🏔️ Joe List’s Peru Adventure: A Multi-Day Hike to Machu Picchu

Comedian Joe List joins the travel podcast You Be Trippin’ to recall a memorable trip to Peru with his ex-girlfriend. The journey combined a challenging guided trek, spectacular scenery, and an emotionally complicated reunion.

The Trip

• Joe and his ex met in Cusco before setting out on a multi-day hike toward Machu Picchu.
• They were accompanied by a local guide, Kik, and support staff who carried camping equipment on donkeys and prepared meals along the route.
• The hike covered several miles each day and passed through villages, farmland, valleys, and high mountain terrain. Conditions varied from warm weather to cold, snowy elevations.
• The route included remote campsites and occasional small huts where hikers could buy snacks. Joe especially remembers finding Pringles along the trail.
• A particularly steep day involved a strenuous climb to a mountain summit. Joe’s companion became seriously ill, so she rode a horse while he completed the hike on foot.
• Along the way, they saw an avalanche, enormous mountain scenery, a striking night sky, and a huge butterfly. They eventually took a train to the town near Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu—and the Complicated Reunion

Joe had hoped the trip might rekindle their relationship. Although they shared a tent and had a wonderful time together, his ex had made clear that they were not getting back together.

• When Joe raised the idea of restarting the relationship, she said no.
• His disappointment affected his experience of Machu Picchu, which he later described as one of his biggest travel regrets.
• The trip ended with a warm goodbye, but Joe’s flight was cancelled. Tired, heartbroken, and feeling the effects of Xanax and a beer, he had to navigate the unexpected delay and find accommodation.

Travel Moments He Remembers

• Food: The guides served simple hiking meals, often soup, rice, bread, chicken, and pasta. Joe—who usually eats only a few foods—ended up trying what was prepared.
• Coffee: At a coffee-growing site, the producer proudly showed him the beans. Joe tried the coffee and disliked it intensely.
• The finish: After days of hiking, a cold Peruvian beer, a restaurant, a shower, and a bed felt especially rewarding.
• The crowds: Machu Picchu itself was amazing, but it was much busier than the quiet trail leading there.

Lessons and Reflections

• Believe people when they tell you where they stand. Joe says he should have accepted his ex’s repeated assurance that they would not reunite.
• Don’t treat destinations as checkboxes. He and the host reflect that avoiding a place simply because they have “already been there” can be driven by ego. Returning to a place can be worthwhile.
• Take photos for your own memory. Include yourself and the people you’re traveling with; pictures can bring back details that memory alone loses.
• Stay open to unfamiliar experiences. Traveling in another country can make ordinary things—street signs, landscapes, food, and local customs—feel new again.
• Expect some uncertainty. Weather, illness, transport problems, and other surprises are part of travel, especially on a remote trek.

Overall: Joe remembers the Peru trip as extraordinary, even though his hopes for the relationship complicated part of it. The conversation celebrates the adventure—and the value of experiencing a place for its own sake. 🌄