Get creative
Find a handkerchief and a dance partner! Consider learning the Chilean national dance known as la cueca. Or, get crafty and make a clay replica of Easter Island’s mysterious Mo’ai statues.
Want more inspiration? Take a virtual hike of the Patagonia at Torres del Paine National Park!
Pick a film
Watch a movie that relates to your destination. Some ideas for Chile include:
- No (2012) – Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2013 Academy Awards
- Machuca (2004)
- The Maid (2009)
Study some history
Dive deep into the history of specific sites you’ll visit on tour. Study the life of the indigenous Mapuche people before the Spanish conquest, the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and the compelling life of Chilean folk singer-songwriter and visual artist Violeta Parra.
Choose a book
Read and discuss a book that takes place in your destination or describes the local culture. Pick from titles like:
- The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
- Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
- My Documents by Alejandro Zambra
Fill up your plate
Arrange a potluck and encourage your friends to bring a traditional dish from your destination. Know a chef? Hold a virtual cooking class with your travel group, or support a local restaurant that offers delivery/take-out of your destination’s cuisine. Try a sopaipilla, an empanada de pino, or any and all types of Chilean bread: marraqueta, hallulla, or pan amasado.
Learn the language
Call up a friend or set up a group video chat and practice your language skills. It helps to make flashcards with common sayings to use on the phone or throughout your travels (you will hear one of these words in every conversation you have with a local, guaranteed).
Did you know?
Chile has one of the longest coastlines in the world at just about 4,000 miles long!
Meet Your Partner In Travel
Irene fell in love with Chile while studying abroad for a semester. So, she decided to extend her stay for another semester, and then another. Four years later, she had made a life for herself there as an English and Irish dance teacher. Now back in sunny San Diego, she reflects on her favorite things about Chile: the month-long celebration of the Fiestas Patrias every September, the turquoise lakes in the south, and the fact that you can go surfing and snowboarding on the same day!