You look up and say what a nice view, where is that. Ready here goes it's Chile. Now you're saying "no way too dangerous." Most people, especially Americans, are cautious of any South American country.
I get it, they have a bad reputation. Yet like all rumors, it needs to be verified. Let's get to it.
Do Research
Yes, do your research, I know it may seem obvious. Yet many people skip it and listen to friends and family.
It's great that you take other people's recommendations. Yet that's all it is. Look at the ratings online, and look at comments good and bad on Forums.
Look at videos of different cities on YouTube, and look at the crime rate on the government website.
Get an idea so you don't skip these amazing countries. Plus, when you're knowledgeable, it's much harder to get fooled.
When you are empowered by knowledge.
That's Preparing for a trip worldwide and staying ahead. Also, you can save some serious money who doesn't want that?
Low Cost
Cheap low-cost trips are my favorite trips period. Most likely my favorite part about South America.
If you're American, will be the dollar, why it's powerful in almost every South American country you can go to?
Sometimes, your money is worth 2x or 4x times their currency.
An example in Peru is $1 American dollar at the time of this writing is $3.84 Soles.
Imagine you carrying hundreds of dollars that will be 3x that or more. $100 American dollars would be $3.84 Soles.
I have gone to certain restaurants where I only paid $7 Soles for the whole meal.
That's $2.12 American dollars I'm American that's pocket change. You can't get a seat at any restaurant in the U.S. with that.
It's not just restaurants either, tours, shopping malls, and spa treatments.
All that can be very affordable if you know where to look.
It's not unheard of to return home, with half your money unspent, because of how cheap it is.
Out of all the South American Countries, Argentina is the cheapest at the moment.
How and why is Argentina a good travel spot Unfortunately, the country is going through a major recession.
For example, the American dollar went from 42 Argentine pesos in 2019 to 182 pesos per dollar in 2022.
That is just the official rate if you sell dollars on the streets it's 320 to 360 per dollar.
So if you are on a budget and want to start in South America I recommend this country first.
Airfare
This one is the budget killer for most people. It determines if you can take a trip somewhere or not, or if it goes on a credit card.
Honestly, flights to South America are cheap.
I got a flight to Ecuador, with a layover in Panama City with JetBlue for $164 flat with taxes included.
If you're most people, you expect the flights to be $300 or higher that's the average, especially within America.
That is why I always tell people to check multiple websites for flights.
Not just their favorite airliner they use for rewards points.
A lot of no-name-brand airliners are a good choice, especially if the Airliners home base is the South American country you're going to.
If you can get a good deal with an airliner, for a cheap price buy it. That happened to me with JetBlue, and that will happen to you if you look around.
Just don't be fooled into thinking fare prices only go up and up as you get closer to the departure date.
Look at multiple Airliners that fly to that exotic South American country you like.
To save you time use flight search sites Expedia, StudentUniverse, and Skyscanner to name a few.
In 4 to 5 minutes, you can have all the prices of that day by doing a wide net search. All in the comfort of your bed.
Also, try to reduce your luggage space and take with you the Travel Essentials you will need. As this can reduce your chances of paying for extra luggage.
Lodging
This one needed to be separate from Airfare because this might be the most expensive part of traveling.
If you're not savvy at booking hotels. For example, I can get a good room, not luxuries for $7 to $10 a night, sometimes less.
I know people who pay $100 a night, not including resort fees and other gotchas. Why spend so much money on a hotel?
It's only good for sleep when you're on vacation.
Think about it if you want a fancy hotel, then you would save yourself the Airfare, and go to your closest 5-star hotel.
Instead, why not use those savings on a longer vacation time?
Visiting more countries, exploring more cities, and eating at restaurants.
If you know what you're doing. You can save more with lodging than airfare because you have a lot more control over where to stay and prices.
let's not forget the competition between hotels.
One of the cheapest lodgings I have ever booked was in Iquitos, Peru.
If you take a trip to Iquitos don't be surprised with prices as low as $8 American dollars a night.
Either at hostels or Airbnb and $10 to $12 for hotels. If you're looking for a place to lodge for a long time whatever the reason, I recommend Iquitos.
Crime
Believe it or not, South America is not as dangerous as you may think.
It depends on what country you visit and what area to visit (remember, do research).
When I went to South America. I felt safe, when I went to Argentina I felt safe in general.
In fact, I felt safer than in my hometown in Massachusetts, where someone was murdered on my street.
So when you look at the statistics of a country's crime rate.
Take into account the population and who is being murdered.
For example, is gang members killing each other and not ordinary people?
What are the attacks on tourists like, is it normal pick-pocketing?
Ask yourself this question, it's why research is so important.
Now You're Ready
If you keep in mind what has been mentioned in this blog. The world has a lot more opportunities than you thought.
You will travel to cheap places as beautiful if not even better than the hotpot travel destinations.
Your friends will go broke, and you will laugh at the bank.
You won't be as scared when someone says that place is dangerous.
You will put on your skill sets and have a better vacation than the rest of your friends and a lot cheaper too.
Author: Edwin Reyes
Edwin Reyes is an author and founder of Crazymyworld.com with a wealth of global experience. Read about his adventures traveling the world and get inspired to explore your own new horizons.
