I’ve been listening to the Live Free Creative podcast lately and there’s a segment where the host shares a magical adventure moment – a moment from an adventure that sticks in your memory. Our first night in Las Condes at Parque Araucano was a magical adventure moment for me.

To be honest, the first week in Chile was a little rough. I mean, we were so grateful and happy to be there… but with jet lag, time zone change, extreme heat with no A/C, and longer work days than Brandon was used to, plus figuring out how to manage homeschool and get used to everyone being together all the time…well, it was a lot to figure out. Oh yeah, and I didn’t speak much Spanish.

I remember talking to my sister that first week and she asked, “So are you ready to move to Chile?” I said, “No” without even having to think about it.

But after we had spent a week in Providencia, we moved AirBnbs to Las Condes, an area of the city a little farther west to a bigger apartment that we could get a monthly discounted rate on.

Knowing Brandon would be leaving the next day to go to Cordoba, Argentina for a few days to work with his developers there, I wanted to spend time together exploring our new neighborhood and stocking up on groceries.

Brandon stocked up food while Eli and I napped. But then I got a funny text saying, “Hey are you awake?” He had filled the shopping cart way too full and realized he didn’t have a car to bring it home in. So I walked the few blocks to Unimarc to meet him with the stroller to bring it back. We got a good laugh as all of us were dragging bags home.

Once the groceries were put away, we loaded the stroller up again, this time with children and walked to Parque Araucano. Walking there the first time felt long and far. We watched some amazing BMX bikers in a competition. We picknicked. We tried Frugeles for the first time. And having an English conversation with some Australians was really refreshing.

Magical Moment

We found this little play area at the corner of the park and stopped to swing. As the kids were singing, a free concert in the park started. We couldn’t see it, but we could hear classical music blaring through the area of town. The evening air was cool, the kids were happy, and my soul felt full with love and happiness and sunshine. As we left the park, we saw a gorgeous sunset with the iconic bridge in the foreground.

In that moment, I felt like there was no other place I’d rather be. If my sister asked me that same question that night, my answer would have been “YES!” I had only been in Las Condes for a few hours, but I was already loving it.