On February 2nd, we’ll be trading in our tropical island paradise for tough mountain landscapes, ancient ruins, rich rainforests, as well as Spanish colonial cities. That’s right, we’re heading to South America for the second time. This trip we’ll be travelling around for 3 months while inspecting new countries off our travel list: Ecuador, Peru as well as Bolivia. 

We couldn’t be much more excited!

2018 was the very first year we didn’t add any type of new stamps to our passports, so we’re truly looking ahead to packing our backpacks, lacing up our hiking boots as well as hitting the road. 

See Also: looking back on 2018 – A Year of Achievements

Living in Grenada for this past year was precisely what we needed — for business, health and wellness as well as relationships. however having stated that, the travel itch is starting to ended up being unbearable. We like the home we’re renting, our good friends we’ve made as well as what the island has to offer, however things are starting to feel a bit as well normal and we’re prepared for our next adventure. 

We’re travellers at heart, as well as I believe we always will be.

Trading in the beach for mountains!

Click right here to checked out about our previous trip to South America, which included Colombia, Chile, Argentina as well as Uruguay. 

One-Way Ticket…

We’ve bought a one-way ticket. But, we both understand that we’re returning to Grenada at the end of our South American adventure. This feeling of wanting to “return” is new for us. except for 2018, we’ve mainly been moving on to new destinations.

After 10+ years of our nomadic lifestyle, we’re discovering delight in having a neighborhood as well as are continuously discovering new things about Grenada, as well as discovering hidden gems here.

Our house will be waiting on us when we return, as will the additional things we’ve accumulated while we’ve been here. Normally, we’d have to provide away any type of excess products we had obtained during our short-term stays. this time around around, our good friends will store our (few) things we have as well as it’ll be good to not shove everything we own into a 40L backpack.

We’re just bringing the necessities!

A new method of Travelling

This 3 month trip will be somewhat different from ones we’ve performed in the past.

We’re different People

We’re not the exact same people we were 11 years back when we set off on our very first backpacking trip, and we’ve altered because our last trip to South America in 2016. We’re continuously growing as well as evolving. Our situations have changed, our preferences have altered as well as rather simply, we’ve changed. We’re older, (somewhat) wiser as well as our interests are different. 

We’ll be travelling with backpacks, however not staying in backpacker accommodation, or staying with a backpacker budget. rather than partying all night with fellow travellers, we’re thinking about interacting with regional people. 

One thing that has stayed the same, however, is that we’ve organized whatever ourselves as well as will kind out transportation, food as well as activities as we go. We’ve even organized the Galapagos Islands independently!

We can’t wait to get back to South America! (photo taken in Colombia)

A focus On accountable Travel 

These days, it’s much more essential than ever to be a accountable traveller. Not that we haven’t been in the past, however this time around around, we’re truly going to focus on that element of travel. 

We’ll be bringing our Steripen to decrease the utilize of plastic bottles, as well as the soaps as well as shampoo we have are all natural, as well as bundle free. We’ll shop at markets as well as support little vendors where possible.

When it concerns trip business as well as accommodation, we’ve been doing a great deal of research study on which ones are eco-conscious as well as provide back to the neighborhoods they are a part of. It took a great deal of researching for Machu Picchu, however we feel we’ve discovered an outstanding business that focuses on sustainability, fair wages as well as social economics. 

Many of the accommodations we’ve booked have a strong focus on the environment, with some holds requesting we only utilize natural insect repellents as well as sunscreens. Plus, numerous of them offer homemade foods baked by regional neighbours as well as organic gardens in the yard. 

Paying Our own Way

We won’t be working with any type of hotels, trip business or airlines…by choice.

Our site web traffic has tripled over this past year (thank you for reading!), with 350,000 people going to this site each month. This is an achievement that we’re extremely happy of, as well as we’re so pleased to be able to share our message with much more people.  

Because of our high site traffic, there’s the prospective to produce some excellent partnerships with brands in Ecuador as well as Peru. however we want this trip to be all about enjoying travel — without working with any type of companies. We’re looking ahead to not having the pressure as well as tension of producing material on a deadline, as well as can’t wait to simply travel again.

Don’t get me wrong, getting totally free travel is one of the excellent advantages of ending up being a travel blogger, as well as numerous influencers base their company plan around press trips as well as brand campaigns. This is excellent if that’s the path you want to take, as there is money to be made as well as amazing experiences to be had. 

We’re grateful for all of the press trips as well as campaigns we’ve been a part of in the past, as well as we’re not against them for the future. But, we’re looking ahead to this specific trip being about travel, without a side of business. 

While we may not be composing evaluation articles or producing brand particular posts, we’ll certainly be composing about this trip! We’re thrilled to share our stories, pictures as well as must-dos with you. stay tuned for must-eat’s, must-see’s as well as destination guides to Ecuador, Peru as well as Bolivia.  

Travelling in Argentina’s Lake district was amazing, however we did work with numerous companies
Planning Ahead

If you’ve been complying with our journey for a while now, you’ll understand that we’re typically relatively spontaneous when it concerns travel. We’ll show up somewhere as well as relocation on when we feel like it.

Over the past 2 years, we’ve ended up being much more indecisive for some reason as well as planning where to go next has been a challenge. Plus, we don’t truly like to plan because we never understand what the future is going to bring.

Rather than spend our upcoming trip trying to figure out our route, the cities we want to visit, the excursions we want to do as well as where we want to stay, we’ve booked numerous things ahead of time — for the very first time ever.

I believe it’ll be good to not “waste” any type of valuable travel time while we’re on a trip with a deadline (even though it’s a one-way ticket, we have a date that we plan to return to Grenada). 

Of course, not whatever is set in stone, however we did book lodging as well as flights as well as we needed to book Machu Picchu ahead of time. We’ll figure out transport, excursions as well as food while we’re in-country.

Unique Accommodation

During our past travels, we’ve mainly stayed in hostels, guest houses, hotels as well as apartments. this time around around, we’re staying in some incredible, unique locations that we’ve discovered with Airbnb.

We’ve been recommending this lodging platform on our site as well as in our newsletter. We utilize it, as well as we like it. When you indication up for Airbnb, you get $25-$40 off your very first stay, as well as we get $15 off our stay. Over time, we’ve accumulated some credit rating as well as are putting it towards distinct houses in South America. 

See Also: Airbnb discount coupon Code: get $25-$40 off!

While planning, we searched on Booking.com, Hostel world as well as Airbnb for locations to stay. What stood out the most was the value for money on Airbnb. For us, it just didn’t make sense to overspend on a fundamental hostel or a hotel space when we might delight in an environmentally friendly cloud forest home, a cabin in the mountains or a cottage next to a river.

Of course, these spectacular properties expense a bit much more than a hostel, however we believe it’s worth it for the character as well as place of the places.

We like the platform since we’ve been able to make good friends with the hosts, or at the extremely least we’ve been provided some outstanding regional guidance on off-track things to see, do as well as eat. 

One of the advantages of staying in Airbnbs is that in some cases you’ll befriend the hosts!
In Buenos Aires, we went to a restaurant/bar with our hosts, one we never would’ve heard of otherwise. The night out was excellent as well as we discovered a great deal about the city, as well as Argentina as a whole. In Manzanillo, we delighted in dinner parties, fun events as well as numerous conversations with our hosts, who soon ended up being excellent friends!

For us it’s all about interacting with the regional people as well as discovering about their culture as wellas customs. We’re truly looking ahead to this element of our South American trip. 

Slower Travel 

I believe we’ve lastly accepted the truth that we like to travel slower than many people.

If a blog or guidebook suggests 3 days in a town, we’ll stay at least 5. the very best part of travel is checking out at a slower pace, discovering locations that aren’t on the well-trodden trail, as well as of course, having time to spend with people we satisfy along the way.

For many of the destinations we plan to see, we’re staying 5 – 7 nights, with 2 weeks spent just in Cusco as well as The sacred Valley. I really believe it may be difficult to leave the natural surrounds of a few of the locations we’ve booked. 

It’s going to be difficult to leave this place! picture Credit: Airbnb

Highlights We’re Looking ahead To

Ecuador, Peru as well as Bolivia are extremely diverse countries as well as offer travellers history, culture as well as adventure. From the Amazon as well as Andes to the coastline as well as desert, there’s something for everyone.

For us, we’re particularly looking ahead to all of the ancient Inca ruins as well as our trip to Machu Picchu. numerous people opt to take the new train that leads as much as the site, however we’re going to hike for 5 days on the Inca Trail, before reaching the well-known ruins.  

The trekking as well as experience element of this trip is going to be incredible. These countries are understood for their various waterfalls, mountain bike trails, hiking tracks as well as multi-day excursions. Bring it on!

Not only will the history, culture, as well as experience be a highlight, however so will the wildlife. The cloud forest town of Mindo in Ecuador is understood for its 400+ types of birds. Not that we’re birders, however seeing (and hearing) toucans as well as other dynamic birds from our balcony with coffee in hand is going to be quite amazing.  

When it concerns wildlife spotting, nowhere is going to contend with the Galapagos Islands. We’re going to Santa Cruz as well as San Cristobal Islands, with some day trips planned. We’re looking ahead to spotting huge tortoises, land iguanas, blue footed boobies, hammerhead sharks, turtles, sea lions as well as more. 

Oh, as well as I’m sure we’ll area numerous llamas in the region!

Any Ideas?

For those of you who have been to Miami, Ecuador, Peru as well as Bolivia, we’d like to hear from you. Either send us an email, or leave a comment on this short article about the must-do activities, must-see sites, your preferred towns as well as your top restaurants as well as bars. This is going to be one legendary adventure! Make sure to comply with us on Facebook as well as Instagram to see pictures as well as stories from our trip in real-time.

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