Uruguay
Coast
February 2023 • With two oversize personalities (Brazil and Argentina) at its border, Uruguay has learned to keep its head down, work hard, stay quiet. It’s a great place to visit for similar reasons. Shoulders come down, bags go unwatched, transactions become easier. With just 3 million people, the country's income levels and living standards aren’t as wildly unequal as in Brazil and Argentina. The New York Times Magazine even says Uruguay is a case study in economic and environmental sustainability. For a greater sense of the national character, revisit the story of the Uruguayan rugby players who survived a plane crash in the Andes in 1972. Their 72-day ordeal is operatic, a haunting tale of the human will to live despite impossible circumstances. Those who know the story well are quick to point out: The survivors didn’t just wait to be rescued—they made a hellish decision to avoid starvation, then fashioned hats and gloves out of seat upholstery and hiked down from the mountains to save themselves.
