Can I have it all?

[kiwisincanada]

Hi there, my boyfriend is telling me we realistically cant do this... what do you think...

We will have US$2,500 each and we will be traveling from Miami and would love to see Iguassu falls and Brazil, Argentina, Machu Piccu and we would love to go to Columbia, ultimately ending in Cancun where we have paid accommodation.

Am I way out of my league? It will be our second time backpacking, we spent 6 months in South East Asia and enjoyed the slow life a lot we definitely spent our fair share of nights in crappy hostels but not too often and we love to eat at the local markets and stalls, but still be able to do a tour here and there.... as I'm writing this, I'm thinking hes right....lol

[Mark]

This depends on how long you'll be traveling and what you are going to do.

South America is huge, it's a lot bigger than Southeast Asia. Distances are enormous. A daily budget of 12 to 15$ will cover basic costs (accommodation, food). Public transport is cheap.

You'll see some breathtaking attractions while traveling in South America. Machu Picchu is just one of them. Some of them are cheap to visit. Others, like Machu Picchu, are expensive. Your budget is going to suffer big time.

Write down what you want to do (time of stay, countries, attractions, etc...). This will give you a better idea if your budget is holding up. I have a free e-book with all the attractions of South America. You can download it here.

Keep me posted about your travel plans!

Best wishes,

Mark

[kiwisincanada]

Thanks Mark,

well time is no factor, we have all the time in the world but not a lot of money, we are on our way home from Canada.

our main interests are culture, and orginal architecture, south america looks bright and colourful and we would love to see all that first hand. understanding that excursions like Machu Piccu are exspensive we would still like to see and do a few things like this...

we also prefer to have our own room in hostels...

thinking we may need to skip brazil altogether to be able to do this on a budget... will check out your link thanks

[Mark]

You're welcome. You'll have a great time in South America.