I would say that this short trip was one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had since I arrived in Argentina. I went with two Colombian students and one Argentine student. Having had the privilege to travel often and see the world, I felt really comfortable and was prepared to take on the challenge of camping in the cold mountains for a few days. Although it had been almost 10 years since the last time I camped, I knew that the experience and knowledge I had gained through traveling would aid me during this short trip.
While we were there, I noticed some distinct comparisons between how prepared I was for camping and how prepared the others were. While I was equipped with a hiking backpack, hiking boots, enough warm clothes and a reusable water bottle, my friends each came along with an old school backpack, casual tennis shoes, one pair of pants and a bottle of Gatorade. At first I was kind of baffled at how little they had brought, and I kept wondering how could someone be so unprepared. I did not understand their logic when they finally realized that their shoes were insufficient for hiking or that they would be cold sleeping in the tent at night.
By the end of the trip, I realized that I was wrong for judging them and that I had failed to recognize that I had a privilege that my friends and I did not share. It was the first time that some of them had even traveled outside of their country. Unlike me, they had not yet had the experience or the financial luxury of being able to travel often, and because of that, they had a different perspective on how to approach the trip. I viewed it as unpreparedness, while it was really just lack of exposure and nothing to chastise them for.
