Public transportation isn’t my expertise at all, but over the last few weeks in Lima (writing a new Digital Nomads Guide!) I had to learn and master the art of navigating the Lima City Bus system. A big thanks to Marian Knittler for letting me use his photos for this article. Check out his photography on Flickr. A little background information: Lima is Perú’s capital city and the metropolitan area is home to about 9 million people. That’s almost one third of the country’s population. Enormous! The city has a very primal and basic metro system that doesn’t really do anythingContinue reading
South America
South America is my original fave. I fell in love with Argentina long before I knew what it was like. You can imagine the expectations I set before arriving there at age 19 for the summer holidays to learn Spanish after my first year at university Of course, summer in Europe means winter in Buenos Aires, which was about one of the only things I knew as preparation for a five-week trip.
But enough about 2011! You’re here to read about hitchhiking stories, not very average experiences by literal teenagers.
In 2015, I returned to South America as a hitchhiker. I took a free repositioning cruise from the Canary Islands in Spain to Santos in Brazil.
From Brazil, I hitchhiked overland to Paraguay, Bolivia, Perú, Chile, Argentina, Chile, Argentina, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Perú, Ecuador, and Colombia. In Colombia, I took my first flight in over two years to visit the islands of San Andrés y Providencia. I left in 2017.
South America is also where I started living the digital nomad life with Jonas. Together we wrote many Digital Nomads Guides. I also tried to take my blog to the next level, which worked out so-so. I had a serious block on my creativity due to the impending doom that I had to return to university to finish studying before I had to pay back the government €20.000 in student debt.
But that’s all gone now. Next time I’m in South America I hope to write more and better. Enjoy the posts!
Mudslides and Floods on the Road to Lima, Perú
A Natural Disaster Always wanted to drink soda first thing in the morning? Before breakfast? I never had that ambition, but here I am in Lima – the capital of Perú – and there’s no running water. Nothing from the tap and all bottled water in units of less than 20 liters is sold out. This is supposedly everywhere in the city. For reference, Lima is a place beside the Pacific Ocean that hosts almost 9 million people. I first heard the news about the floods in a hostel in Paracas, a small beach town with a rad bird reserve andContinue reading
71 Reasons to Visit South America in 2017
Whether you’re a hitchhiker, a digital nomad, or a holidaymaker, South America is absolutely phenomenal. Let’s not hold off on that long-desired trip to the southern hemisphere any longer! Without further ado, here’s your randomly ordered justification to go ahead and get south the coming year: 1. Firstly, pick up fifty shades of Spanish! As a result of colonialism, South America is quite homogeneous language-wise, with Spanish and Portuguese being the most spoken. Or mix ’em up and you get “Portuñol“. Learn just enough Portuguese to make your trip to Brazil easy-peasy with Duolingo or Memrise. So instead you want toContinue reading
Take It Slow: 20000 Kilometers Hitched in South America
Over the past few months, I’ve been trying to get a better insight into how long my hitchhiking trips have been. It has also inspired me to take a look at the current leg of my three-year trip and tadaaa! it turns out I was about to cross the 20000 kilometers hitched mark in South America alone. That’s actually pretty slow! To clarify for non-metric people: that’s 12427 miles by thumb and foot overland. Why do I care? I don’t. Other people seem to care, though, and keeping some statistics can be fun. Other people asking stuff is the main reason IContinue reading
A Sandy Hike to Cabo Polonio in Uruguay
A few weeks ago I went to the famous Cabo Polonio in Uruguay, an off-the-grid town. It’s not connected to the water or electrical system, supposedly. The lighthouse at the tip of the cape is connected, somehow. Anyway, that’s some stuff I read on Wikipedia before going there myself. An unusual level of preparation for me! Before a Lonely Planet author discovered it, this village got no attention whatsoever. I get all skeptical when it comes to places like that. Overrated or not, I’d have to go there to find out myself. I was stationed in La Pedrera at theContinue reading
Ghost Town Glory: Punda del Este, Uruguay
This photo is from Punta del Este, Uruguay—not to be confused with Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. It’s a town at the end of the widest river in the world: the Río de la Plata. East of this point is the official start of the Atlantic ocean. The first time I heard about Punta del Este was back in 2011 when I did a Spanish course in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My Brazilian friends and I were planning a trip to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. I was talking to my teacher on the topic of Uruguay and he mentioned a townContinue reading
Interior Uruguay: The Road Less Hitchhiked
Yesterday I started moving towards the border with Argentina from Rocha’s pretty beaches in Uruguay. The department of Rocha is famous for those beaches, domestically and internationally, and it’s the dream for many to live there. During my stay in Uruguay, I’ve been sticking to the coast and border regions mostly and haven’t seen that much from interior Uruguay. That’s a crying shame, I realize now. I decided to hitchhike the ‘adventurous’ route to get out of the sleepy beach towns. Uruguay’s main highway is at the Atlantic Coast and the Río de la Plata river. It’s familiar territory to me comparedContinue reading
Springtime in Uruguay! (Laguna Merín)
My 90 days are almost up, but dude, I’ve had a good time in Uruguay! What’s all this excitement about? Probably the not knowing what to expect and the fact that this hemisphere of the earth would slowly, but surely warm up in the course of a few months come spring. Near the end of my stay I can finally say: Toss your coat and take off your long pants, because springtime has FINALLY come to Uruguay! Uruguay Trip Summary I did a little tour of the country as you can see from my route map. It gave me the time to explore theContinue reading
Loss on the Road—Farewell, Ashley
Trigger warning: pet loss, death Oh, how I hate talking about death. Usually, I just pretend that it doesn’t exist and everyone and every being will always be around for eternity. Like there’s not enough people already telling me that I won’t be around for much longer unless I quit hitchhiking and do something normal instead. Traveling—what a selfish thing to do when there are people at home worried sick about what silly shit I am doing now. Why am I not caring and taking responsibility for my aging family instead? Losing Ashley Last week my mother told me thatContinue reading