Dear South American Blog Writer Sir,
I am an American (like, from the USA), and want to backpack, or live and study, in South America. What next?
A great question. It´s one I asked myself, and google, many times before I left for my trip, but never got a clear answer. The answer is - money. Well, click ahead, and I´ll offer my wisdom-
Here is what you absolutely need to bring with you to South America: An ATM (cash) card linking you to at least a couple of bucks. I don´t care who the money belongs to, it just helps to have it available to you, and safely stored in a bank and not your hostal room or annoying traveller´s checks.
You don´t need much money, depending on what you want to do. Head down to your local Borders bookstore and read the lonely planet guidebook for an idea of living costs where you are headed. I can tell you that Argentina and Bolivia are quite cheap in which to live. In Bolivia, you can realize the dream of living well for under $10 a day, including food, hostal, and transport.
You might also want to bring a travel towel, because I swear those are hard to come by down here, and are quite handy. I don´t have one. Last, buy and bring a reliable digital camera. Trust me, reliable is the key word in that sentence. I also brought a tiny MP3 player, but for god´s sake do not bring your huge shiny IPOD. This is South America after all, you need to be at least a little clandestine about your tremendous wealth and hipsterness. GAAA!
Everything else you need, and I mean really everything, is available for sale in any major South America town, and even some of the small, goofy ones. For instance, Cipro pills (for really bad stomach problems, expect those) are sold here in Bolivia for about $0.20 a pill. My new watch, with alarm, was $3. It says the time to me in Spanish, and makes me giggle uncontrollably.
Of course, if you have a good backpack, a nice journal, some good clothes for travel (not pricey, durable, washable), then by all means bring them along. Just make sure you can carry what you´ve already got, and leave room for buying all the cool things down here. If I had to do it again, I would bring less and buy more. If you happen to be a nature nut, bring your nature gear. If you are a normal city dweller, just rent a stupid sleeping bag for the few days you discover nature down here, don´t lug it all around a continent.
One of my favorite travel items happens to be my stupid old Nokia (non triband, unfortunately) phone, because I use it as a travel alarm, and nothing else. It will work for weeks on one charge, and needs no batteries. Bring your battery charger if you have one as well, that´s a pretty useful item (thank you Sony Cyber-U).
In terms of meeting people, it´s no problem- assuming you aren´t a complete...
I will say this. I have met many other American tourists in my travels. Some are really cool. Others are not well liked, and oftentimes it´s their own fault. If you are the type of person that can´t share, deal with noise, accept other cultures, or you happen to frequent prostitutes, please consider that other travellers may automatically detest you (especially if you boast about these qualities loudly in public). If you don´t have friends, it won´t be nearly as fun or interesting to travel.
Travellers are over-friendly, and you´ll meet all sorts of people from Europe and beyond down here. In terms of travelling alone, it is usually no problem, even for women, assuming you take a normal amount of caution. Chances are you will be travelling with new friends you meet on the trail here in no time, so don´t sweat it!
To sum up: Get up off of your Herman Miller desk chair, and book a round trip ticket with an open return jaw to South America already. See ya here, I´ll be around.
Hey ya AK, glad to hear you are doing well. :)
I want a watch that tells me the time in Spanish!!! :)
*HUGS*
Lis
Posted by: Lis | May 03, 2005 at 09:32 AM
i was totally with you up until the whole not using prostitutes and boasting about them loudly in public to all. arg.
Posted by: albert | May 02, 2005 at 07:15 PM