When are you leaving?

That's what every young Aussie gets asked, according to Amber, one of the hostel managers in Pucon, Chile at El Refugio. Young Australians are expected to travel the world. It's just part of their culture. I like that.

So after traveling around Chile for less time than I would hope for, I've met all sorts of good people and the question never directly came up, but the answer is always given.

What's your story?

Us? Well, we're from California and we're studying abroad with Santa Barbara City College. We're learning about culture, history, and ourselves in BsAs, Argentina and Santiago, Chile.

Nicolas. He's starting his life over in Chile, recently arrived from Paris. He runs hostel management companies and needed a change. He figured, why not?

Suzie works for a New Zealand fishery and managed to scrape together a couple days of vacation to travel Southern Chile.

Jacque's been traveling and randomly found some old High School acquaintances down in Pukon. They were over London's scene.

James has been on the road for almost 10 years. He calls New Zealand home but it's only because it's the place he's spent the most time, about 8 years. He and Amber backpacked South America for the last year and now they run hostel El Refugio, snowboarding in their leisure time. They're pretty much Pucon locals.

The Carlsbad, San Diego couple had one of my favorite stories. They drove their car all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, shipped the car back and raised their 5 year old little lady in Pukon. They run a down-home restaurant with breakfast burritos. THANK YOU.

The Colorado couple graduated last May and now they've been teaching English on the road since then.

T.J. hails from Vancouver and came here thanks to some extreme show, Wipeout. Now he;s traveling around with Tammo from Germany taking pictures and loving life.

So what's your story?

Most people are just over the grind. Some get asked when they're gonna settle down. Who says they're ever going to?

My friend says he hates it when his friends tell him they're jealous of his travels. Because if they'd stop partying in their small town, America, they could have experiences too.

Just make sure your story's worth hearing.

***

We spent about 8 hours ascending and descending snow-covered Volcan Villarica in Pucon. Gorgeous views above cloud level and lake-views below. Steep climbs steadied by ice-picks and cramp-ons. I've never been to Kansas, but I'm definitely not in Costa Rica anymore. Hello exhilaration.