Arthur. The 16 months of warfare and the Soldier of the Quarter Awared. The financing and receiving my degree at UC Berkeley. A stable job offer at IBM.
None, however, was quite as powerful as the feeling of the moment. None of the past histories bothered me, at least for the moment. And the past accomplishments paled in comparison to what I had just achieved.
At the same time, I was thinking about the future. As near future as the date I should try and fly out of Ushuaia. About what I need to do to recover when I get back home and get ready for my professional career. And as far out as how in the world I am going to top this accomplishment.
And that’s the biggest reason why I came on this trip. Because I needed to know for certain whether I can truly achieve an objective that I set before myself that others say is impossible. I now know for certain that I need to be ever so resilient and patient, because the road ahead of me will bring trials and tribulent of both. And I just may have to face it all alone.
I now face the future with increased self-confidence. I no longer fear it as much as the man next to me. I am ready to face the uncertainties head on. I am ready to be tested not in academia, but out in the world where I will be tested unexpectedly. Because that is the only place where I can top the accomplishment that now lies behind me.
I am ready.