Kicking it off

After months of anticipation and a condensed week of preparation, I am two days away from my first solo trip out of the country. From October 28 to November 11, I will be in Buenos Aires learning Spanish and trying out the tango, a dance that I've always been fascinated with. (Unfortunately, I've been too caught up in the L.A. swing dance scene and not too interested in the L.A. latin dance crowd.) Beyond my 30 hours of Spanish and tango per week, which perhaps might be too much, I will just spend my time getting a feel for the city by aimlessly idling around, eating much too much, taking full advantage of the Argentine peso devaluation and interacting (or trying to) with the locals.

I probably should mention that this trip is my 30th birthday gift to myself. I booked it when I was at one of my lowest points and felt that I needed to do something to take full advantage of life. What better than to take a trip to Buenos Aires all by myself? After all, I really want to know the city before it becomes too touristy. I do realize that the secret of its charms has long been out, but still I hope it's early enough that Ugly tourists aren't arriving en masse. I am forever kicking myself for not studying abroad in Prague before it became a perennial finisher in Travel + Leisure's top 10 destinations, and I certainly did not want that to happen with Buenos Aires.

This blog will be act as my travelogue for this trip, for later trips and also just for trippy experiences in my hometown of Los Angeles. Originally, I was going to call it "Table for One" since I was very single not too long ago, but I'm happy to say that I now have a travel partner, indeed a partner, for all my future adventures. ILYKy