From the horror stories I had been told about South America, it’s safe to say I was absolutely sh*tting myself on my flight from Miami to Lima. Not that I’d ever let on I was nervous, I didn’t want to tell my family that I was hesitant about my safety as I didn’t want to worry them any more than they already were…
Because South America doesn’t exactly have the best rep when it comes to staying safe, especially as a solo female traveller. Although in hindsight, I really had nothing to worry about. And the stories that I’d been told prior to coming here are now, to me, unfathomable.
I’d had the fear put into me from folk saying they’d been robbed at knifepoint and to keep my bags basically STRAPPED to me unless i wanted them ripped out my hands. I’m not really sure where these people were or what their travel style is but I can assure you, I’ve had NO issues since I landed in Peru over a month ago, and currently now in my 4th South American country.
I’ve never met such hospitable locals, always eager to help you out in whatever way they can. My Spanish is absolutely abysmal as well so I don’t know how many times I’ve found myself waving my hands around like an amateur mime artist trying to get my point across. But I’ve never been stuck for passerby’s trying to help translate and de code my manic hand gestures, helping me on my way to my next adventure.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve picked up some useful words & phrases since I got here. I know how to ask for a beer, haggle with taxi drivers and ask for no nuts in my food. What more do you need to know, really ? Plus anything else I need to ask I just fire up my google translate app and have electronic conversations with whoever I think won’t nick my phone out my hands in the process…
But in all seriousness South America has been absolutely amazing so far – honest to god it’ll be a sad day when I board my flight from Rio. And I know for a fact wherever I end up next year this place won’t be far from my heart. I feel like you’d need a year of JUST being here to be able to see everything you wanted to. Even the countries neighbouring each other are so diverse that you feel you’ve taken an international flight just by crossing borders. From stripy coloured mountains to vast salt-flat landscapes and bright turquoise glacier lakes, it really has everything you could want. And I’ve barely even touched the surface yet.
This is really just an introductory post to introduce this amazing continent. I have so many stories to share with everyone…good and bad. From being almost on deaths door with the horrific altitude changes to being on cloud nine walking through the sun gate at the end of my long awaited Inca-trail hike. I’ve packed some amount of stuff into these past 6 weeks and I’m more buzzing than ever to show you all what’s been going on.
Don’t forget my instagram @jetsetmegs_ (I update that more regularly than this – but I’ve had enough messages now that my motivation is back with a vengeance and I’m gonna get these all uploaded in the next few days).
I’ve had them written for weeks. I’m not giving up.
I swear, I’m just getting started.
jetsetmegs.com 