is south america do-able if your travelling alone? (1 Viewer)

[JenFast]

its what im saving for.....always wanted to go but alas no one wants to come with me and im really set on that not stopping me

 

[plug]

I've haven't been to south america (yet) but I was in mexico and central america recently, all by myself. no problems. at all. not even food poisoning, which really surprised me. my girlfriend lived in peru for a while and she travelled all over south america by herself as well. don't think she had too many problems...

the reality is that you'll be beating a well worn path on the most part and you'll almost constantly be in the company of other travellers, at least when staying in hostels etc. god that makes it sound kind of depressing haha!

 

[pete]

The brother in law's fiancé did it last year. She had a ball, apart from getting robbed in the street (forget what city) the week she was coming home & losing her digital camera with all the photos from the trip still on it.

 

[flashback]

I did it... it was grand.
Chile and Arg., 4 months, Santiago ->Temuco bus, hitching bussing driving treking etc to Ushuia (Tierra del Fuego) and then a quick flight back up to B Aires.
On the way I slept all over the shop, ditches on the sides of roads, under bridges, on rooves, no problem anywhere.
Em... yeah, even in BA I was totally grand, strolled around, ended up in a hostel, hung about for another week or so there.

I mean, I am a bloke... and, I suppose I might have looked a bit rough having been in the Andes for months so maybe I wasn't a prime mugging target, but, I felt totally safe there all of the time.
When I arrived back in Dublin, I felt nervous, and comparatively much less safe.
Also, almost all of the time... I was seriously in the arseholes of nowhere. But... yeah, its pretty much OK out there, as far as I am concerned.


Shit... I think Mumblin wanted some info off me. I think he is off there at some point. I better get on that.


edit... I was actually happy that I went alone. I met up with people... and hung around them for as long as I wanted, I did whatever treks and whatever else I wanted, and had no one else to worry about. Like, spending 8 days at a time alone crossiing the Andes all the time was probably less clever, and in hindsight I was rolling the dice a bit on that one.
But, I dont regret it, and if I could do it over, I would do it much the same way.

 

[Donkey OJ]

yeah do it. we´re floating around south america at the moment and there´s lots of both male and female solo travellers. we do our best to strike up conversation or share our crackers with lonely souls as does everyone else staying in hostels is a sure fire way to bump into other likeminded travellers and theres a chance you mightnt be travelling solo for long. dont let the fact that others around you cant generate the momentum to travel. go for it yourself and choose whether or not you want to continue travelling on your own when you get there. a lot of people we´ve met actually prefer the flexibility of solo travel. a lot of people also enjoy sharing an amazing experience with others. its up to you. do your research on unsafe areas for solo (female?) travellers. the guidebooks and online forums are full of tips and tricks to avoid hassles when travelling on your own (i recommend not using deoderant). the unruly hordes of gringos have most of the interesting parts of south america covered so you´ll very rarely be totally on your own as a traveller down here.

do it. and good luck with it.

 

[oh shit]

is south american do-able if you no habla espanoley

 

[flashback]

is south american do-able if you no habla espanoley

yeah, it is, you just learn it. Its not that hard, the grammar is like Irish too by the way.
I went there not knowing a single word, and on the way home 4 months later I was having chats with the dude next to me on the plane in spannish. I am sure I am shite, but, like its not a bad language to learn.
(And I am bad at languages, unless they are computer languages... seriously, D in the leaving in German and Irish, and English now that I think of it....)

 

[JenFast]

SORRY, BY SOUTH AMERICA I MEANT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
ARE THE FLIGHTS REAL PRICEY TO GET THERE THOUGH.... HOW MUCH MONEY WOULD YOU NEED TO BRING FOR SAY, 3 WEEKS TO A MONTH?

 

[coast to coast]

absolutely doable. the more popular it is the more the gringo trail gets developed and you'll meet tons of friendly people. in

 

[It Will Never Last]

Here JEN, are you Cauls' JEN?

If so, get the fuck out of the country will ya?

 

[JenFast]

Here JEN, are you Cauls' JEN?

If so, get the fuck out of the country will ya?

what?

 

[It Will Never Last]

what?

Wrong Jen so. Soz.

 

[IFF]

its what im saving for.....always wanted to go but alas no one wants to come with me and im really set on that not stopping me

there was a book out last year, "Angels & rabies" where the author Manchan Magan travelled ecuador, peru and colombia on his own

well he did also have his imaginary friend, rabbit, as company

good read

 

[plug]

SORRY, BY SOUTH AMERICA I MEANT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
ARE THE FLIGHTS REAL PRICEY TO GET THERE THOUGH.... HOW MUCH MONEY WOULD YOU NEED TO BRING FOR SAY, 3 WEEKS TO A MONTH?

I give mexico (as it is technically north america) and centroamerica 10 billion thumbs up...

if you're looking for flights, try air europa, flying from madrid to cancún, which is on the carribean yucatán peninsula. might find a decently priced flight there. and you're a skip and a jump around the bottom half of mexico (which is deadly) and guatemala, belize, el salvador, nicaragua etc. and if you're spanish is any way usable, here's a good flight er, consolidation (?) webpage: www.edreams.es. you can do all manner of flexible searches across loads of different airline etc. etc.

as for travelling between central and south america, I think you'd probably have to fly to colombia, ecuador or perú from costa rica or panama, as overland is impossible unless you want to traverse one of the most dangerous regions on earth, i.e: the darien gap. or go by boat... although that's ropey too. heard a story about a friend's girlfriend recently who did this. boat sank, sharks etc. mad shit... plus a lot of the boats are involved in coke trafficing etc. arriba!

I might be able to answer any c. america questions if you have any, so post 'em if you do!

 

[the cider man]

SORRY, BY SOUTH AMERICA I MEANT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
ARE THE FLIGHTS REAL PRICEY TO GET THERE THOUGH.... HOW MUCH MONEY WOULD YOU NEED TO BRING FOR SAY, 3 WEEKS TO A MONTH?

If you're only going for a month I'd say pick 3 - 4 areas/regions that you want to go to and leave it at that. If you try to do too much over there you'll get nothing done.
Buenos Aires is my fav city. Spent 3 months there a couple of years ago. Nightlife is fantastic and it's so cheap. I flew into B.A and got return flights for about 850euros through trailfinders.
If you're on a tight budget stick to Argentina and Bolivia. They're defo the cheapest. I found Brazil, Chile and Venezuela pretty dear in comparison.
It's a massive continent so do a bit of research on the places you're thinking about going to or you'll end up in some horrible dumps (like I did in Brazil, several times....not nice)