Torres del Paine

There is a subtle balance of independence and trust that for me is generally tipped toward self-reliance. However during our trek, the altruism that so many people showed revealed how tiring my usual shift toward autonomy can be. When the winds were whipping at 90 km/h we gripped each other to stay upright, two Germans shared their chocolate when we all reached the summit of a mountain pass, after a 31 km day of rain, the park rangers took in all our stinky boots to dry by their fire. Our group bonded as a whole as we trekked through each micro-climate, from burnt grasslands to sunlit forests, from marshy plains to arid peaks. We drank water straight from milky glacial streams, watched hawks circle lazily above, and played word games to pass the time. To be able to learn more about each other while exploring such an incredible landscape was all I could have asked for.