Planning my next backpacking trip to South America 💃🏻Research, Budget, Packing + more

hello friends I hope that you're well as many of you may know I have picked my next big backpacking destination and that is South America more specifically Colombia and Ecuador to start off with in this video I'm going to be taking you through my entire planning process things that I've already done the things I'm currently doing and the things that I still need to do I'm going to be looking at destinations budget accommodation traveler gistic activities visas packing all that fun stuff so firstly let's start off with the things that I've obviously already done so the very first thing was picking the destination how did I pick Colombia and Ecuador as my next destinations I'm at the point in my life where I really need to prioritize the destinations that I want to travel to as a solo backpacker who likes to stay in hostel he likes to go and have wild adventures from the day into the night loads of new people and be young wild and free because that's the category of life that I'm in right now and I don't think I'm going to be in this category forever I want to settle down and have kids one day and I'm sure at that point I'll probably want to travel slightly differently and I think that there are some destinations which are definitely more suited to that type of travel and there are destinations where being a backpacker I think is definitely the most fun way to get around so looking at all of the destinations over the world that I have not been to that are fantastic for backpackers and fairly affordable as well South America is right at the top of my bucket list it's somewhere that I wanted to go for a very long time it has never been right at the top of my priority list until now and since I'm trying to escape the British winter this year as with every year it only makes sense for me to go also somewhere that's either on or below the equator which is exactly where this is so when am I going and how long am I going for initially I said I wanted to start this trip like right at the beginning of January 2020 however I have been informed that there is a very very fun massive salsa festival happening in Cali Colombia over Christmas for like four days and I really want to go to it so now I think I'm going to be leaving in mid-december I am in the process of starting a new business back here in the UK which you will find out so very very soon I've hinted it quite in the past because of this it means I don't really want to spend loads and loads and loads of time away from the UK so for that reason and also after for backpacking too long I start to lose my sanity a bit I don't think I want to be gone for longer than three months so that in mind I will probably be in South America from mid-december to mid March and I really don't want to rush my travels I've done that in the past and I always just end up leaving destinations countries feeling a little bit disappointing and wishing that I had travelled slower and had done more so with that in mind I only expect to be able to cover about two countries in South America in three months and before you say anything that does not mean that I don't want to travel more of South America of course I do but it may just have to wait for another time but we'll see I'm booking a one-way flight in order to be as flexible as possible and I guess just see where the journey takes me and Colombia in particular is a massive country so a big reason why I think it's gonna take me a really long time is even just in my first destination Cali I feel like I want to spend at least a few weeks they're just like intensely learning to salsa dance because that's just massive on my bucket list and there's a big city called meadow Jean which is really popular with digital nomads and people working online and expats and I can really see myself probably plunking myself there for at least a couple of weeks catching up on editing because of course I want to keep you guys updated with my adventure as I go along as I learnt from the Philippines I'm really not very good at editing whilst backpacking because I'm backpacking I'm having a good time but if I can stop in certain places just for a week or two weeks and smash out the work that I've done so far it means that I'm able to keep you guys updated along the way which is something that I really want to do and meadow Jean is also supposed to just be a really cool city to hang out in is also multi-day hikes in Colombia which I'm really keen to do so I really think I could easily spend at least two months there next door to Colombia we have Ecuador is quite considerably smaller so I don't think it's going to take me half as long to backpack but you've also got the Galapagos Islands which I'm really keen to go to if I can afford it so with all of that in mind I don't think I'm going to have time to visit more than that in three months who knows Never Say Never a fun thing about one-way flights is that I can just see where the wind takes me now despite the fact that I want to be flexible I personally think that research is so important to do before going on a big backpacking trip so you have an idea of the things that you can do you've got some good recommendations of places to stay places to eat activities hostels budget and how much things should realistically be costing you so how do I go about doing my research first and foremost I am constantly taking recommendations from people and making a note of it whenever I get a recommendation for a country that I think I might want to go to one day whether it's from a friend from a blog from an Instagram from the TV I make a note I make a star of it on my Google Maps so I already have quite a few stars in Colombia of recommendations some hotels and restaurants and tour activity companies some national parks or just some waterfalls and things like this the reason I do this is because when I one day find myself in these destinations I can just whip out my Google Maps have a look at any of the stars that I might have starred there and I can go there knowing that someone's given me a good recommendation and then as far as active research goes I literally just watched so many YouTube videos I watched vlogs of backpackers in these destination and I read travel blogs which have loads of information at this point I would love to give a big shout out to my friends Andrew and Emily who run the blog along dusty roads comm and they are hands down the best blog website on the internet for South America content information from recommendations packing lists beautiful photographs these guys have done it all and they're my friends so I trust them I will link their website down in the description which you guys can check out especially if you're planning a trip to Central America so once I have a nice load of stars on my map I can perhaps start to think of a rough itinerary most importantly where I want to start my adventure in order to give myself the best opportunity to reach as many destinations on my list as possible so of course this is where I'm going to have to book my flight into the capital of Colombia is Bogota which I imagine is where most backpackers start off their destination because it's where most international flights will flight into however I think I'm wanting to start my journey in Cali because of this Christmas festival so what I'm looking into at the moment is the logistics of flying into there but again nothing is set in stone at the moment I don't like booking things until maybe like a month in advance because I know what I'm like I changed my mind a lot so I guess we'll just see it with that one question I get asked a lot is how far in advance should I booked my accommodation when I'm backpacking and the truth is there really is no right or wrong answer to this but what I do in order to be secure and flexible once I have booked my flight and that's in place I will book my very first accommodation in that city that I land in because why not I know I'm going to be there for a particular date so I might as well secure as soon as possible a nice place for me to stay I'm also booked in advance accommodation if I know I'm going to be anywhere else for a particular day maybe if you're going to be somewhere for a particular event if you know you're going to be there book your accommodation as soon as possible because why not you're going to be there anyway but as for the rest of the trip the majority of the trip where I don't know where I'm going to be on what dates I will book this accommodation online about a day or two before because normally when I'm backpacking on the road I will know where I'm going the next day or maybe in two days time so that's when I put my accommodation I'll go on hostel world I'll make sure I have a local SIM card so that I can always access being online and I will book my next hostel just a day or two in advance this makes me feel really secure that I have a specific destination of where I'm going to when I arrive in that new destination there are some that faculty don't do this they will literally just rock up at a new destination on the day with nowhere to stay and then go around hostel hopping like searching for somewhere to stay have done that in the past and it's always been fine but I don't really like to do that because I find I just can't be bothered to be honest like when you arrive in a new destination normally you've been on a bus for a few hours the last thing you want to do is just walk with your backpack on your back trying to find somewhere to stay for the night with no go and teas so that is an option but personally I just don't do it like that anymore I've got my reservation in place I know that I can head straight to that hostel I could put my bags down I can lock my valuables away in a locker and I just feel more Zen I feel more them and I feel more at home in that destination from the get-go now the big question budget how much is this going to cost me three months in Colombia and Ecuador and how do you even calculate a budget when you've never been to that destination before the first place that I always look for information is nomadic mats blog I will link it down below I always use maps blog as a rough ballpark to start off with so what does nomadic mat have to say about Colombia okay so he's got a range of options I'm definitely in the backpacker region up here he has said $48 a day and down here he has said 38 per day so let's go with around $40 which in GBP is 32 pounds so going by this figure it should cost me just under 1000 pounds per month in Colombia so two months they're costing me just under 2,000 pounds and Ecuador he says is thirty to thirty five US dollars per day so around 25 pounds per day which is just 750 pounds per month so as a very rough ballpark not including my international flights two thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds for three months and I actually think that this may cost me a little bit less because like I told you I'm going to be traveling quite a bit slower like for example if I stay in Medellin for two weeks I'm not going to be spending much there at all other than just on my accommodation and food I won't be doing any activities or travel that so I should save a little bit of money there but this is just a bullpup also nomadic mats website is generally just very good for general backpacking information budgeting advice and things like this so thank you very much Matt for your blog assistant and then there is of course the international flights so a little look at sky scanning you can get one-way flights for 320 pounds but they are very long and after my 50 hour flight where my luggage was lost and never to be seen again I'm not such a big fan of doing these really long flights anymore so I'd much rather invest a little bit more money in a flight that I feel more secure with the time of year that I want to go it's looking like a one-way flight is around 500 pounds and then of course I will need to book a return flight eventually so let's say another 500 pounds for that I'm gonna budget around 1,000 pounds for international flight and now what about visas I like to look on the Gulf website in the UK to find this out so Columbia I can travel freely without a visa for 90 days happy days and as for Ecuador oh there seems to be a lot of bad things happening in Ecuador very recently which is advising us against traveling there okay you know that is a big shame or keep an eye on this to see if things settled down these events were only very recent if it still looks like this at the time that I'm wanting to go to Ecuador I may have to reconsider and perhaps get a flight to Peru or Bolivia but this is why it's good to have a flexible itinerary guys but no visa is required so with that in mind 1,000 pounds for international flights two thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds for three months of travel that's three thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds I don't want to have as the absolute minimum in my bank account to pay for this trip I actually hope to spend less than this but it is important that I actually have more than this just in case also I was having a look at some of the trips to Galapagos I think if I went there I'd definitely want to do it as a group tour and looking at websites like Contiki intrepid G Adventures it seems like round trips to the Galapagos from Quito cost from about two thousand pounds which obviously brings up my price a lot that's not to say I don't want to do it though because it's literally one of the most incredible places on this whole earth so it's an option for me to consider depending on logistics and finances at the time I'm not going to completely beat myself up if I can't do it this time okay so what now what do I still need to plan before I go I need to check if I need vaccinations I have checked and I am fully up-to-date but I highly recommend checking yourself with your travel health clinic if you are planning a trip out there yourself I'm gonna keep reading blogs and watching YouTube videos just to keep adding to my list of recommendation and get me excited I find watching people's YouTube loss even if they really poorly produced I still just find it really exciting to watch other backpackers in the country that I'm going to because I'm like yeah that's gonna be me so soon I'm going to put my flight and my first accommodation in the country probably not for at least another month but it is something that I will need to do at some point I must pack and I haven't told you guys this yet but I plan to do this trip hand luggage only I'm gonna have a few new items of clothes which should make this minimalist packing a lot easier we all know from my previous packing videos that I am NOT a minimalist backpacker and it's really because I have not found items of clothing that are versatile enough but still look nice to see me through so watch this space what I would like to buy is a new pair of shoes if I'm going hand luggage only realistically I think I'm only going to be able to bring one pair of closed toed shoes which will be the shoes that I wear on the plane and some people have said to me if you're going to South America you need hiking boots but then there are some people who have said nah you don't need hiking boots like trainers will see if they're so hearing this conflicting information what I think I want to get is like a hybrid shoe either a trail runner or some trainers that have great hiking capabilities are basically ones that are waterproof and you can walk in for a really long time I think this will be a nice compromise because although I do want to do a nice amount of hiking on my trip I don't think it's necessarily going to dominate my trip if you know what I mean it also needs to be a pair of shoes that I'm going to be doing like adventure activities in I don't know if I do any climbing or any activities which just require closed toed shoes you know what everyone hike in particular that I am keen to do in Colombia is a multi-day trek to the lost city and you know I'm also debating and I'd love you guys's opinion on this especially if you've already been to Colombia and/or Ecuador I think I only want to bring one pair of sandals and the debate is between my Birkenstocks or like a nice pair of more walking sandals hair like these for instance bear in mind I'll probably want to wear these shoes are nights out as well or backpacker nights and you know I also want for my trip the new GoPro Hero 8 yes please are very much like that I have ongoing travel insurance but if you do not have travel insurance that is something that you definitely need to look into getting to before going on a big backpacking trip I've still got these fitness goals which I'm working toward 63 days to go actually it's probably more like 60 days to go now I can now do 13 press up I can still not do a single pull-up and finally I am trying not succeeding too much to brush up on my Spanish I've used various online language learning services in the past which have all been found at all of my subscriptions have expired and I have not practiced in a long time so I'm going to spend a bit of time on duolingo the app seems to have improved a lot since the last time I went on it which was about like five years ago and you know I'm also low-key planning on doing going to Spanish school in Colombia for the very first week of my trip because I've heard that many people there just don't speak English at all and that is great I want to learn Spanish throw me in the deep end but I will have to try and prepare myself for that as best as possible if I do anything more to plan for myself America trip I will definitely update you guys are you guys planning for any trips at the moment how's it going where are you off to let me know really hope you guys enjoyed this video and I will see you in the next one bye [Music] sometime [Music]

Channel: Backpacking Bananas

Views: 137,276

Keywords: backpacking bananas, gap year ideas, gap year travel, backpacking, travel tips, travel guide, budget travel, travel advice, trip tips, backpacking solo, backpacking south america, south america travel, colombia, ecuador, backpacking coombia, how to plan a backpacking trip, planning a trip, how to plan travel, planning south america, how much to spend in south america, backpacking budget, solo travel, solo backpacking

Id: wxAL4_Ff6mo

Length: 17min 15sec (1035 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 14 2019