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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WhatTheFuck" data-source="post: 811052" data-attributes="member: 8746">As I’ve been in Peru for a little over 6 months now, I feel like it’s time for a update.  Overall, coming down here has been the best decision I could have made given my circumstances before.  I’ve enjoyed every second of it the good and the bad and have grown a lot as a person.  Living in a foreign country like this long term has given me a lot of perspective on what’s really important, and although some will disagree, I know now choosing adventure was the right choice for me personally.  I think it all comes down to the need for novelty in my life, and without out it in the past I have tended to easily stagnate and fall into depression.  That’s why traveling has always been like a breath of fresh air for me.  The colors around me just seem brighter when I’m in a new unknown environment, my senses more alert.The first several months I spent traveling around a little bit, then focusing intensely on learning Spanish— took 80 hours of private lessons.  I have to say at this point I feel very confident with the language, although it will definitely take me another 6 months to a year living in a Spanish speaking country until I think I would be comfortable saying I am fluent (to a ~90% level or so).  Dating Peruvian girls who don’t speak English has definitely been crucial in my progress.I’ve banged a handful of girls, which I’m pretty happy with.  Racking up insane notches was never really my goal, and 2 of these have ended up being long term mini-relationships. The great part of the mini-relationships is that I feel like I’ve built real connections with these girls, and got to dive really deep into Peruvian culture learning more about their world, meeting friends and family, etc.I got an apartment, living in a second tier city which has been incredibly cheap.  Eat out at local restaurants several times a week, go to the bars occasionally, splurge on random things.  I don’t really watch what I spend that much, although I do do things like boiling my own water to drink and walk around instead of taking a lot of taxis.  I enjoy the exercise and that’s when I do my best thinking anyway.  I think overall I spend about $800/month all in.  I’ve also been working on building a little freelance writing business. The last few months I’ve got it up to about $500 a month working very limited hours so that covers about 2/3 of my expenses so doesn’t cost me very much to be down here anymore.  I’ve been doing a lot of touristy stuff too recently.. While In Peru, obviously got to go visit shit like Machu Picchu and do a good amount of hiking when I can.  It’s been an epic adventure.I’m fine on money, but decided it’s time to pop back into my hometown for a few months.  I’ll be leaving in a few weeks to head back.  I want to catch up with some friends and family for a little bit, as I’ve realized it’s important to me to spend some more time with them.  This will also allow me to build my writing business a little more and save a few extra dollars while I’m at it to make up for what I spent on the Spanish classes, etc.  I have a good thing going here with a very nice girl right now, so going to be hard to leave her but we have talked about it and she understands.So many potential ideas for my next adventure, but at this point I’m leaning towards heading to Colombia or Mexico in beginning of January.  I would leave in December but going to spend Christmas with the relatives as some of them not sure how long they will be around for still and it will mean a lot to them if I’m there.Anyway, I think for the next several years I’m going to try and continue this into a permanent lifestyle ideally spending about 8 months abroad per year, 4 months back in the States.  Seems like a reasonable balance for the time being, but who knows what the future will bring!</blockquote>

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