Wait for it…Yes, here it comes…. The dreaded …………quarter life crisis.

Sigh.

With my 25th birthday rapidly approaching, I’m allowing some big questions to interrupt my cozy Bariloche bubble. Questions like: What next? Do I stay in Bariloche on more year? Do I leave Patagonia and run away to start from scratch in a completely new country? What are my plans? What are my goals? What am I doing with my life???

Options abound. I could…

1. Stay one more year in Bariloche. Work on getting my residency papers. I already know the city, culture, language. I could get a pretty comfortable job that pays enough to live by. I could get the ski pass for next year. I would still have time to explore, work on projects, grow, learn, love, live…

2. Buy a motorcycle. And go north.

3. Return to the States. It’s been a while since I’ve visited.

4. Hop on a plane to any number of countries… China, Japan, Thailand, Pakistan, Sudan…

5. Retreat into the countryside, build a farm, raise turkeys, grow and cook and preserve and compost my own food.

6. Go to grad school and study sustainable agriculture, ecological architecture, and green living.

7. None or all of the above.

A lot of my current objectives are more long term than previous ones I’ve had and require more time commitment. And those who know me, know that I’m not one for committing, but perhaps it’s time for a change.

I’m at the crossroads and the possibilities are spread out before me. Where do I want life to lead me? Or better stated, where do I want to lead life? What are my realistic goals?

Yes, it is a time for reflection.

And now with my previous restaurant job behind me (yes, I am once again blissfully unemployed as we enter the low season) I have many hours and mate sessions to ponder such questions.

My current rent contract has me in Bariloche until the end of January, so no decision needs to be made in a hasty fashion. But there’s no sense in ignoring my options. Best to let them linger and simmer and caramelize and take form.

So for those of you wondering about immediate plans…

My father has just come and gone from Bariloche. We spent 4 glorious days skiing to our hearts’ content, hiking to great heights, gathering with friends for feasts, and practicing driving stick shift (aka sharing a laugh with innocent observers as I stall three times in a row).

Now in a few days I’m bussing to Buenos Aires to meet my mother. We will pilgrammage to Uruguay, country number 39 on my ever-growing list of countries I’ve visited. When I return to Bariloche I will probably immerse myself in English-teaching odd-jobs. And in my free time (of which I’m sure I will have in abundance) I plan to meditate on my newly acquired slack-line, explore contact improv and other forms of non-verbal communication, practice yoga, cookcookcookexperimentcook, construct a compost, tend to my mini garden, research local indigenous cooking and preserving methods, and start fleshing out my ideas of local sustainable agriculture as a means for social change. And smile, breathe, relax, and enjoy beautiful spring time in Patagonia.