Why Argentina?

Having made plans and bought a plane ticket, a number of my friends are asking why I'm busking Argentina.

To start with, there's a family connection. My great-grandfather emigrated three times, from Italy to Argentina, back to Italy with his young family, and retiring in Buenos Aires. Given my own wanderlust I tend to identify with him, and want to further explore the place he obviously loved.

The other reasons get a little more complicated. In 2011 I had a personal crisis of confidence and was considering whether I should give up music as a profession. As an experiment I decided to see how my favorite pastime, travel, held up as a tourist rather than a busker. I enjoyed Buenos Aires, but felt it was a pale shadow to my other travel experiences. I want to go back, having been vindicated in my professional choices, and try it again.

The final impetus is deeply personal. Argentina is terra incognita, although I've done my homework, and the idea of busking there scares me. I have a visceral and stubborn reaction to fear, and refuse to be ruled by it. I leave March 18.