To trek or not to trek?

So my recent dilemma is this: do I eschew much of my clothing and luxury items in my pack for backpacking equipment such as a tent, sleeping bag and the like? or do I forget all that gear and cram as much useless and boring t-shirts and shoes into my pack as possible? I think I shall go with the former and take a new attitude with this trip. I will bring these supplies for one reason: to live the life of a nomad, carrying my home on my back as I visit the Atacama desert, the Callejon de Huaylas mountain range and hopefully even Patagonia! I am inspired by my good friend Marcus Trucco http://theredrider.blogspot.com/who is currently riding his bicycle from Portland, Oregon to Portland Maine. I have so enjoyed reading about his solo travels that I feel the need to do something similar but with my own style. I hope to travel by bus and live on the cheap so that I will both save money and live simply. I don't know what may come of these exploits but we shall see. I will be leaving this country in just 18 DAYS!!! More to come. Until then...I must go see some really good concerts at Red Rocks.
Chao- James

...and now I must prepare for my travels.

Summer has been in full swing for a while now. I have been pedicabbing like crazy to make enough money for my trip to South America. Finally I have more than enough money for the trip. Now I just have to acquire a few supplies for my travels. I dropped by REI yesterday and picked up a sweet Ortlieb waterproof messenger bag (this thing boasts over 1800 cubic inches of volume!) Now all I need is a copy of Adobe Photoshop to run on my Mac and a LaCie "rugged" 250 GB external hard drive to store all of my photography. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to purchase a new Nikon D90 camera with lenses before the trip so I suppose the old D100 will have to do the job for now.

Where is the Wayfaring Anthropologist going to travel you ask? Well the current plan is as follows: 1) fly into Lima on the 10th of September and stay with friends for a few weeks and begin surf lessons. 2) visit the town Huaraz in the Callejon de Huaylas region of northern Peru for a few days to a week. 3) return to Lima and hang out for a while and possibly purchase a cheap surf board. 4) hop busses heading southward through Peru stopping in the regions of Pisco, Ica/Huacachina and Nazca. 5) continue heading south into Chile and stopping in places such as Atacama, Valparaiso, Santiago, etc. I plan to keep moving to photograph and cover as much distance as possible. Time and money permitting, I might also make it to Uruguay and/or Argentina. That is uncertain at this point however.

I shall post again once my plans are finalized. I leave for Lima in 29 days.
peace-james