Why South America is best to travel

Ok, so this is just my opinion about traveling the different parts of the world and maybe it’s only the best for me.

My argumentation is based on my experience/what people told me so far/what I think about the rest of the world.

And, as always, don’t take too seriously.

Let’s just start:

USA/Canada

Ok, this is already divided as USA and Canada are as different as my left and right hand. I’m sorry to say but the USA suck to travel. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful country regarding the landscapes and the people. The culture, well, you can argue about. But public transport is basically not existend and those little you have are really expensive. Renting a car, however, is incredibly cheap, for Europeans, and totally recommended if you want to travel for a longer time in the US. Then again it depends where in the States you are. I’ve only been to the East Coast and found it rather hard to get from A to B especially in the South and what i was told the West Coast is even harder.

As ‘Muricans are not really big travelers, hostels are rare candy. Those few you’ll find are really expensive. I found only one affordable hostel in Philadelphia all the others were, for my wallet, overpriced especially when you consider what you get for that price.

Canada is a little bit better. At least regarding hostels. It’s definitely more European in this situation. Transport is not really better as all the big cities are really far apart, the same in the US or pretty much everywhere outside of Europe. Additionally, Canadian is weaker than the American one so everything gets a little bit cheaper. And, hands down, Canada is definitely better than the States. It’s a little bit as Austria for us Germans. We make fun of them and their weird accent and snowy mountains but living there is actually better, I mean Austria has all the games uncensored. How cool is that?

Anyhow, North America is definitely not cheap to travel. It’s easy as there is hardly any language barrier and you get used to that weird feeling that everybody could shoot you because you’re “different”.

Europe

Europe, I think, it’s not that nice to travel. Sure for me it’s easier as for many other people because of the Shengen Area (what a cool thing.) Now, that I’m outside of it for the first time I actually know how much easier this makes traveling.

Another good thing are the distances. Everything is so close. When you grow up in Europe you have know idea that a one-hour-car ride is not long. My sister lives about two hours away from me and still I hardly visit her as it is too far away for me. That one time a year she comes home for Christmas is enough anyway.

Here in South America an 8 hour bus ride is like a daily thing.

Public transport, most of the time, is really good. And thanks to RyanAir, flying from one country to another is really cheap, quick and easy. Sometimes not that cheap as you have to pay extra every fucking little thing but well, that’s their deal.

On the other hand, Europe’s biggest advantage is also it’s weakness: its diversity. Yes, it’s amazing to have so many different cultures, habits, foods and drinks, languages and whatnot in such a little place. And the euro makes it easy as you don’t have to convert your money all the time.

But this is also why it’s hard. Pretty much every country has different habits you have to adjust to, has a different culture that works in a different way (sometimes it’s not working at all) and most of the time has a different language where you might want to learn some phrases. The thing is when you’re not from there you get 90 days for the whole Shengen Area per calendar year which is way too few. There is so much to see and you can’t do it one go. So people just rush and do the big cities or split it in several trips. And when you are like me, why should you make an effort to learn how to greet someone in Dutch when you’re there only for a week.

Most of the Europeans speak English, especially in North and Middle Europe, and of course the big cities with a lot of tourism, but apart from that all the different languages make it really hard.

As it is so easy to travel there are a lot of douche bags. Ok, this is totally my impression. A lot of people, including me, travel Europe to see how is this traveling/backpacking life. Which is totally fine as you have to start somewhere. But as you get away with being a dick you don’t really change. It might be different when you’re not from Europe but I definitely met more assholes in Europe than I did here in South America.

More things are working, you can book a bus from Barcelona to Berlin and don’t have to worry about anything so you never start to get out of comfort zone. Maybe this is too far away from reality but I bet one or two can relate to that.

Africa

What to say about Africa? I mean why would you go there in the first place? …

Just kidding. I’ve been to the Northern countries which I don’t think of when I think of Africa. Still those countries are completely different to the rest of Africa.

And what I heard so far Africa is still hard to travel. You have to be really aware of what’s going on. Racism is still a thing down there. Several times people told me they threw rocks at them just because they are not black.

Of course there are also beautiful places in Africa and you also have nice experiences of course. But to be honest, you just go there when you seek the extreme and hell you’ll get it. Or if you want to help poor children which is good. I pull my traveler’s hat for you.

Asia

I probably should shorten it down to South East Asia as everybody just goes there. India, Thailand, Vietnam,  Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. This is apparently the hot spot right now which is the reason for me not to go there as everybody is there.

It is, indeed, incredibly beautiful to travel SEA, the different cultures, the beautiful landscapes, 3 of the 7 world wonders, the delicious food, oh my God the food. I never want to have anything else in my life again. And it is super easy to travel there. So many people have been there, have seen everything, have eaten at every restaurant and slept in every hostel or hotel, went swimming at all the beaches and slept with all the lady boy whores. Everything is done already. You can read it on TripAdvisor. Because of so many travelers there you will probably only meet foreigners from North America or Europe.

Here a common misconception: the languages within SEA are completely different and not even a little bit similar. Apparently it’s even worse than in Europe. So you’re also not going there to learn one of their languages. When you want to learn Mandarin or Khmer you go and live there for a longer time and not just travel.

Another thing is that many of these countries hate each other so they won’t let you in when you’ve been to one of the enemy states before. Quite crazy those peops. And we all know getting a visa can be a real pain in the ass.

On the other hand though it is super cheap to travel there. At least for us Europeans. Get a 5 course-menu for under $10. No biggie. About transportation I can’t tell you a lot to be honest except that it’s an adventure which is probably what everybody wants. That’s why they go there. Not only curry and yoga. And this is also the reason why I say I don’t have to go there. Sure it would be nice and probably will do it soon but there are other places I want to see first. In total you can say you won’t regret going there.

South America

The beautiful rose growing in the field where you buried your cat. It’s hard to live here and therefore even better to travel. It does sound wrong but let me explain this.

Many countries down here had and still have a bad time. Drug wars, high criminality, bad education, insufficient supplies are a common thing. And because of this people here are so much friendlier than you would ever expect. Of course, there are differences in each country but in general they are really friendly. For me as very skeptical person it was hard to get used to this level of kindness.

It is, most of the time, quite cheap. It’s not super cheap but still cheaper than home. Which makes it quite fun to travel. With little money it’s possible to have quite an easy going trip where you can treat yourself every now and then with a en-suite room or a fancy meal without ruining your travel budget.

Regarding transportation it’s a huge difference on the country you’re in. Some of those countries are not that developed and you can literally feel it. Sitting in a sticky bus without air-con on a bumpy road for eight hours and you feel every bone in your, by this time, weekend body. Sometimes you can upgrade your transport of choice for a small obolus. Or in the case of Colombia you even can fly which sometimes it’s even cheaper than taking the bus.

South America has a lot to offer. The food is really delicious with that little they have. Yes, pollo and rice get annoying really quickly but just take all the fruits they have. And as a veggie it’s not that big of a deal – except for Argentina.

Of course all the indigenous tribes. The Inkas are only one of them. There are so many more here that it would probably take ages to visit all of them. Then there are so many places that are way worth going. And I highly recommend y’all coming here.

What’s good for me is of course the language. You learn one language and can find your way around in 9 out of the 13 countries. When you want to learn Spanish this is where you’re going to. The nothern countries have a very easy Spanish. Actually you could say the more South you go the worse the accent they have. Even if you want to learn Portuguese you’re probably more likely to go to Brazil than to Portugal, aren’t you? I don’t know about you but this is what I would do. All the movies are dubben in Brazilian Portuguese anyway.

The landscape is plain amazing. Uncountable times I was stunned by that one mountain I climbed, that one beach I went to, that one mirador I looked down from. There are animals I didn’t even know they existed and the adventure continues. Everyday this place is giving you the chance to learn something new. And this is for me one of the reasons why South America is a great place.

In the beginning I couldn’t think of staying here for longer and now I’ve been in Colombia alone 3 months which is a long time already but definitely doesn’t feel long. Getting a visa is quite cheap with obvious exceptions. I like the Colombian-Canadian one where Canada said “Nope, you Colombians have to pay to get in.” and so Colombia did they same thing with the moose heads. Me, as a German citizen, never had any troubles. 90 days for each country … feels about damn right. This is how it should be.

So this is it. These are my reasons why, at least for me, South America is the best part to travel. Rio de Janeiro, Easter Island, Machu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands, Iguazu Falls, and so many more bring people from all over the world to just be stunned by what it can offer. I’m truly in love with this continent and could totally spend here a longer time easily. It might take several trips to see everything but I wouldn’t mind. I found friends and homes and as you know nothing is better than coming home.

Australia

Dang! I forgot about ‘Straya …. ehm yeah deadly spiders and snakes, alligators and sharks, kangaroos and platypodes though. Fires and drug addicts, Crocodile Dundee and wombats that attack you and shit. Don’t go there.

G’day, mate.