As the clock winds down on our final day in Buenos Aires, I thought I’d jot out a few last minute notes about our trip. Some of these notes will eventually work their way into the script for our Argentina videos. Producing video is a time consuming process. But unlike sausage and legislation, it’s sometimes fun to watch it being made.

My overall impression of Buenos Aires is overwhelmingly positive. The city reminds me of Manhattan, Rome, and Paris in many ways. But it’s much more affordable (and in some cases, more friendly) than those cities.

One fond glance back at the city.

Until recently, Argentina was a very expensive country to visit. It used the American dollar as currency. But in 2001 the country switched currencies to the Argentine peso; this made it a much, much more affordable destination for those spending United States dollars. As of this writing, one dollar buys 3.4 pesos. Last week we had a delicious bottle of house wine for 9 pesos. That’s less than 3 dollars.

Unlike Manhattan, here in Buenos Aires available taxi cabs are absurdly easy to find. We typically wait less than a minute before catching a cab. I mean, it’s totally ridiculous how many cabs are circling the blocks in this city. And the typical fare around town is between 10 and 15 pesos (3 and 5 dollars). If I lived here, I don’t think I would bother owning a car (unless it was a tow vehicle for RV camping, of course :-)).

If you need something, you can usually find it just around the corner. And sometimes it’s even easier to obtain than in the good ole United States.

Here’s an example that hits a little too close to home. While some people learn the tango in Argentina, I’ve been practicing my “Aztec Two-Step.” Yes, at some point over the past week, I contracted some form of Montezuma’s Revenge. An antibiotic treatment was in order, since I REALLY didn’t want to spend an 11-hour flight to Dallas with my legs crossed, or worse, camping inside the shoebox-sized airplane lavatory.

So I needed to see a doctor, right? Nope. I just walked into a local pharmacy, said the magic words “infirmo” and “cipro” while gesturing to my stomach. Bingo! The pharmacist immediately handed over a 5-day dosage of Ciprofloxacina Richet, a powerful anitobiotic that should nuke whatever invasive critters are having a fiesta in my lower intestines. After three days of taking cipro, my life has returned to a much more pleasant state.

I’m sure my sister Beth (a physician) could rattle off a dozen valid reasons why these antibiotics shouldn’t be sold over the counter. But for me, doing so solved a bad situation quickly. I’ve never been quite so happy when leaving a pharmacy. Gracias, Farmacity!

The incident raises a point with regard to travel in Argentina and elsewhere abroad. There’s more than one way of doing things. Sometimes (arguably most times) we get it right in our home country. Trust me, I am as red-white-and-blue patriotic as the next guy! But sometimes we could learn from the way others do things. Often it’s not a case of “better” or “worse;” it’s just different.

With regard to RV camping, those of us in the United States are truly blessed. The industry has developed over the course of many decades. Heck, Airstream itself is almost 80 years old. We now have the infrastructure (in the form of campgrounds, dump stations, dealerships, and media companies) that supports our desire to travel by RV.

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We’ve learned a lot on this trip. We’ve also shot several hours of video and a couple thousand photographs. But my goal is to keep it simple, and hone down this mountain of material to 3 or 4 focused short videos. We’re not delivering the comprehensive guide to RV travel in Argentina, but we are showing you what is involved, and making recommendations based upon our own experience.

We will arrive back in the United States on February 17. After the obligatory 12-hour period of post-travel lethargy, we’ll strive to get some fresh video material online in short order. As always, thanks for checking out The Long Long Honeymoon.