Backpacking South America on a budget: why I’m doing it

Travelling has always been something I’ve drawn to since I can remember. Being a little girl, I used to think that it was something only rich people could do so it was more a dream that I wish I could chase. At the time internet was still in the beginning and my parents and family were not actually travelers, so no one explained to me that it depends on how you travel.

I won’t say that travelling was always as cheap as it can be today but it was not just available to the rich. As I grew up, I learned that you can see the world without millions in your account, especially when living in Europe, but it took me a looooong while. So besides 2 trips I had at high school and 1 I had with mom to visit my aunt in Switzerland, I only started to actually travel when I was already finishing college. I went on a few trips and just when I was planning awesome new trips, Covid hit and travelling got very limited.

However, since my first trips, I had this really strong desire of one day just travel and do it for months to actually live the places I visited instead of just rushing through the country in a few days and come back to work. I also wanted to do it in adventure mode, just a backpack and my willpower!

Then I started working in a corporate job and the desire only grew and grew and grew. I didn’t hate my job, I was quite good at it but I just felt like it wasn’t it. I just wonder “so this is it until I retire now?” and I couldn’t accept a life like that.

I know I’ll have to go back to work eventually and I already knew I had to go back at the time, but this trip would be an experience that I didn’t want to give up on, no matter what.

So I started saving all my bonuses and cutting unnecessary expenses (these don’t include travelling) so that I could just save for this trip. After a while I reached my goal, now I just had to book it (and wait for Covid to end).

I told my boyfriend about this early on and he was on board with me. He also didn’t want a life with no adventure, thankfully!

After all of this, we booked a one-way ticket to Bolivia and here we are, living the adventure.

And this is it, I just wanted to see the world with all the discomfort and challenges that come with backpacking on a budget like we’re doing. Not because I don’t think other more comfortable ways of travelling are valid (I do that too) but because in terms of really learning a place, of growing and of adventure, it is the best way. This and the fact that it is one of the biggest dreams I had and I refused to let it die. I knew that I would regret if I didn’t do it for some reason imposed by society like evolving in my career or some bs like that. When I’m old and dying, I might regret a lot of stuff but not chasing my dreams won’t be one!

Let’s see how it goes 😉 Will you follow along?