My brother Rick and I spent 6 weeks in early 2026 traveling south starting in Santiago Chile, through Chilean and Argentina Patagonia and then on to Antarctica. It was the trip of a lifetime and I’m glad I had my fearless brother, Rick, along on the adventure. It wouldn’t have been the same with anyone else. Rick is always game to try anything. In fact, I’m pretty sure I would have chickened out of the rafting trip we took in Chile if we hadn’t been together. He pushes me but doesn’t insist. I remember him saying as we stood in the pouring rain, “If they say the trip is on, I’m going”. And so, we went. We were drenched and exhausted after an hour on that river but it was absolutely exhilarating. I would have missed it if he hadn’t been stalwart. As siblings, we have a lifetime of experience together. We don’t need to impress each other and there’s no judgement if one of us doesn’t want to hike for 12 hours in the rain and the other does (guess who).
We both come to travel with an American lens. Rick has traveled more extensively but we both found some noteworthy oddities. Here are a few:
- Plane landing. I remember this from traveling through South America some 35 years ago but when the plane lands the passengers clap. It’s cool to celebrate the minute you are safely back on land. The other thing is that passengers unbuckle and start immediately going for the overhead luggage once the plane has landed. They don’t wait until they are at the gate.
- Hiking. We hiked a lot. I have to say it was a relief to not have to worry about snakes or bears. Patagonia certainly had rain and wind but there was no need to worry about a snake going across the trail. It just felt like there were less critters in general like mosquitoes and spiders. Yes, there are snakes in Patagonia but they are extremely rare. The wind could definitely be a detriment. I remember on a hike to El Chalten that it was probably 30 mile an hour winds at the top of a mountain. One of our guides in Torres Del Paine had a wind speed detector which was helpful when determining to summit a trail. I’ve never thought twice about wind speed on a hike before Patagonia.
- Shipboard. This was my first cruise outside of a few ferry rides (like Alaska, Ireland and Newfoundland). I’m so glad I had a prescription patch which Rick recommended and he didn’t need since he is ex-navy. So, I didn’t feel sick but taking a shower in 10-foot swells can be interesting while trying to hold onto the ship with one hand. I had to plan based on the forecast when it would be best to take a shower. Rick was so seaworthy he made me laugh when he would effortlessly dance down the hall. Each lunch and dinner, the servers would bring soup to your table. There was one lunch during 15-foot seas where they didn’t bring soup and the Creme Brûlée dessert was scrapped. It was our running joke that the seas were “no soup or creme brûlée” high.
- Zodiacs. Before the trip, outside of being terrified of crossing Drake’s Passage which is notorious for high seas, I was apprehensive about getting in and out of the zodiacs. Each zodiac held 10 passengers and one driver. First, we had to suit up with waterproof pants, jacket and muck boots. These items had to be immaculately clean so that we would not transfer anything from say South Georgia island to Antarctica. Each landing had to be cleared to make sure there was no bird flu. On top of being suited up, we had to wear a life preserver which had straps between the legs. It was quite the job to just get ready before embarking on the zodiac. Once suited up, you got in line to get down the stairs and out the open door to where the zodiac was. There was a small step up, then over the ship door, onto the pontoon and then down a step into the zodiac. If the seas were calm there would be one person leading you through the door from the ship side and the driver of the zodiac on the other. If the seas were high, there would be two on the ship and two on the zodiac. Once on the zodiac, you sit on the side of the pontoon with only the rope behind you if you feel unsteady. From there you either head ashore to walk among half a million penguins or cruise amongst whales and icebergs for 3 hours in 30-degree temperatures. I was super fortunate that there was only one zodiac trip that was in larger swells.
- Language. We had several drivers while we made transfers across Patagonia. I don’t think any of them spoke English. I was really glad I could speak Spanish. If we had a guide, they were always bilingual but there were a few times where we only had a driver. Once on board the ship, all the Spanish came to a complete halt. I believe there might have been one other couple from the United States on the ship but everyone else including the crew was from Northern Europe, China, Philippines and Israel. We met several couples from the Netherlands and Germany who barely spoke English. Every lecture and briefing was done in English. I felt so fortunate to be able to understand it all. The ship itself is from the Netherlands so all the products like canned soda were Dutch. This was completely unexpected for me.
What has become apparent to me on this trip is that weather, outside of health, is the most important factor. We had three days at Antarctica where it was 35 degrees, sunny and little wind. Our excursion director, Marcel, kept saying that the bill was coming due (because we had such great weather). This meant that the last crossing through Drake’s Passage would likely be bad. Thankfully it wasn’t. Seeing gigantic icebergs and tracking humpback whales on calm seas and sunny skies is priceless. It’s the luck of the draw and we drew the right cards on this trip.
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