26 Years in the Making

Birthday in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Never in a million years (or 26) did I think I’d be spending my birthday like this. Partying it up with lifelong friends that I’d had only met a few months ago. It was great having so many of the people who’ve helped make this an amazing adventure together in one place. (we missed you Mariangela y Tati).

My buddy Anibal from Basketball brought his A game. As did my Polo Confidant, Fernando and my Buller mentor and surrogate mother, Natalia. We also had a lot of the Buller crew represented which was great. A handful even came after work at about 3am which gave a the party a nice boost as the sun came up.

Although it doesn’t feel like it when we’re all hanging out, I get a kick out of stepping back and seeing all the different nationalities interacting. Obviously, there’s my roommate Sergio and friend Marcela from Colombia, his girlfriend Lez from Mexico, Buller & Futbol teammate Marco from Italy and of course my boy Nate and I from the states.

We drank, ate amazing mexican food (thanks Nate) and learned a new card game “CHANCHO VA”. Also, we only had one complaint from the neighbors, which in my book is a victory! Wait until I break out the living room slip-n-slide at the next shindig.

Drained and drunk, I finally kicked everyone out just past 7:30am.

It was an amazing night and definitely gave me the boost I needed after a couple rough weeks.

25 RECAP – I had to email my mom and ask her what I did for my birthday last year. It has been such a crazy year that I couldn’t for the life of me remember where I was or what I did. Last year I split my time between an extended stay hotel in Salt Lake City, OJ Simpson’s old apartment in Buffalo and a bayside oasis in San Diego. Random? Welcome to the past 4 years of my life after college. Year 25 was spent running around college campuses trying to get students to buy and sell their college textbooks in our stores or on our website. My social life was minimal and I failed at being a good boyfriend. There was a ton of changes but all-in-all it was a great year. I learned a lot about friends, business and myself and all of it ultimately led to the decision to chase this dream.

I can’t wait to see what 26 brings (besides a wicked bad headache on day one).

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!

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