I’m not packed, I know very little Spanish, I forgot to exchange my money, I’m sitting at a cafe instead of getting things done, I don’t know where I’ll be sleeping Monday night, I forgot to buy insurance, I am only now looking into the country and in all respects, I don’t know what I’m doing. This, as you should know by now, is classic Jeremy.

For those who don’t know, I am going to Peru on Monday(and New York tomorrow) with my friend Dave and we will be meeting up with our friend Pete, and possibly Christine 2 weeks from now. Dave and I will spend 2 weeks in the north and then meet up with everyone and spend the rest of the trip in the south. The one thing we won’t be doing is going into the low Amazon but this isn’t the last time I plan on going to South America.
This is not to say that I am completely in the dark. I bought some hiking boots, I have an idea of what I’d like to bring with me in terms of clothing, I bought a Nalgene bottle, a day pack, some snacks, an amazing rain jacket(http://bit.ly/1oNp4) and my bag will be exploding with sandwiches for the trip down, Dave has a Lonely Planet book and we do have an idea of where we will be going once we land.

I’m terribly excited and terribly nervous for this trip. I’ve haven’t been out of North America since I was a kid and I’ve always wanted to go to South America. My earlier plans of hiking the Middle East or flying to the South Pacific were nixed due to financial “woes” and the second I found out Dave wanted to go down south, I was in. 500$ CND for a return ticket and a free ride down to New York? Done.
I am also hoping to get away with only spending 500-600$ while I’m there. Accommodations are between 5-10$ a night, buses are super cheap and you can easily eat a 3 course meal for 2$.
I’ve spent the last day searching for Spanish words and phrases which will come in handy and have been scribbling them in my notebook.
Along with “My hovercraft is full of eels! eek!” I can now ask for the bathroom, ask how much something is, tell a waitress that I don’t want meat and ask for help in an emergency.

I’ve been looking into insurance as I really don’t feel like leaving Peru with 50,000$ in medical bills. I figure it’s the neurotic Jew in me but just looking at what I can claim is really frightening me:
Medical Expenses, Emergency Evacuation, Repatriation of Remains, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Sports & Hazardous Activities, Flight Accident, Terrorism, Double Dismemberment, Kidnap & Extortion.
Double dismemberment? Kidnap & Extortion? What are we getting into?

Beautiful beaches, great food, the Andes, the Amazon rain forest, bungee jumping, the Nazka lines. It seems like this is going to be incredible.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get any writing done while I’m in Peru but I’ll try my best. Regardless, I bought a little notebook with the goal of being able to tell a great story afterwards.
Wish me luck! It will hopefully be a safe and extremely fun trip and barring any double dismemberment I’ll see you all in a month.

Edit: Apparently RBC Travel Insurance covers me if both my limbs are cut off above the wrist or ankles(double dismemberment) but not if I were to lose both my hands or both my feet below the wrist or ankle. Interesting.