South America… Here I Come!
Sep
Do whatever you’ve always wanted to do TODAY — or at least get started with ‘it’ in some small.
– John Reese –
For months I’ve been dreaming about South America… and now the time has finally come for me to pack up my things, hit the road, and journey into the unknown.
Well, not quite yet actually, but very, very soon.
In about two months time I plan to leave my home in Park City, Utah (USA) and travel to South America, where I will be living, exploring and cycling about for approximately 5-6 months.
“Where exactly in South America am I going?” you might be wondering.
Well, I don’t exactly know at this point in time. I have some ideas for places I want to go, but at this early date nothing has been nailed down.
All I know right now is that I’m going to be in South America during the end of 2010 and during the first several months of 2011. And while I’m there, I’m going to be documenting the entire trip right here on BicycleTouringPro.com. That much I know!
Over the next several months, I’m going to document every single detail leading up to my departure. I’m going to share with you :
- How I go about planning an adventure such as this.
- How I can afford to travel for months on end.
- How I rent out my home, which then frees me up to go on these wild adventures.
- How I plan my routes, schedule out my days, and make my airplane and lodging reservations.
- And a whole lot more!
Then, once I hit the road, I’ll use the website here at BicycleTouringPro.com to document my travels and share with you the lessons I have learned while out there on the road.
I’m going to be taking a ton of photos while I’m in South America… and I plan to produce some killer new videos as well.
During my time in South America, I’ll let you know some of my secrets for quickly and easily learning the local languages and (as usual) I’ll do my best to answer any questions you might have about the areas that I’ll be traveling through.
The next several months at Bicycle Touring Pro are going to be awesome and I’m really looking forward to what the future holds. My hope, of course, is that the content I create while in South America will help you too, as showing you how I go about planning, preparing for, and executing my own trip will ultimately help you to make your own travel dreams become a reality.
So, that’s it for now! I’m going to South America… I don’t know where yet… and I don’t know exactly when, but I’ll figure all of that out very, very soon.
If you want to follow along (and make sure you don’t miss even a single aspect of my South American adventure) be sure to subscribe to the Bicycle Touring Pro RSS feed, get every new article from the website sent to you via email, sign-up for my free cycle touring email newsletter, follow me on Twitter, or watch the action unfold on Facebook.
Travel Tip: The first step in making your travel dreams come true is to decide that you are going to take a trip in the first place. You don’t have to have all the details figured out before making this decision, however. All you have to do is decide that your trip (wherever it might take you… and for however long) is ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN! Make a commitment to the trip and announce your plans to the world. Once you get the ball rolling, you can figure out the details later.
Photos by Alex E. Proimos & Ivan Mlinaric
Looking forward to reading all about your exploits in South America as well as seeing all the photos you’ll be taking. Congrats and safe journeys.
Looking forward to all of this. Do you already speak spanish? I’m really interested in your quick learning tips, since I want to go to South America myself but the language is pretty much a requirement if you want to travel independently there. German and english won’t do me any good 🙂
I’ll be on a 3 months trip myself around that time (Dec – Feb). Not in South America though (NZ, Australia, SEA). I’m planning to do NZ by bicycle and the rest in default backpacking mode.
Have a great trip!
I don’t speak any Spanish right now. But I’m going to try and learn it as quickly as I can… and I’ll share with you exactly how I am going to do that.
I learned German while traveling through Europe last year, so hopefully I can pick up some Spanish this year while in South America.
Best of luck on your trip! Have fun… and send me a postcard.
Hi
I wish you good luck, and hope you will have a nice trip 😉
Hey man! Maybe I’ll run into you in South America? Currently being blown away by the mountains of Peru. I should be in Bolivia sometime in October, then heading southward through Argentina and Chile from November through January.
we too. We’re completing our RTW in S.A. after a break at home. So far 2 years, 23 countries, 18K miles before our break. (www.toorguide.com) and are going to South Am. In a couple of months. Now looking for bike friendly airline. And cheap entry fees South of Peru. Have you any info ?
Doug, what do you consider to be “cheap”?
I am thinking I will fly from Salt Lake City, Utah into Rio, Brazil with a one-way ticket. It looks like it might cost about $600 just for that ticket. Not super cheap in my book, as the first time I flew to Europe I paid $600 for a round-trip ticket and that included my bicycle as extra baggage.
Does your flight to Rio include bike?
We plan on doing West coast, we’re trying to avoid the recent (March) reciprocity fees imposed on US c’zens of about $130. each. We hear that they are only charged at the airports, not land crossings, tho policy states that they are to be collected from overlanders too. Peru is the farthest South w/o them from what we see so far, and airfare there and Columbia is a bargain from East USA, but those fees will add up to real $$$ if collected from we poor peddlers at border xings. Matt K, maybe you can post something if you get any info.
I just read that you’re going w/o bike. I’ve toured with folks on rentals (Eastern Europe) and the bikes were a nightmare of headaches. Being the first one to spend many hours and miles on a bike that has had minimal riding and maximum tossing around creates a sizable maintenance load, but attitude, tools and parts can fix almost anything 🙂 Good luck.
If you make it to Argentina I would love to meet up with you. I am in the city of La Plata which is about 90 Km south of Buenos Aires. You are welcome to a hot shower and a clean bed.
Been reading your blog for a while and planning my first bike trip.