This is part three of a five-part series.  You can read part 1 here.  And part 2 here. Part 3: Thriftiness. Courtesy photo If there’s one major misconception people have about long-term travel, it’s that it must be expensive.  That’s simply not the case.  There are endless ways to extend your travel dollar on the road, and if you want to keep your adventures going for a long time, it pays... 

This is the second part in a five-part series.  Read Part One here. Part 2: Patience. Ever been stuck in an airport on a trip, raging against the travel gods?  We’ve all been there; helpless and frustrated.  But after traveling for a while, you start to realize that these types of delays are just the “cost” of being able to travel, and you come to accept them.  There’s no point... 

If you drink, don’t drive.  If you vote, don’t screw around. Elections Circus You don’t have to have been in the elections circus for long to discover that there’s a disquieting amount of voters who are naïve, cruel, immune to the facts, or basically a bunch of retards. The Concertación and the opposition have really been at it for awhile regarding the coming elections. Polls... 

Just about every one of us dreams of jaunting off on a months-long (or years-long for some) adventure, living out of a backpack and waking up in a new world whenever we please.  Many of us never do, and those who do end up wondering what they were so afraid of in the first place. What will you learn about yourself if you take the plunge into the life of an expat or take that two month backpacking... 

Let’s face it.  Few of us really understand the whole football phenomenon here in Chile. I mean, you might get the rules, know some of the players (I dare you to write down three names while you read this), or even know what a midfielder does on the pitch. But how on earth can a ball and trying to kick it into a rectangular box make your average 50-year old truck driver from Puerto Montt pee... 

Enter the vulture The Culture Vulture brings you a variety of opinions related to everyday life in the city of Santiago through a series of different observations. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative, often sarcastic, the Vulture is here to let you know that you’re not laughing, crying or screaming alone. At times this may not be for the faint of heart. You may consider me a smart-ass, loudmouth... 

Since traveling to Santiago, I have noticed a shift in my consciousness of the environment around me. Not necessarily the people or places, but the actual quality of the environment: i.e. the stiflingly, smoggy air, the odor coming from the Mapocho river, the trash on the sidewalk, and the lack of recycling bins. That is to say, I have shifted from noticing and caring about all this to turning a very... 

¿Como se dice om? Actually, it’s just om. Sure, I could break down the mantra, and tell you that it’s actually made up of three sounds a-u-m, and that each letter symbolizes the beginning, middle and ending energies of all things. But before we bust out the big guns of Eastern philosophy, I first want you to know that om is always om, whether you find yourself in Tibet, some hipster L.A. yoga... 

It takes 18 hours to fly from London to Santiago, 14 to fly from Paris and 9 from New York – unless, of course, you have to stop over in Brazil, in which case you’re royally screwed. When I was a kid, a trip to the supermarket seemed like a major adventure, but now 14 hours seems like nothing. I know people who can sit down in front of their TV and watch sitcoms for 14 hours and not even... 

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