Nostalgia from an invented country

My family and I make sure to visit El Relincho every time we are in Patagonia, specifically in our favorite place in the world: El Chaltén. Since 2016, it has been a tradition to visit this small town of 4,000 people every summer. We climb new peaks, mountain bike to waterfalls, and enjoy delicious chipas and facturas at La Panadería de Los Salteños. El Relincho is a campsite that evolves with each visit as more people discover they can see the Patagonia® logo from there.

Last summer, a book in the classic “communal” pile caught my attention: "My Invented Country" by Isabel Allende. As much as I would like to call myself naive rather than ignorant, I did not realize the significance of her surname in the region I was in. The captivating writing wouldn't allow me to stop reading. The book became my companion during breakfast, yoga, hikes, and, of course, before bed. Her writing style was eventually overtaken by her story and personal reflections. The more I read, the more I felt connected to Isabel's life story through the power of her memoir. Isabel often talks about the feeling of not belonging anywhere as she moved across the globe due to her father’s job, her uncle’s rise to power, and later her own husband's job. Just like her, I also am not sure where I am from nor how to explain my feeling of nostalgia.

For me, nostalgia is a parallel concept. I feel nostalgic when I see a rubber melting down; protests; Garmin G-Shocks; Nalgenes; microwave jackets; Hannah Montana to Emma Chamberlain; even the ammonia-like smell—all these trigger nostalgia from different areas of my life. From facing the Amazon rainforest humidity to exchange programs in Oaxaca.

Through several thrift stores, communal piles, and libraries, where I probably have immense debt, I couldn’t help but wonder how hard it would be to have a library. I would probably be very old by the time I have an organized library. It must be easier if you inherit one from your family, but if you are like me, whose family keeps moving around, it's hard. Most of our books stay in boxes. Nostalgia has a lot to do with books. My nostalgic feeling reflects an identity built of books that do not look harmonious on a shelf. At first, I might not look or sound harmonious at all. It would probably take some three or four rundowns of my life, with a Q&A session to make my personality as a whole make sense. So, I relate to Isabel Allende. The nostalgic smells, idols, foods, and stories can't be found in a local library. We build our internal library out of books we find in communal piles across our favorite spots around the world.