Author: Jonny Eberle

• November 28, 2022

  To End of the Earth: Traveling to Punta Arenas, Chile

  

  

  This is part four of my four-part travel series on Argentina and Chile. Today, we head to the city on the edge of the known world: Punta Arenas, Chile.

  Standing on the hill overlooking the town of Punta Arenas, it’s easy to imagine Ferdinand Magellan sailing into the harbor, searching for a route through the archipelago of rocky islands and storm-tossed seas to the Pacific Ocean. Five hundred years ago, Magellan’s fleet entered a remote region at the bottom of the world which they dubbed “Tierra del Fuego,” or Land of Fire, so named for the many bonfires they spotted on the islands they passed. What was once home to the native Yaghan, Ona, and Alacalout peoples was later transformed into a penal colony, then a base of operations for Patagonia’s lucrative livestock industry, then a hub for oil drilling and the final port of call of ships departing to the Antarctic continent. And after two weeks and thousands of miles, this was where we found ourselves at the end of our South American excursion.

  Punta Arenas is a small city at the southern tip of Chile. One of the southernmost cities on the planet, it is built on a steep hillside sloping down to the harbor and is beset with cold and wind, even on a sunny spring day. Along the esplanade, you can watch massive cargo ships steaming through the Straits of Magellan.

  By the time we made it to Punta Arenas, we were weary from our travels and had made very few plans about what we wanted to see and do in town. We spent our first afternoon there holed up in a quaint bed and breakfast, reading and trying to chase the chill from our bones. Then, it was time to start exploring.

  

  Anywhere you go in Punta Arenas, you are constantly reminded of this place’s precarious position on the edge of civilization. In the town square, a statue of Magellan stands triumphant. High on the hillside, posted signs point the way to distant metropolises — Sacramento – 11,298 km, Budapest – 14,042 km, Kazakhstan – 20,820 km — places so far away that they might as well be on another planet, while a marker on the sidewalk indicates that the icebound coast of Antarctica is a mere 800 miles away, closer than Chile’s own capital. From this vantage point, you can almost imagine ice sheets on the horizon.

  History is on display throughout Punta Arenas, from a full-sized wooden replica of Magellan’s galleon, the Nao Victoria (which we only caught a glimpse of from the highway), to the opulent wool baron’s mansion turned museum which chronicles Punta Arena’s rise to prominence in the early 20th century, during which time settlers stripped the land and destroyed nearly all of the indigenous peoples.

  Understanding the history of the places you visit makes each journey more than just another opportunity to snap a selfie; it connects you with the land you’re standing on and the deep roots of its people. But for all the fascinating and tragic human story that has played out in Punta Arenas over the centuries, if you’re going to come all the way to the farthest tip of South America, you’re probably interested in the region’s wild inhabitants. If so, the one thing you absolutely must do while you’re here is visit a penguin colony.

  We left our hotel an hour before dawn, sprinting downhill under a starry sky because the taxi we had ordered never arrived and our tour was leaving soon. We showed up out of breath, but with plenty of time to climb aboard the bus and settle in. An overhead screen at the front of the bus played an old Pavarotti concert as the sky turned fiery red over the low hills of Tierra del Fuego.

  

  Disembarking from the bus, we climbed aboard a small boat and charged over several miles of choppy water to Isla Magdalena. The bare island less than a mile across is home to an abandoned lighthouse and upward of 60,000 breeding pairs of Magellanic penguins. Access to the island is carefully controlled and tourists are only allowed on a short, designated path to avoid damaging the penguin’s habitat. Of course, that didn’t stop the penguins from walking wherever they pleased.

  Our hour on the island seemed to be gone in an instant, with me happily photographing the birds as they went about their business waddling to and from their burrows and into the crashing sea to fish. I probably snapped more photos of the nature reserve than any other stop on our trip. On the trip back to shore in the belly of our tour boat, with rough seas preventing us from visiting a second island, I felt a little seasick but was buoyed by the rush of seeing my favorite animal up-close in the wild.

  

  

  For many people, Punta Arenas is just a stop along the way to some greater adventure. And while this place has always been a gateway, it is also much more. If you take the time you can see it for what it truly is — a place where humans have not only scratched out a living, but thrived in the most inhospitable climate for thousands of years; a melting pot of prospectors, ranchers, convicts, and explorers from all over the world; a jumping off point to see some of the most remote wilderness on earth; all combined to make it one of the most unique cities in all of South America. It may not have the cosmopolitan energy of Buenos Aires or the staggering natural beauty of Puerto Natales, but it is absolutely worth the trip.

  

  Punta Arenas Travel Tips

  Where: Punta Arenas, Chile

  Getting There: Punta Arenas is accessible via a 3.5-hour flight from Santiago, plus a stopover on most flights in the town of Puerto Montt. From the airport, buses take you to the city center in about 20 minutes. However, if you’ve got the time, you might consider getting there by ferry from Puerto Montt and sailing the Patagonian fjords.

  Where to Stay: We made the mistake of staying far up the hill and away from the city’s compact downtown. While our spot was quiet, it was too far from the heart of Punta Arenas. I’d recommend one of the closer-in hotels.

  What to See: Penguins, of course. Several companies run tours, including half-day visits to Los Pingüinos Natural Monument or full-day excursions to the main island of Tierra del Fuego to see larger king penguin colonies. Be sure to check the company’s credentials to make sure you’re not doing unnecessary harm to the ecosystem you’re visiting.

  What to Eat: If you’ve just arrived in Punta Arenas from Puerto Natales or another remote outpost, you’ll be amazed at the variety of cuisine available in the city. Patagonian food is warm, hearty, and filling, with plenty of meat, fish, and potatoes. We had a fantastic meal at La Marmita, a family-owned restaurant serving regional dishes.

  —30—

  Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, photographer, and world traveler. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can listen to his writing podcast, Dispatches with Jonny Eberle, and his audio drama, The Adventures of Captain Radio, wherever you find podcasts, and you can get monthly updates and reading recommendations by signing up for his email newsletter. Thanks for reading!

  South American travel series:

  • Buenos Aires
  • Mendoza
  • Puerto Natales

  More travel writing by Jonny Eberle
• November 23, 2022

  The Many Faces of Thanksgiving

  

  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. A time of family, of food, of rest — what’s not to love? For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has been the holiday I most look forward to as the days grow shorter and the leaves change. But my relationship with Thanksgiving has evolved over the years along with my understanding of its history and the many twists and turns in my own life.

  The Early Years

  Ah, the ’90s. The carefree years of Bill Clinton, the Fresh Prince, boy bands, and Tamagotchis (mine was a T-Rex, in case you were wondering). As a kid, Thanksgiving was synonymous with some of my favorite things: my mom’s pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce from a can and sliced into perfect gelatinous discs, time off from school. Once or twice, we flew to the East Coast to celebrate with my extended family. In my memories of those visits, I can see all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandmother gathered around a long table and I can still feel that sense of awe and wonder I felt at seeing trees change color, which they decidedly did not do in the desert Southwest. This was also the time in my life when I was first introduced to the classic telling of the Thanksgiving story through pageants and events at school where we would fashion feather headdresses and buckled hats out of construction paper.

  The Years of Pilgrimage

  I was in my high school U.S. history class when I first encountered the idea that the Thanksgiving story of kind-hearted Native Americans offering food to the hungry Plymouth colonists was a fabrication. Was there a feast at some point? Possibly, but the whole story reeks of colonial ideas of manifest destiny and obscures a complicated political reality. By the time the English settlers arrived in what is now Massachusettes, the native tribes, Wampanoags and the Narragansetts, already had a century of experience dealing with Europeans. When the Wampanoag chief offered an alliance to the new arrivals, it was with an eye toward securing a political and military advantage over their rivals. What neither tribe realized at the time was that disease, war, and wave upon wave of immigrants from Europe would decimate their people and drive them out of their ancestral lands. When Christopher Columbus sailed into the Caribbean in 1492, there were an estimated 54 million indigenous people populating every corner of the Americas. By 1650, only 6 million remained.

  During college, my immediate family moved to Nevada. Each year at the end of November, I made the drive from Flagstaff to Las Vegas, a journey of four and a half hours each way down Interstate 40. The solitude of those Thanksgiving drives left me with lots of time to enjoy the scenery, listen to music, and think. In many ways, those few years of making the pilgrimage to my parents’ house are some of the most memorable and meaningful Thanksgiving celebrations of my life. It was never just a meal. It was a homecoming, a chance to reconnect, a return to family I only saw a few times a year. Pumpkin pie has never tasted so good.

  The Years of New Traditions

  These days, I live over a thousand miles from my family, but I’ve also gained family along the way. I’m married and we have a child of our own. Now, we alternate our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Thanksgivings with my in-laws are different than the ones I grew up with and wonderful in their own way, with multiple turkeys cooked many ways, leftovers transformed into Turkle Burgles, and long walks through the woods. I’ve added bits and pieces of my family’s traditions to the mix, including our world-famous stuffing balls.

  I’m not sure what Thanksgiving traditions our daughter grow up with, but I hope we can give her memories she’ll cherish all her life. I also hope she’ll be able to accept two truths which at first glance many seem contradictory — that Thanksgiving is both a beautiful tradition of gathering around good food with friends and family and that the myth of Thanksgiving whitewashes an ugly truth about oppression and genocide that is a part of the American story. That’s something we all must reckon with, not to feel guilty about the actions of our ancestors but to reorient ourselves toward acts that heal and l contribute to bending the long moral arc of the universe toward justice.

  So, this week, I will remember all the Thanksgivings that have led to this one and be thankful that I am here, now, in this place, with this family. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you find yourself this week crowded around a long table with people you care about, to share a meal and share stories and just be together.

  Oh, and do me a favor — save me a slice of pumpkin pie.

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer and podcaster in Tacoma, WA. His work has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can follow him on Twitter, join his mailing list, and listen to his audio drama, The Adventures of Captain Radio, wherever you enjoy podcasts. Want to hear this blog post in podcast form? Subscribe to Dispatches with Jonny Eberle.

  ---

  Bonus: Thanksgiving Stuffing Ball Recipe

  Prep: 20 min. | Cook: 40 min. | Total: 55 min. | Servings: 16

  Ingredients

  • 2 loaves of bread (preferably different varieties, ie. rye, sourdough, multigrain, etc. )
  • 1 cup yellow onion, diced
  • 1 ½ stalks celery, diced
  • 2-3 sticks butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground sage
  • 3 eggs

  Preparation

  1. A few days before assembly, shred bread into 1-inch pieces and let dry on a baking sheet.
  2. Preheat oven to 350℉.
  3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and saute until softened, about 10-15 minutes. Add salt.
  4. Sprinkle sage over onions and celery and cook until aromatic. Remove from heat.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, combine bread; onion, celery, and sage mixture; and eggs. Press into snowball-sized balls and place in a 9×13 baking dish or wrap in foil.
  6. Bake stuffing balls for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and slightly darkened in color. Serve warm.

  Note: Assembly works best if bread is dry. If mixture doesn’t hold together, add an additional egg or half stick of melted butter. Enjoy!
• October 20, 2022

  New Short Story: “Reviews of Sanctuary Creek Honey Farm”

  

  This Labor Day weekend, my family took a road trip through North Cascades National Park. Along the way, we stopped in the small town of Winthrop, WA, to grab a snack and stretch our legs after a long drive. Things went downhill almost as soon as we got out of the car.

  Winthrop, it turned out, was under siege by bees. Bees were everywhere, dive-bombing us when we tried to enjoy an iced chai at an outdoor cafe, popping up unexpectedly from under the boards of the wood-plank sidewalks, and swarming us when we dared to stop in a creekside park for lunch. In the end, we gave up, packed up, and drove an hour farther into the mountains to eat in peace.

  Our experience wasn’t all that unusual, but it left me wondering what would happen if a town really did get taken over by bees. How would the residents react? How would tourists rate their visit if they were constantly under threat of being stung by oversized and increasingly organized honeybees?

  I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. So, I started writing. The end result was a weird, experimental little story in the form of a series of online reviews — to say anymore would be spoiling it.

  I’m pleased that the editors of Creative Colloquy enjoyed it enough to publish it on their site. You can read “Reviews of Sanctuary Creek Honey Farm” now:

  READ “REVIEWS OF SANCTUARY CREEK HONEY FARM”

  If you like the story, let me know by leaving a comment below. If you’re a writer in the South Sound with a story or poem that’s ready for publication, check out Creative Colloquy. They’re always looking for local scribes to feature. Thanks for reading!

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer in Tacoma, WA. You can find his words in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. While you’re here, read more of his travel writing, sign up for his monthly newsletter, and follow him on Twitter.

  P.S. If you’re reading this before October 30, 2022, there’s still time to help my audio drama The Adventures of Captain Radio win an Audio Verse Award! Learn more here.
• October 15, 2022

  Help My Audio Drama Win an Award

  

  Read on to find out how you can help my debut audio drama, “The Adventures of Captain Radio,” win an Audio Verse Award!

  VOTE NOW

  In the fall of 2020, I was desperate for an escape. Between the bitter election and the threat of the pandemic, the future looked pretty bleak. So, in an effort to tune it all out, I wrote a script for a science fiction adventure set in the distant future. It was a lighthearted, retrofuturistic, utopian story in which a mustache-twirling villain bent on destruction faces off against a space-age knight in shining armor.

  Against all odds, that script became a podcast. My collaborator William McDonald helped corral a stellar cast of voice actors, a composer to write music for the show, and a graphic designer to create our show art. It went from concept to reality in less than two years and now we’re up for an award.

  

  The Audio Verse Awards recognize the finest audio dramas of the past year and “The Adventures of Captain Radio” is one of about 150 nominees, all of which are stellar. The competition is stiff — that’s where you come in. We need your help to make it through to the final round. Voting is open through October 30, 2022, and we could really use your vote.

  All you have to do is go to audioverseawards.net/vote to cast your ballot for “The Adventures of Captain Radio.”

  You should know that the ballot isn’t very mobile-friendly, so it’s best to use a desktop or laptop (or you can switch to the desktop view on a mobile device by clicking the “Aa” symbol near the top of the page). On the New Productions category, simply find our show art in the lefthand column and drag it to the right column to rank us as one of your choices. The more shows you rank, the more weight your vote will carry.

  Our whole team has poured so much heart into this story and these characters and it would mean a lot to see those efforts rewarded with a 2022 Audio Verse Award. Thank you for your support and for your vote!

  VOTE NOW

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer in Tacoma, WA. You can find his words in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. While you’re here, read more of his travel writing, sign up for his monthly newsletter, and follow him on Twitter.
• October 2, 2022

  Ruta del Fin del Mundo: Traveling to Chilean Patagonia

  

  

  Welcome to part three of my four-part series about our 2019 adventure through South America. In this week’s blog: Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

  Twelve hours after departing hot, dry Mendoza, we stepped off the bus into the first flakes of falling snow. It was nearly midnight in the small town of Puerto Natales, strung along the rocky shores of Seno Ultima Esperanza and 150 miles from the next nearest population center. It was bitterly cold that night and as we settled into our hotel, it was obvious that I had underestimated the weather and would need to buy more layers.

  Morning dawned grey over the sound. After a quick breakfast of toast and cheese, we hopped on a van for a tour of Torres del Paine National Park. In moments, we left behind the corrugated tin roofs and metal-clad buildings of town and into some of the most beautiful and rugged countryside that I have ever seen.

  

  Much like the Puget Sound (where we live), this region of Chile was carved and shaped by ice. Retreating glaciers following the last major ice age left the west coast of Patagonia a rugged landscape of narrow fjords, isolated islands, and sharp mountain peaks. Nowhere is this more evident than in Torres del Paine.

  Our tour of the national park started at the Cave of the Milodon, a touristy spot featuring a large cave where early human settlers would have taken shelter from the harsh elements and where the bones and fur of an extinct species of giant ground sloth were discovered in the 1890s.

  After stretching our legs and chatting with some of our fellow tourists (including our good friend Llama Hat Guy, who made it his mission to make sure that Stephanie and I had enough photos with both of us in them), we got back into the van for the main event.

  

  Torres del Paine is an expansive national park covering 700 square miles. Within that are windswept grasslands, shockingly blue glacier-fed lakes, milky white rivers loaded with sediment, stands of lenga trees, icebergs, and a range of striking mountains known as the Horns, which seems tall enough to scrape against the sky.

  Despite the cold seeping into my bones, we had an awe-inspiring tour through the park, hiking across otherworldly landscapes of rock and ice, stopping to admire the ever-shifting view of the mountains, and spotting the local wildlife, including herds of guanacos, a wild cousin of the domesticated llama, and the elusive ñandu, a large flightless bird resembling a mini-ostrich.

  

  

  

  

  After returning to Puerto Natales that evening, exhausted but in awe of the natural beauty of this place, we stopped by a local outfitter for some extra clothes and thicker socks so that I’d be better prepared for our next outing.

  The next day, our expedition took us to the waters of Ultima Esperanza. We boarded a catamaran for an all-day cruise through stunning fjords. Along the way, we witnessed towering waterfalls cascading down sheer cliffs, seals and sea birds of every kind, and massive glaciers crumbling into the sea. We stopped in at a historic sheep ranch for a traditional Patagonian asado lunch of lamb and potatoes before boarding the ship again, where we enjoyed a whiskey with fresh glacier ice.

  

  It was all over so quickly, as is often the case when trying to see a lot in the short amount of vacation time many of us in the U.S. get from our employers. I’m sure we could’ve spent many more days exploring the wild southern expanse of South America.

  Patagonia was everything I hoped it would be and more — a place of untouched natural grandeur at the end of the world, a cold, unforgiving, but alluring land where a single human feels insignificant against the immensity of what lies before you. No wonder European explorers of the 19th century were drawn here, this most inaccessible of frontiers.

  

  And yet, it’s easy to forget how much humans, and especially European immigrants, have changed Patagonia, logging its ancient forests, driving out and killing indigenous peoples by the thousands, and transforming vast swaths of the wilderness into grazing land for industrial sheep farming — an ecological disaster which has pushed many native species to the brink of extinction. Even now, a warming climate is robbing Patagonia of its ice, with glaciers retreating miles per year in some cases and erasing a critical part of this delicate ecosystem.

  In my hurry to see this place before it’s gone, have I hastened its disappearance?

  I can’t help but feel a little guilty for even coming here. In my hurry to see this place before it’s gone, have I hastened its disappearance? That’s the trade-off we make whenever we travel, but especially when visiting the most remote and vulnerable spots on the planet. Is it worth it? I’m not sure I can fully answer that. I’m glad we went for our once-in-a-lifetime trip and going has made me more aware of what we stand to lose if we do nothing to address climate change. And if travel can galvanize me to action and advocacy, then yes, I think it will be worth it.

  

  Chilean Patagonia Travel Tips

  Where: Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine, Chile

  Getting There: From Santiago, flights to Punta Arenas take about 3.5 hours, plus time to make a stop to let folks get off in Puerto Montt. Once you arrive, Bus Sur provides comfortable transportation with multiple buses a day from the airport for the 3-hour drive. When we went, you could book your ticket in advance, but payment had to be made in person upon boarding the bus. We were also able to get onto an earlier bus when our flight arrived early.

  Where to Stay: We stayed in the heart of Puerto Natales at the Hotel Vendeval. The rooms were small, but clean and modern with a fantastic view of the sea, and we were located within a five-minute walk of everything we needed. The staff was excellent and they even packed us a sack lunch for our day trip to Torres del Paine.

  How to Get Around: Chilean Patagonia is huge with very few populated areas. Many of the roads are dirt or gravel and the weather can change without warning. We found it best to let a professional handle the driving (and sailing) while we enjoyed the incredible views.

  What to Pack: Smartwool socks, telephoto lens

  What to Drink: Whiskey on the rocks (with glacier ice) or a blended pisco sour at La Guanaca (a spot that may be a contender for the best wood-fired pizza in South America).

  What to Eat: Puerto Natales has an up-and-coming foodie scene. There aren’t a lot of restaurants (and some keep limited hours outside of the busy season), but all of it is delicious. Do yourself a favor and splurge on local king crab at Santolla, a restaurant located inside a converted storage container.

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, and explorer based out of Tacoma, WA. You can find his words in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. While you’re here, read more of his travel writing, sign up for his monthly newsletter, and follow him on Twitter.

  In the final installment of my four-part travel series on South America, we reach the southern tip of the Americas. Next up: Punta Arenas.

  South American travel series:

  • Buenos Aires
  • Mendoza
  • Punta Arenas

  More travel writing by Jonny Eberle
• September 18, 2022

  More Than Malbec: Traveling to Mendoza, Argentina

  

  

  Welcome to part two of my four-part series about our 2019 adventure through South America. In this week’s blog: Mendoza, Argentina.

  When we started planning our trip to South America, one of the first places we wanted to go was Mendoza. This high-altitude valley nestled in the foothills of the Andes is world renowned for its incredible wines, and we knew he had to try some from the source.

  We arrived on a warm day in spring, which left us scrambling to pack away our coats and dig out our sunglasses from our carry-ons. The mountains were partially obscured by a haze of dust and as our taxi drove us south from the airport, through the city of Mendoza, and into the surrounding towns, it was hard not to feel like we can somehow landed in Central California.

  We were also anxious to relax a little and slow down after a whirlwind week in Buenos Aires. Arriving in late afternoon in the little town of Chacras de Coria, we enjoyed a glass of Malbec, dinner at the hotel restaurant, and a dip in the pool before turning in for the night. The next day was going to be a long one.
  

  

  Our itinerary only gave us one full day in Mendoza, which was definitely not enough. But the next morning after breakfast, we hopped on a pair of rented bikes and set out to explore. The town quickly gave way to rows of grape vines just starting to put out their leaves and the sun beat down on us.

  We had a rough idea of where we were going. We figured that if we could maintain a leisurely but steady pace, we could visit three or four wineries and be back at our hotel for dinner. Naturally, it didn’t go according to plan.

  Our first stop was at Alta Vista, a vineyard located just twenty minutes’ ride from our hotel in the Luján de Cuyo district, one of the most prolific wine-growing regions in the entire country. At Alta Vista, we caught our breath, had our first tour and wine tasting, and chatted with a friendly group of American college students who were spending a semester in Argentina. It was everything we hoped it would be.

  And then, things went off track.
  

  

  Soon after departing from Alta Vista, we got lost. Our paper map wasn’t all that accurate, it turned out, and we weren’t sure if the winery where we planned to have lunch was farther down the road or if we’d already missed it.

  As much as we’d like to pretend on Instagram that international travel is always glamorous and carefree, the truth is that something always goes wrong.

  Hungry, tired, and more than a little flustered, we arrived at our destination late, only to discover that there had been a miscommunication with the front desk clerk at our hotel—we didn’t have a reservation and the restaurant was completely booked.

  As much as we’d like to pretend on Instagram that international travel is always glamorous and carefree, the truth is that something always goes wrong. There are language barriers, missed turns, bike rides that you think will take you 25 minutes but end up taking over an hour, sore muscles, grumbling stomachs, and frayed nerves. The reality is, sometimes things don’t go your way and there’s no way to fix it. All you can do is carry on to the next thing and try not to let it ruin your day.

  So that’s what we did.

  We got back on our bikes and struck out for the next bodega on our list. A few miles later, we parked our bikes outside Viamonte. We were exhausted, we were starving, and we were sweaty. But the host kindly showed us to a table on the patio and handed us menus.

  In my memory, that lunch was one of the finest meals we enjoyed in South America: grilled provolone cheese topped with fresh greens and tomato, followed by a seared ribeye. Once we had our strength back, we took a guided, personal tour of the small winery and finished up with a tasting.
  

  

  It was late when we pedaled back into Chacras de Coria and the sun was setting over the mountains, finally giving us a break from the heat. We were covered in dust and somewhat dreading the next day when we would be traveling for twelve hours.
  
  We could’ve used a relaxing day by the pool, or a few more days to explore the wineries to our north (one of whom, it was rumored, kept a llama on staff). But we’d have to be content with just a sip of what Mendoza had to offer before moving on.

  Mendoza Travel Tips

  Where: Mendoza, Argentina

  Getting There: Mendoza is an easy two-hour flight from Buenos Aires or one hour from Santiago, Chile, with a stunning flight over the towering Andes Mountains.

  Where to Stay: We chose to skip the city and instead stay close to where the wine is made. We ended up in the small town of Chacras de Coria. Our hotel, Lares de Chacras, had its own wine cellar and onsite restaurant. They arranged our airport transportation and even helped us rent bikes to tour the area.

  How to Get Around: The wine-growing regions around Mendoza are expansive, so you’ll want some wheels. There are many companies that operate wine tours or offer cars for hire, but we chose to explore the nearby wineries by bicycle. The valley is relatively flat, but there are few bike lanes and even fewer street signs, so plan your route in advance or splurge for international cellular data for turn-by-turn directions.

  What to Drink: Mendoza is world famous for Malbec, my personal favorite wine. Every winery makes it, but in recent years, they’ve expanded their repertoire to include Tempranillo, dry rosés, and Torrontés, a phenomenal white wine that’s only made in Argentina.

  What to Eat: If you can snag a reservation, have lunch and a glass of wine at one of the wineries while you look over the vineyards. This is still Argentina, so you can’t go wrong with a cut of beef. To satisfy your sweet tooth, nothing beats a dulce de leche crepe.
  

  

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, and explorer based out of Tacoma, WA. You can find his words in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. While you’re here, read more of his travel writing, sign up for his monthly newsletter, and follow him on Twitter.

  In part three of my four-part series on South America, we cross the border into a whole new world. Next up: Chilean Patagonia

  South American travel series:

  • Buenos Aires

  • Puerto Natales

  • Punta Arenas

  More travel writing by Jonny Eberle
• September 5, 2022

  La Vida Porteño: Traveling to Buenos Aires

  

  

  Today, I’m kicking off a series of blogs about my travels in South America way back in 2019. One of things I miss the most about the before times is the ease of global travel. If you’re like me and wish you could hop a jet to an interesting city without a care in the world, please fasten your seatbelt, make sure your seat is in the full, upright position, and read on…

  Traveling to South America is like meeting a long-lost cousin. So much is familiar and yet life circumstances have molded you into wildly different people. In the fall of 2019, long before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19, my globetrotting partner and I embarked on our biggest adventure yet — a two week sojourn across the equator to Argentina and Chile.

  You have to really want to go to South America to consider making the trek. The trip from Seattle is long and arduous, requiring us to change planes in Los Angeles and again in Santiago, spending nearly 24 hours in transit and covering a total distance of over 7,000 miles. Needless to say, a weekend jaunt is out of the question. When we decided to go, we hoarded our vacation days, packed our suitcases to bursting, and filled our itinerary to make sure we didn’t waste a moment of the experience.

  

  Buenos Aires is massive, vibrant, and a little overwhelming. Picture New York mixed with Paris: stately old buildings and wide avenues in some areas, narrow streets, nightclubs, and street vendors in another. We gave ourselves three and a half days to explore BA and while we hit a lot of the highlights, we could’ve easily spent a week or more in this amazing city.

  Sprawling along the wide mouth of the Rio de la Plata as it empties into the South Atlantic, Buenos Aires was founded five hundred years ago by Spanish conquistadors who named the settlement after the fair winds that blew in off the ocean. While the official language is still Spanish, this cosmopolitan city is a melting pot, home to people with roots all over the world, including the largest Jewish community in Latin America. As a result, Buenos Aires is beautifully diverse and enjoys world-class cuisine, art, architecture, and music.

  

  Buenos Aires is built for exploration. Around every corner and down every side street you’re likely to find a charming cafe, a cozy bookstore, a stunning mural, or a piece of Argentine history waiting to be found. The city’s famous Recoleta Cemetery is a maze of mausoleums filled with artists, revolutionaries, and historic figures — including the famous Eva Perón — stashed in the middle of a district of glitzy shopping malls and expensive apartment buildings. Street performers dance the tango and rooftop lookouts offer stunning views of the metropolis.

  At the end of each day, we were exhausted from walking and from putting our incredibly broken Spanish to use navigating BA’s labyrinthine streets, even as the city woke up around us, ready to party until the sun came up.

  

  We enjoyed wandering through the city’s famous bookstores, experiencing the incredible acoustics of Teatro Colón, and of course, eating and drinking our way from one incredible meal to another. Without a doubt, this is a city with an appetite for amazing food. To say we ate well is a understatement. We were blown away by the quality and variety of everything we tried, whether it was a crispy fried empanada, a glass or three of the country’s famous Malbec red wine, a succulent cut of steak fresh off the parilla, or the most perfect grilled artichoke that I have ever tasted, we ended each day in our hotel completely stuffed.

  

  At the heart of Buenos Aires is its people. Porteños, or people of the port, are a warm and hospitable group, able to blend old and new. It is a hard-scrabble place built by immigrants that is constantly evolving into something new. That ability to embrace change and to never stand still for too long, seems to be part of the core identity of Buenos Aires.

  As our plane turned east and the city gave way to the endless grasslands and ranches of the Pampas, our suitcases packed with souvenirs and alfajores (Argentina’s signature dulce de leche filled cookie), I knew I would be back someday. Until then, there was still so much to see and do elsewhere on the continent.

  Buenos Aires Travel Tips

  Where: Buenos Aires, Argentina
  

  Where to Stay: The twin neighborhoods of Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood are jam-packed with small, boutique hotels and a wealth of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops and are just a couple of subway stops from the city center. We stayed at the Hotel Duque. It was simple, but had all the essentials, plus they coordinated our airport pickup, which was a lifesaver.
  

  Know the Language: While many people speak a little English, it is essential that you learn some basic Spanish. The Argentine dialect is unique, so bring a phrasebook that’s specific to the region (for instance, the double L makes a “sh” sound instead of a “y” sound down here).
  

  How to Get Around: You can experience most of BA on foot, but the city is massive, so take the Subte (subway) to an area you want to explore and then hoof it from there. The Subte doesn’t run late, so have a backup transportation plan if you find yourself far from your home base after 10 or 11 pm. We found that limiting ourselves to seeing one or two adjacent neighborhoods per day was doable.
  

  Where to Go Dancing: Buenos Aires is the birthplace of tango, so find somewhere to go dancing at least once. We enjoyed going to La Viruta because it was casual, an easy walk from our hotel, and offered lessons before the open dance session, but you’ll find milongas scattered throughout the city.
  

  What to Eat: Everything. Definitely fill up on steak at Don Julio (and arrive early to get a table), but know that Argentine chefs do heavenly things with vegetables, too. Make time to hit up Chori to try BA’s quintessential sandwich, the choripan.

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, and explorer based out of Tacoma, WA. You can find his words in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. While you’re here, read more of his travel writing, sign up for his monthly newsletter, and follow him on Twitter.

  Stay tuned for part two of my four-part series on South America. Next up: Mendoza

  South America travel series:

  • Mendoza
  • Puerto Natales
  • Punta Arenas

  More travel writing by Jonny Eberle
• August 15, 2022

  The First Great Pandemic Novel

  

  

  Within a few weeks of the worldwide shutdown that followed the outbreak of COVID-19, I remember reading a slew of think-pieces about how someone, somewhere was using their quarantine to write a great pandemic novel. I rolled my eyes at these headlines. I certainly didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to write coherently about what was unfolding and I doubted that any writer could pen a book about the epidemic that would be worth reading—at least not until many years had passed.

  Fast forward two years, when my copy of Sea of Tranquility arrived in the mail. I was cautiously optimistic. If anyone could do justice to the COVID era, it was Emily St. John Mandel.

  Mandel comes to the topic of deadly diseases with more experience than most authors. Her breakout hit, Station Eleven, centers around a modern plague that has wiped out most of humanity. That book is a favorite of mine and it should be no surprise that it experienced a resurgence in 2020, six years after it was first published. Enthusiastic readers pointed to Mandel as a literary prophet who predicted the outbreak, even though her fictional Georgia flu is very different than the real coronavirus.

  Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mandel was flooded with interview and speaking requests. As the literary and the real collided, she started scribbling some notes about a 23rd century writer from the Moon who’s on a book tour on Earth when another pandemic strikes. That experiment in autofiction eventually became Sea of Tranquility.

  Having lived through two years of an actual, ongoing global pandemic, I wasn’t sure I was ready to read a novel about a fictional pandemic. Thankfully, Emily St. John Mandel handles the subject matter with delicacy and humanity. Sea of Tranquility is a fast-paced and beautifully written book. The book jumps across four time periods and Mandel wisely doesn’t linger too long in the present, choosing instead to draw parallels between today and epidemics in the past and the future. A time-travel plot ties the whole thing together, but the temporal mystery is secondary to how each character responds when their respective worlds come crashing down.

  But even in the book’s darker moments, there is an acknowledgement that history is never ending, even when it seems as though all hope is lost and the human race could never possibly go on. As the author character says in a virtual lecture in the middle of lockdown, “What if it is always the end of the world? Because we might reasonably think of the end of the world as a continuous and never ending process.”

  Fans of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel will be happy to see a few familiar faces from the ever-expanding ESJM multiverse, but anyone can jump in without having read either previous book, though it adds an extra layer of depth if you’re able to pick up on the references and recurring characters woven through the plot.

  In Sea of Tranquility, Mandel has written the first great pandemic novel of the 21st century. Rather than feeling weighed down or pessimistic, the book is overwhelmingly hopeful. We have been through worse, she reminds us, we will survive this moment of history, and humanity will survive into the future. At a time when our society often feels like it’s on the brink of collapse, that’s a reminder we can all use right now. I know I needed it.

  Buy Sea of Tranquility on Bookshop.org

  Book: Sea of Tranquility (2022)

  Author: Emily St. John Mandel

  Length: 272 pages

  Genre: Literary/science fiction.

  Rating: 5/5

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer and podcaster in Tacoma, WA. His work has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can follow him on Twitter, join his mailing list, and listen to his audio drama, The Adventures of Captain Radio, wherever you enjoy podcasts.

  I’m a Bookshop.org affiliate, so I may earn a small commission on purchases made using links from my website. Bookshop.org is an alternative to Amazon that supports independent bookstores, which is awesome. You can find more recommendations here.
• July 12, 2022

  Audio Drama, Sherlock Holmes, and Public Domain in My Interview With Grit City Podcast

  

  A few weeks ago, I got to sit down with the friendly folks at the Grit City Podcast to chat about my work as a writer, podcast creator, and filmmaker. We talk about my podcast “The Adventures of Captain Radio,” my involvement as a member of the Creative Colloquy board and as a contributor to Grit City Magazine, and Tacoma’s amazing arts community. See the post below from Obscure Studios to listen to the episode. Thanks to Scott, Justin, and Jeff for having me on the show!

  This week, you can catch Obscure Studios president Jonny Eberle on The Grit City Podcast! The Grit City Podcast has a simple premise—in every episode, the hosts sit down with Tacoma-based creatives and entrepreneurs over a couple of drinks to learn more about them and their projects. In this episode, Jonny joins the crew for […]

  Obscure Studios Talks Audio Drama on the Grit City Podcast — Obscure Studios

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer and podcaster in Tacoma, WA. His work has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can follow him on Twitter, join his mailing list, and listen to his audio drama, The Adventures of Captain Radio, wherever you enjoy podcasts.
• June 27, 2022

  How to Write When You Don’t Have the Time or Energy to Write

  

  

  Don’t get me wrong, I love to write. Creative projects fill my proverbial cup. But sometimes, I just don’t have the time to devote to the practice of writing, or when I do have the time, I can’t muster up the energy to actually put my fingers to the keyboard. Am I a bad writer because I can’t get the words to flow?

  I’m not a machine. I can’t flip a switch and suddenly be in production mode. That isn’t how creativity works. When the baby hasn’t been sleeping well or when I’ve spent all of my creative energy at work or when the dishes are overflowing the sink, it’s hard to even want to write.

  And yet.

  There is a voice in my head that says, “You’re not a real writer if you avoid writing. You’ll never publish your novel, finish your podcast script, send this short story out, etc.” Maybe you’ve heard this voice, too. It’s persistent, gnawing. It’s also dead wrong.

  I don’t know anybody who can write like clockwork every single day without a break. We all feel exhausted or overwhelmed sometimes. I often take long hiatuses from my creative writing, which makes me feel guilty, but it shouldn’t. Because there are days when the news is bad and the chores can’t be ignored and after all that, I just need to shut my brain off for 30 minutes with some TV. Or simply go to bed early.

  I would love to be one of those highly disciplined artists who stick to a rigid schedule, churning out masterpiece after masterpiece. Maybe I’ll be a full-time writer someday and have the privilege to spend my days like that. But right now, I have so many other things that need my attention.

  I don’t think that makes me a bad writer or somehow not a “real” artist. I’m human—and most of us humans need to rest when we’re tired, so we can come back refreshed, inspired, and excited to put words on the page. After all, if you’re not enjoying the act of writing, then what’s the point?

  How do you write when you don’t have the time or the energy to write? 1) Aim small. Instead of writing for an hour, write for 10 minutes, or write even one sentence. It feels good to make progress on a project, no matter how small it is. 2) Maybe you don’t worry about it today. Your Word doc with its incessantly blinking cursor will still be there tomorrow. It is good to give yourself a break. Rest when your mind and body need it. Give yourself permission to focus on your to-do list and don’t feel bad about dedicating time to other parts of your life. Stephen King has to fold and put away his laundry just like the rest of us.

  It’s okay not to write. You’re still a writer, even if it’s been days, weeks, or months since you actually wrote a word. If the desire to tell a story is still in you, then you’re the real deal.

  So here’s to the working parent writers. The full-time job writers. The juggling-multiple-jobs writers. The caregiver writers. The chronic health condition writers. The gotta-focus-on-my-mental-health writers. The burned-out writers. I’m with you. And when we’re ready to get back to our manuscripts, it’s going to be amazing. Until then, be kind to yourself.

  —30—

  Jonny Eberle is a writer and podcaster in Tacoma, WA. His work has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can follow him on Twitter, join his mailing list, and listen to his audio drama, The Adventures of Captain Radio, wherever you enjoy podcasts.