It was only a three-hour flight but it took me a week to land on my feet.

Going from one country to another and going from travelling as a team of three to travelling solo takes some adjustment.

I think I only stopped saying “obrigada” instead of “gracias” two days ago. And I still want to say “gonna take a shower!” out loud as if Feng and Mark cared, 11,200 kilometres up north.

I get some of my time back when I’m alone—no need to wait for Feng and Mark to get ready, no need to compromise, no need to wait for a quiet moment to get some work done. But also no one to make decisions or share tasks with, so everything is also more time-consuming sometimes.

It’s… different.

The guys (probably) left me with the stomach bug they picked up in Bombinhas. The symptoms were overall pretty mild but I had zero appetite and I felt exhausted. I also had to catch up with work and I had a lot of work.

But I also felt lucky because the weather was gorgeous—hot and sunny, beautiful blue sky.

So I spent the last six days just wandering around Buenos Aires, trying to get things figured out—and by “things”, I mean Argentinian culture, travel plans and the meaning of life in general, nothing too heavy.

Feng and I spent a lot of time in Buenos Aires before Mark. We used to stay for weeks at the time, waking up late and eating medialunas with dulce de leche for midday breakfast, strolling along Florida and Lavalle, and vaguely considering buying a plane ticket back to Canada at one point. Yesterday, I asked Feng what he liked so much about Buenos Aires back then.

“It’s… different from other Latin American cities. It looks European, it’s historical and it’s easy to just walk around and explore.”

He is right. That’s why I like it too.

From posh La Recoleta and the famous cemetery where Eva Perón is buried to colourful and working-class La Boca, from Avenida 9 de Julio to Plaza de Mayo, from Puerto Madero to artsy San Telmo, I explored Buenos Aires.

I have yet to figure things out but it was a pretty good first week in Buenos Aires.