Tops and Flops of 1000 Days of Travel: Days 901-1000

Last Updated on December 10, 2021

We reflected on 1000 days of travel yesterday, and today we’re looking back at the best and the worst moments of the last 100 days in Costa Rica, Argentina and Chile (including food!) and we give travel recommendations for Buenos Aires and Santiago for your next visit to these South American capitals.

Top travel moments

Spending our 1,000th day at a rooftop pool party in Santiago

We had plenty of moments in the last 100 days we could add, but there was something so perfect about watching the sunset on the top of GEN hotel, where everyone from the Dakar rally are now staying. We met locals and fellow foreigners, drank champagne and had an exquisite evening.

Assimilating to life in Buenos Aires

It was hard to choose just one moment, but as you can see from our post 33 Things We Love about Buenos Aires we jumped right into life in the city. We made a lot of friends, toured the sights, explored neighborhoods, ate at loads of different restaurants and soaked up as much of the unique culture as possible.

Favorite places

Buenos Aires, Argentina

It’s been a long time since we felt so strongly about a place, so it should come as no surprise that, even if we visited 20 cities in the last 100 days, Buenos Aires would still sit comfortably right on top.

Arenal, Costa Rica

In between our housesit in Costa Rica and our flight to Buenos Aires, we fit in a nice holiday in the La Fortuna area of Costa Rica, also known as Arenal after the looming volcano seen from just about everywhere in town. With the exception of an extended stay on the Osa Peninsula, we thought we knew Costa Rica backwards and forwards, but it turns out we absolutely loved the entire area here, with its massive waterfalls, great hiking in the national park, laid-back mountain vibe, and of course, our splurge at the Tabacon hot springs.

Most disappointing place(s)

Nosara, Costa Rica

Ah, well, you can’t love everywhere, and Nosara Beach just doesn’t quite do it for us. This is a surfer’s paradise, with consistent left-breaking waves, but for relaxation the beaches here leave much to be desired. It was also low season while we were here, so many of the restaurants were closed, but this is also one of those spots where the presence of gringo expats (we lived in what is honestly called the ‘American Sector’) has driven up prices so that value for money is hard to come by here. That said, we still had an amazing time here, enjoyed some of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen, long walks on the beach with our dog, and last but not least our own infinity pool.

Worst travel moments

The Toxic Cloud

That’s right. Completely unbeknownst to us, a fire in the port of Buenos Aires released toxic pesticides into the air for over two hours one morning and because we did not watch the news, I sat with the window open, working away in the living room, curious about the putrid smell but focused on editing the final draft of Break Free. The result – some pretty hefty skin irritation that looked and itched like chicken pox and lasted for three weeks.

Top travel mishaps

No travel mishaps in the last 100 days! Let’s see if we can make it through another 100 days without any mishaps.

Top food moments

Pizza in Buenos Aires

The pizzas in Buenos Aires are not only our top food moment of the last 100 days, but one of the last 1000 days!

Travel recommendations

Take a free walking tour

If you are subscribed to our newsletter, you already know that we have become big fans of free walking tours recently. Although the tours are free, the guides work for tips, which makes them eager to impress you with expansive knowledge and enthusiastic conversation. We usually avoid big tour groups, but in Buenos Aires we decided to explore our neighborhood with BA Free Tours, and even though we had seen many of the places already, it was well worth it to learn such in-depth details of Argentinian culture and the story behind places in the ‘hood. We even went on a second tour of the main sights through BA Free Tours as well.

Here in Santiago, we opted for a tour of two neighborhoods that are further away from the tourist trail, Barrio Yungay and Barrio Brazil, and we got to know places we would have never found on our own, including the incredible Peluqueria Francesa, an old-fashioned barber shop with a French restaurant next door.

We were excited to discover that there are great free tours now worldwide: For Europe and beyond, check out Sandeman’s in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Prague, Paris, Madrid, Jerusalem, Copenhagen and soon Brussels and Tel Aviv. Free Tours by Foot offers free walking tours in New York, Boston, New Orleans, Charleston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., but there are other independent companies in most cities. 

Related posts:

The Tops and Flops of 300 days of travel Tops and Flops of 400 days of travel Day 801 to Day 900: The Tops and Flops of the last 100 days 500 days on the road: Tops & Flops of the last 100 days