6-8 months journey throughout South America
 

Hello cool people,
next may(2016) I'm heading on a journey throughout this amazing continent with my girlfriend. We want to do around 6-8 months trip with let's say 1000GBR each so in total 2000GBR. What do you guys think? are we gonna make it?
usually when we travel we do it by hitchhiking, wildcamping and not last always cooking for ourselves it's really rare to go and eat in a restaurant or spend money for alcohol and etc.
i'm pretty aware that main attractions will not be visited, because we would do 1 month instead of 8 :D
Also couchsurfing is on the list as well as volunteering in orphanages or organizations where we could eventually sleep for free and if lucky have a meal or 2 a day.
I mean the idea of this trip is to get to know the people and the cultures in SA also to learn Spanish.
Thanks to all of you in advance.
Anton

I feel sorry for you, save some more then you don't have to play victim.

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Find my wife. She helps couchsurfers. Her name is Eva.
Tarija Bolivia. Dutch, just about the only one in Tarija.

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Not sure many (if any) orphanages would be comfortable with a stranger unless you could provide some sort of verifiable credentials/references.
Budgeting is a personal thing. I could tell you that you can do your trip for far less because people do it everyday down here, but in some cases they eat out of garbage and sleep on the street. You should get on google and find prices of hostals and campgrounds in the places you want to go and set up your budget that way. What may be a perfectly acceptable campground to me might be out of the question in you or your girlfriends mind.
Make sure you educate yourself about the bugs you can catch down here and talk to your dr about vaccinations (hep b, hep a, etc) . . . and know how to avoid the things you cannot vaccinate against (chagas, dengue, typhoid, dysentery, etc) . . . Id suggest spending the first couple of weeks at least in an urban area till your immunity gets built up. Figure out where you absolutely should not go wherever you are (certain favelas in Brazil, etc) Not trying to discourage you, there's backpackers all over the place down here and they seem to get along well from what I can see. Just know that it aint cushy rosey carefree especially on the cheap.

Assuming you mean GBP or British Pounds that is USD 3000 or in 8 months about $6.50 per day per person.


Good luck with that. I did something close to that over a space of 4 months and was living pretty rough. But that was in 1981!

I spend about 20 pound a day, that's what it averages after bike parts, gasoline, food, hotels (though I wildcamp 70% of the time), and other general expenses. I'd say one grand each for 6-8 months is very optimistic. But as others say, if you always sleep rough, hitchhike and maybe dumpster dive, then maybe it would be possible? I'd say to even travel like a super budget backpacker around South America on 6.50 a day would be practically impossible. Maybe you should think about going to India instead :)

funding travel
 

In my opinion, travel is best when you have money enough to do it right and some extra in case things go wrong. How you prepare for extended travel is filled with personal choices. Scraping by and cutting corners is not my idea of fun. I live with a number of costs as, "the price of adventure." Why am I willing to spend freely? Because its worth it.

Being financially prepared for medical emergency, unexpected turn of events or misfortune is the responsible approach. Personally, I spend the money to get a full range of shots and take anti-malaria pills when I leave home. I have met people that didn't want to spend the money to see a travel doctor and buy the medication. Or they decided the treatment is a bad as the disease and the chances are low. Well, they might be right about the chances, which depend on where you go. But malaria sucks once you get it and it doesn't go away. Evacuation insurance costs a few hundred dollars. Some people get it, some don't. I know I guy who's wife broke her leg and used evacuation insurance to get them on a plane home. In part, I don't want to burden anyone with a phone call and a plea to get me out of a jam. If I am living my dream, I'm not going to place potential risk on anyone else.


On the road I have hung out with backpackers and a few motorcyclist with tight budgets. In short, they aren't much fun be with or their budget drive them and limits them. Not a hard a fast observation, but the profile fits often enough. Here what I experienced, they eat the cheapest food all the time. They spend a fair amount of time shopping and making their own meals. In La Paz I met a wonderful Asian couple that really enjoyed making their own pizza. They hadn't perfected the steps of making good dough, but it was fun for them. So they spent more time in the hostel, cooking and hanging out with the hostel crowd, instead of get out and enjoying the local food as prepared by locals, they were making bad pizza in a crowded hostel. Get the picture?

When you are on an ultra tight budget you start worrying about entrance fees to parks and museums. I've seen backpackers hanging out in city parks or outside museums, because they don't want to spend the little bit of money left on fees. Frankly, they could hang out like this at home. Grant & Susan Johnson talk about going to the arctic circle in Sweden (?) and having to pay a park fee to ride a little further to see a monument. They're advice, pay the fee. It's dumb to go to the other side of the world and not spend the little bit more while you are there.

I have traveled with tent, etc and rarely used it. The few times I camped were caused more by necessity, than choice. In Latin America hotels and hostels are really, really cheap and come with little things like showers, chairs, wifi, lights after dark, room fans, etc. Wild camping is a countryside thing, hard to find in cities, so be prepared to pay for lodging. Finding a room for the night is one area were I will cut corners and sleep in crappy places. If I am showing up late and leaving early, them who cares if the place is thread worn. I am basically unconscious the majority of the time, then wash up and leave. As long am my motorcycle is locked up somewhere and the bed is dry and fairly flat, I'm in.

Think about shortening the length of the trip, spending more per day and enjoying a richer experience.

Thanks to all who replied.
I guess we will need to save up more money or make the trip shorter.
Cheers!