Yesterday we had a quintessential Patagonia travel experience. We arrived in the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas with plans to blog and take care of "business" in preparation for heading home in less than a week. That didn't happen.

Instead we met a friendly young woman, Rosa, at the bus station, who convinced us to stay at her family's residency. After getting burned a few times on these deals we typically try to read reviews of hostels before commiting, but since we were only here for one night we decided to give it a shot. We arrived at their older home far outside the city center and entered to be greeted by religious artifacts, family photos, and a kiss from Rosa's mom and licks from their two hyper-active mini-poodles. The room turned out to be warm and cozy with a HOT shower.

The best part was they told us it was possible to see penguins and that they could arrange a tour for later that afternoon. Blog or see penguins? Not a tough choice. Then they recommended a restaurant for lunch and dropped us off right in front. They had called first so when we arrived the manager swept open the door and welcomed us with pisco sours - traditional Chilean drinks. After two complimentary pisco sours, a nice glass of white wine for $2 and delicious fresh king crab and salmon I was feeling the Patagonia vibe.The penguins were pretty cute too.

We've had a great time down here these past two weeks. Highlights were definitely hiking the enormous Perito Moreno Glacier in Calafate and trekking the "W" in the national park Torres del Paine. The trail is known as the W for its shape.

The W trek was the first time we were going without a guide and carrying our own tent, planning our own food, and basically the first time we were truly backpacking backpacker style. And we had no idea the challenge we were in for. The wind and rain whipped almost the entire 4 days we were in the park, and after six months on the road our hiking gear was sadly sub-par.My feet got wet the first night and never warmed up again. I took to wearing plastic bags over them. Our rented sleeping bags did not keep us warm enough although they were certainly heavy enough to carry each day. After the first night we were cold and tired and woke up to reports that after hiking the entire W most people hadn't seen any of the sites because the weather was so bad. So when Josh said Let's go home I said Hell yes.

But then that's when the guilt set in. That we were giving up too easily. Not finishing what we started. So we decided to keep going but on a modified route that involved less walking with our packs and strategic sight-seeing based on the weather. It worked out great. We had a tough but fun hike over snow up to the famous Torres (towers) and caught a glimpse of them between the clouds. The next day we walked 15 miles to try to see the Cuernos (horns) but were rained out. So in the end we did kinda hike the W but it was a funky W to say the least.

Here's what I learned on this trek: I don't mind camping but not if I have to sleep in a tent while peering up at a hotel (we splurged on the warm refuge the last night); gortex is good and not having gortex is very bad; I think about having to pee when camping about as much as Josh thinks about where he's going to find his next cup of joe; and my brother Brian and his girlfriend Meaghan who hiked almost every day for 3 months on the Pacific Crest Trail have my utmost respect - and I happen to also think they are a little insane.

So like I said, Patagonia's been great, but after a few weeks down here we're ready to be heading back to the city. We have a little time in Santiago and then we head back to New York where we'll be staying with my wonderful friends Alexis and Ann for a few days - thanks guys! And as Josh reminded me recently, living out of our backpacks for another month or so. But that just means we'll be like tourists in our own country. Or so I said. Josh said, I think they call that homelessness. Good times!