Some Safety Questions

[SoonerChik29]

Hello Mark,

I am considering doing some traveling in South America this summer. If I am not able to find a travel companion, I would still like to attempt to go it alone, and wondered if you had any safety tips, and other words of caution that may help me to safely travel alone.

What measures can I take to best prepare myself for my adventure? What can I do to make it less likely to be taken advantage of, both monetarily, personally, etc. Where might be some great places to stay or visit where I might meet others who are also traveling and might welcome an additional travel buddy?

Finally, what places can you recommend for someone traveling on a budget (lodgings, food, sight seeing, etc)?

Thank you,

Darci

[Mark]

Hi Darci,

You've got some great questions here. It's true that traveling alone as a woman in South America may sound like a very daunting experience. I've traveled many months in South America and have met many women traveling alone. They were all having a wonderful time.

The one and only sound advice I can give is to use your common sense while traveling in South America. Do not wander off in unlit streets after dark. Take a taxi to your destination after dark. If somebody invites you to join him/her to spend the night on a tropical island by all means go but take somebody with you or ensure that more people are partying the night away.

Do consider taking Spanish lessons. It makes the trip so much more rewarding. It's a fun language. It's easy to catch some basic Spanish phrases, such as asking for a hotel room, where to find a bus, etc... quickly. You can have some fun with our free online Spanish lessons (you'll see how easy it is to form full sentences in Spanish).

The challenge of many backpackers lies in not getting ripped off in South America. Don't worry about it too much. Do ask or set a price before taking a taxi and although it's still possible the cab driver is going to charge the "gringo" rate, don't let it ruin the trip. It's just a few dollars. Do ask prices to fellow backpackers for some of the things you'd like to do (national parks, hikes, etc...). They will be your best source of travel information on the road.

I've written a full page with tips on how to prepare yourself to travel to South America. Feel free to read more here.

Meeting backpackers is by far the easiest and the greatest thing of traveling in South America. When you arrive at your hostel the first night the place is going to be packed with lots of great people. Hang around a few days and you'll have travel buddies in no time (really). Also if you'd like to have an idea of what kinds of hostels South America has to offer you can play around a bit with our hostel booking engine (pick a country, a hotel and date of arrival).

I found your travel buddy suggestion a great idea for the forums. Feel free to post in the Travel Buddy forum, you never know, maybe you can hook up with one of the many people who come over to the site for information.

Setting a budget is difficult. Are you going to hike and climb? Or just relax at the beach? Or maybe you're into breathtaking ruins? Are you going to stay 2 weeks or two months? As a rule of thumb you can start by setting a day budget of 15 to $20. This is for transport, food and lodging. Add an additional budget for visiting national parks such as Machu Picchu or The Galapagos Islands.

Hope this helps a bit. Do ask more questions if some things are still bugging you. I'll gladly help you out.

Best wishes,

Mark

[mee8ka]

my son is going to travel in Sth America. Should he be concerned about where he buys his food. Are restrauants mostly fine? Should he avoid all meat dishes?

[Mark]

Hi mee8ka,

Food in South America is of excellent quality. Your son should not be concerned at all. Lots of restaurant serve simple but fine meals. There is nothing to worry about.

Argentina produces probably the best meat in the world and their 'asado' (barbecue) is paradise for meat lovers. Other countries like Peru and Ecuador serve besides local meat dishes like 'cuy' (guinea pig) also great seafood dishes.

You can read more about food from Argentina, food from Brazil, food from Peru and food from Ecuador on our site.

Feel free to ask more questions. I'll do my best to help you out.

Best wishes,

Mark