This is it.. The moment has come. The adventures of Gaetano en America del Sur have come to an end. The best days of my life, the craziest adventures of my life, the prettiest views of my life,... this is it! Reality has caught up with me and told me to go back home.

I've seen all the corners of this magnificent continent in all their beauty and glory. I've done my fair share of kilometres this year and have been through so much! I've walked through the driest deserts, over the highest mountains, through the deepest canyons, in thick jungles, seen the prettiest human settlements and ruins, sailed the largest rivers and bluest seas, rafted the wildest streams, tanned and partied on the coolest beaches, volunteered with the cutest, but poorest kids, had a beer or two on the go, ate the finest and dirtiest food imaginable, got myself in some bad situations, but always got out alive (so far), met tons of lovely people from all around the world, made new friends for life, spoke way too many different languages with all of them and did so much more.. and all of this happened during the last 337 best days of my life! (So far!)

It seems like years ago that first night when I arrived at the airport of Panama City. I reckon I might have started a bit on a wrong foot, but I can assure you: it was all for the greater good and I have no regrets whatsoever about anything!

If you want to have an idea of the behind-the-scenes part of such a trip, here are some stats:

Between all the fun and good times in cities, there is also a lot (yes, really a lot!) of time spent on buses or other means of transportation! I've been on 150 busrides averaging between 8 and 48hours, 9 boattrips, 8 flights, used 17 different means of transportation, set foot in 153 villages/towns/cities, slept in 72 different hostals, Couchsurfed 6 times, crashed at 16 friend's places, and a couple hammocks and tents, summited 7 peaks, went on 12 stunning hikes, walked more than 1,000km and bussed probably 40 times as much with an unreasonable amount of hours on them, ...

Furthermore I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that I met out here that made this trip what it became: a dream becoming reality! Thanks to all the people that travelled with me, especially Simon, David, Carlos, Vincent and Rachel who were my major travel buddies and with whom I could share a lot of unique memories during this 337 days long trip!

I would also want to thank all of you people back home for reading my lousy stories and supporting me in everything I did! I don't know who you all are, but you are many apparently. Thanks! I hope you enjoyed the pictures etc. and hope I have inspired some of you to get out there and see the world! There is more than work in life. And it is not me who got lucky to get this trip, it is a decision everyone can make. You just need the guts to do it.

If everything goes well, I should arrive on the home-land around 11:15am on Wednesday the 25th. But it could be that the customs find some things they don't like in my bags. I heard that anything that is derived from the coca plant is considered illegal in Europe.. I have 100gr of leaves and I have no clue either on the limit of alcohol import. (All presents for home ofcourse!) I might need to chat with the police first about all these things before going to the airport.

Thank you South America for everything you showed and gave me. I sincerely love everything about this continent! I hope some of you will ever set foot here!

Un ultimo beso y abrazo para todos,

G. (finally) coming home..

ps: If anyone ever wants information about South America or major backpacking trips in general, I'll be happy to help you out with your plans!