Our Malalcahuello retreat

In case you have recently been following our blog a little bit you may have noticed a flurry of activity, which is for a reason. Towards the end of 2018 we have come to realize that we needed a proper break from corporate life (Patricia) and life in the big city (Christian), and our road trip to Peninsula Valdes in March with our friend Sandra was the first stage of that. On the very last leg of that trip, back on the Chilean side of the border, a day's drive south of Santiago, we spent the final couple of nights in a little village called Malalcahuello. We liked it so much that after our return to Santiago we emptied our house, boxed up or sold our belongings and decided to come back to Malalacahuello to make it our new base for the next couple of months.

Malalcahuello, which in the language of the Mapuche apparently means "horse stable", is located about 600km south of Santiago, between a National Nature Reserve and a National Park. The hills surrounding the village are covered in Araucarias, Coihue, Lenga and other native trees. The area attracts visitors primarily during the winter season, when a couple of ski resorts open nearby. Now, in autumn, it's pretty quiet... exactly what we were after! We rented a cabin, 10 minutes walk from the village, which now is our base camp and home office (mobile internet is quite decent, too!).

Our new base

Since early April we have been settling into our new routine, depending on the weather, work-load and other factors it is a varying mix of fun and work but so far the fun component has definitely been much higher than it has ever been in Santiago. It does help that you just have to shut your notebook, set the foot outside the door and start walking or pedaling away... Obviously, our three companions, Mario, Pfiffi & Niebla, are loving our new arrangement.

One of the walks we did, 3 hours from our cabin: view of the Lonquimay (centre) and Tolhuaca (left) volcanoes

In all these years in Chile we've always lived in Santiago, so the idea of our "retreat" is to get a little taste of what life in the countryside is like, away from the noise and traffic jams and with the nearest supermarket 30 km away.

Time to ponder about life, the universe and everything... Volcán Llaima looming at the distance

We will post a few more details about specific trips we have been (and will continue to be) doing over the next few weeks, so this is more to provide some context for those of you who have been wondering what's happening q-;

Part of our new work-life balance: mountain biking in the shadows of volcanoes and Araucaria trees