Backpacking South America vs SEA

Patagonia
/thread

argentinian south

>>1198654
>but I never see South American trips on this board.
>Is there a reason for that?
Maybe you don't lurk enough, no offence. There are occasional South America threads here on /trv/.

It's difficult for us random unknown anons to just choose for you. Knowing Spanish is a great plus. You probably don't need me to tell you South America is an awesome continent.

11k is perfectly possible if you mainly stick to Peru, Bolivia, and I assume Ecuador.

You are right though, SEA seems to be the standard backpacking destination. Maybe because it's cheap, and doesn't have a negative rep like other cheap places like South America, which is totally undeserved.

11k for a year isn't a lot, after airfare you'll have 800-900 a month? between regional traveling and accommodation you wont have too much left over, it's still doable but I'd find it boring

is there a reason for a year? you could do a great trip from colombia to argentina with that budget and a few months

if you want to be gone that long, maybe try teaching english?

there's an anon in africa with a thread right now, should read it to see why people don't backpack there

>>1198704
>You are right though, SEA seems to be the standard backpacking destination.

SEA doesn't get cold, you don't need to bring a 30L+ bag there as you just need your regular clothes and a waterproof windbreaker, a lot of trips to SEA tend to be getting drunk and going to the beach

>>1198859
>should read it to see why people don't backpack there
Not that anon, but could you give me a tl;dr as to why?

>>1198654
i have never been to SEA, but common sense says that if you're a beginner, south america will be easier.

You can start at the amazon rainforest, going down from peru to argentina, then up to uruguay until you reach rio.

desu, with one year and 11k, I would do both, with rest time in between.

I just did both in one long trip. I highly recommend SE Asia based on the culture and the sheer adventure. Culturally all of South America is much closer to the west. It just doesn't feel anywhere near as exotic as any of the SE Asian countries. And it's definitely more expensive to travel around.

11k will take you far in SE Asia, but to be honest with you, it's not going to last you a year unless you eat street food every day, stay in hostels 100% of the time, and skip any sort of remotely expensive experiences (tours, etc).

I recommend aiming for a shorter amount of time - after 8 months you'll be tired of traveling anyway- or staying in one place and picking up work along the way.

South America is incredible culturally, with women that IMO blow away all other parts of the world, but you'd have more fun there when you're in you late 20's and have a larger budget.