South America backpacking DD

[MotherofAdults]

Not quite sure where to post this, but DD22 is planning a trip in January (yes I guess it's a sort of Gap yaar/extended holiday) to South America. I am quite anxious about this as she is starting with Columbia and then travelling round to Peru, Argentina and Brazil apparently. The plan is to do this for four months with her boyfriend. She is working to save around 5k to do this trip.

I am not very well travelled or informed though my DH is and he is much more relaxed (it is the absolute oppostite of what I would chose to do, but I am 52 and tired!) and it's causing me some anxiety. I am not sure about her level of planning, but there is only so much we can do to intervene/advise. I am pretty sure 4 months will be too long for backpacking. We have advised decent insurance and budget. She is sorting vaccinations.

I would really appreciate responses from people whose kids have (or they themselves) have done this recently. I guess my questions are what should she be thinking about/planning for? What should she avoid/look out for?

She is an adult I know, but I would like to understand it better, feel reassured.

I’ve done it myself, on my own, as a teen and a few times since. Colombia isn’t any more or less safe than the other countries. I spent two months there. I’ve spent a lot of time in Brazil, I’ve been to university and worked there as well as backpacking. I went to Mexico on my own at 19. I got homesick and missed my boyfriend so shortened my trip. At least your DD has hers there! I love the freedom of solo travelling but it is generally easier and cheaper to travel with someone else. Feel free to ask me anything about my trips, the last one in Latin America was 2014 though.

Do your DD and her boyfriend speak any Spanish or Portuguese?

4 months sounds amazing!
I backpacked in Peru alone for 3 weeks in my early 20s and only scratched the surface. Before mobile phones.
Planning for that length of trip would be flight in/out, a vague itinerary and first 3 nights accommodation. Buy a local SIM card at the arrival airport. Cash from cash machine on arrival. The rest can be fixed on the ground. Long gone are the days needing to find accomodation on arrival - booking.com and Hostelworld are your friends.

What do you mean 4 months is too long for backpacking?! If anything, it's not long enough for a whole continent.
In any case she is 22. Let her get on with planning her own trip without mummy sticking her oar in.

We have a house in Argentina, i've always found it very family orientated. It has a european vibe and the buses are really good. They go long distances and are a easy way to get about. Don't know much about any other countries nearby, but I'm sure she will make some brilliant memories.

Dd snd a female friend travelled independently around Central America for 4 months they had a marvellous time. Very set up for back packers and to be fair they weren’t hassled or leered at by local men. Avoid the drug cartels which is pretty easy to do as a tourist.

Beware of adulterated alcohol served to tourists - several deaths recently. I saw this on BBC news site.

This is all largely reassuring, thanks all. I know its my own caution, ignorance and anxiety. that's why I am trying to adress it here, rather than interfering.

I did this with my husband (10 years ago) We found Colombia safe and one of the friendliest of the countries we went to. It was really refreshing after Ecuador where there was definitely more of a culture of trying to rip off tourists.

Best advice is just hyper awareness on buses and bus stations etc, biggest issue is likely to be petty theft. Keep an eye on the news in Peru as there has been recent political instability. If they have the time to learn some Spanish it will really help (I speak Spanish but not Portuguese but found I could decipher things in Brazil)

With this amount of time I assume they will stick to fairly well trodden tourist trails.

We had the best time, as a continent South America offer such a variety of things to see and do.

DS hasn't been to South America, but has travelled independently to some places that are a bit more "adventurous". Personally in these circumstances I read the Foreign Office travel advice for the countries he's travelling to and make sure he's aware of any relevant warnings, eg if the Foreign Office advises against all/non-essential travel to certain parts of the country. The fact that the warnings come from the Foreign Office means that he knows that it's not just a case of Mum worrying, but advice based on what Foreign Office staff are seeing on the ground.

I did this myself. Spent 6 months there. 4 months would barely scratch the surface. Definitely not too long.
It’s very safe. It’s beautiful and she will have an amazing time.
Friends have been more recently than me and aside from the obvious rise in costs. It’s largely unchanged from when I visited.

From a quick google there are quite a few parts of Colombia for which the Foreign Office advises against non-essential travel. If your daughter is not necessarily the most thorough of planners, I would check she is aware of these. A standard travel insurance policy is likely to exclude cover for travel against FO advice.

She will be fine! Ds18 has just gone to New Zealand and for me the biggest thing that helped my worry was knowing I had a passport so could just go if I needed to, so if you do not have a passport get one!!

NZ really isn’t South America! Petty crime and demonstrations are the issues in South America. Staying safe is important and staying in tourist areas helps if they want to go out at night. However bag thefts etc aren’t unusual. So she needs to understand where to go, where not to go and personal safety.

My biggest worry was the roads.

You should watch race across the world, the celebrity one with Scott Mills in, because that was travelling through South America though Brazil, Chile and Argentina, not Colombia or Peru. I spent about 5 months backpacking in South America myself, it was part of a round the world trip, she will honestly have the best time. I love the Andes, Machu Picchu is a special place.

She’ll be absolutely fine, thousands and thousands of people from around the world do this every year, it’s one of the most popular backpacking destinations, there’s a whole industry set up to cater to them.

She will be fine! I just got back from 3.5 months backpacking S America and she will love it. Not sure why you think it’ll be too long.

She should take hand sanitiser, avoid getting drunk at night too far from her hostel and should see a medic if she feels unwell.

She should look up the Spanish/ Portuguese medication names for antibiotics and anti parasitic. Just makes life easier to get over the counter if she’s unwell. She should take a tour of any favelas instead of heading into them alone.

I found Peru super safe and Colombia was surprisingly good too. Brazil a touch sketchier but people were lovely.

Tell her to make sure she has the ice cream in Peru! It’s the best I’ve ever had in 50 countries!

You really don’t need to. I went from 0 Spanish to conversational level in my 3 months in S America. Google translate also exists.

DS has just come back (Brazil, Columbia and Peru) - only 6 weeks but he was travelling solo an had an amazing time. He would have stayed longer and travelled further if he'd not had to come back for a new job and he will be going back
He booked most of his hostels and trips in advance and chose ones that were reviewed as being sociable and safe. All the hostels made great efforts to bring guests together for social events and trips and he found them really helpful and friendly. The worst thing that happened was he had his monzo card nicked in Rio entirely his fault as he left it out in the hostel after a drunken late night party . He did meet other people who were pick-pocketed at a carnival and lost fancy i-phones. He deliberately took a low value 'decoy' phone in case.
Overall he met wonderful people, saw amazing places and would highly recommend.

Watch race across the worlsld series 2
BBC One - Race Across the World, Series 2, Episode 1 https://share.google/D7Ds6X3qYXSYKD4io
They will be fine
Same precautions as london be savvy
Plenty tips online
Sew pockets into clothes etc for cards and phone on lanyards etc
Dont put credit cards in a wallet to have in a pocket or belt then hang it up near by while you sleep on a night bus (a colleague had their money belt stolen off them...sounded horrific wgen it seemed ripped from their body... til they admitted they had taken the belt off and stored it in a bag! )

Your need a year

You would need a year, 4 months is very little time in South America

I was just interested. I would say it is definitely easier if you do regardless of the existence of google translate. I’m fluent in both, and Latin America is definitely easier for me than other places where I don’t speak the language. I’ve spent a lot of time there over multiple visits.

Weird comments that “you need a year”. A year backpacking is expensive and pretty gruelling / exhausting. Don’t know any one on a gap year that went that long. Most go -3-6 months having worked the other months to earn to pay for it.