In 2011 I decided to start my backpacking life traveling nearby and the destinations were Argentina and Chile, in South America. AndI was dating and the idea was to go together, but we broke up shortly before the trip and I decided to do my first backpacking trip alone.

I spent 30 days backpacking around without worrying about pleasing anyone but myself. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience that I recommend to everyone. 🙂

Here is a summary of the steps to make the trip happen:

1. The first thing I did was to schedule my 30-day vacation at the company, according to the dates of my other colleagues. I researched the best times to travel and thought May would be a good time, because it is considered low season and the weather is pleasantly cool in both countries.
2. I looked at how much I had saved in my fund to decide how much I could spend on the trip and calculated how much I could spend per day. This was the budget for the trip, in other words, it was really easy to calculate: TOTAL/30 = X. I just had to keep track of my budget every day in my notebook… (PS. At the end of the trip, of course I was over budget… lol).
3. I researched the cities I wanted to visit, mainly in backpackers forum, and I made sure to buy Zizo Asnis’s backpacker guides to Argentina and Chile – Traveler's Guide Chile and Argentina Traveler's Guide. I chose these two because they have a more backpacking profile, without so many fancy and expensive places and with tips for getting discounts and taking cheap tours. These are the ones here, look:

4. I plotted the itinerary with the help of Google Maps, choosing how many days I wanted to stay in each place and optimizing the routes to be taken. I put the details of the itinerary in a spreadsheet Google Docs so you can access it from home and work and then share it with family and friends.

5. I looked for hostels in these two websites – Hostels and HostelWorld. I ended up discovering the YHA hostel chain this website and I got their membership card to get a discount at the chain's hostels. What I found coolest about this website It's perfect for booking multiple hostels in a timeline. It's perfect for backpackers! I booked hostels in almost every city I was going to visit and only had to pay 5% of the total amount to make the reservations. I chose almost all the shared rooms because they were cheaper and I don't regret it.

6. I researched buses from one city to another, just to get an idea of prices and duration. I decided to buy some bus tickets for the night to save on hostels and not waste days on the road.

7. With the itinerary set, I researched the tickets and ended up buying them with miles from TAM and GOL (a total of 11,000 miles for the round trip), but I already had an idea that I would pay these amounts because I had been following the route for a while. I got off in Buenos Aires and came back from Santiago, so I didn't even need to go back to other cities because of the tickets. I also bought tickets for just one leg of the trip (Santiago – San Pedro do Atacama – Santiago).

8. I went looking for a backpack for backpackers and found one designed especially for women. Deuter. It was expensive, but worth every penny. It has a little backpack attached and I used it to go out walking around the streets while the big one was in the locker from the hostel.

9. I provided the VTM (Visa Travel Money), debit card with international rates better than the rates on my Santander card. I bought the VTM from Banco Rendimento for website of the company Price, I entered the amount in reais that I wanted to spend and as I spent in Argentine or Chilean pesos, they converted it and debited it from my Santander card. I thought it was great for its practicality and security! The cool thing is that if I had lost the card, I could just call the call center and they would block it and send me another one in a short time, so I thought it was ideal for anyone who is going to backpack. You never know what might happen, right?

10. I bought another SD Card for the camera and a pen drive very powerful to gradually transfer the photos there.

11. I packed my backpack with everything I wanted to take and tested whether I could carry it comfortably. I even took some things out and changed others to make sure I was as comfortable as possible during the 30 days. In the end, I ended up taking clothes for 15 trips and washing them there. I think I could have even taken clothes for 10 days... No one deserves to travel with a packed backpack, right?

That was it…

Listing it like this seems easy, right? And it really is! People complicate things, believe me… This was my first backpacking trip and I assure you that it changed my mind in many ways. I started to think that life was simpler, to have fewer fears, to believe in myself more, to face challenges in a different way, anyway… I think it was intensive therapy, you know? That's why I think everyone should take a big trip once in their life without anyone else by their side… we discover ourselves! <3

But enough blah blah blah, right? 

Now let’s get to the main point – the itinerary! I created the links below with the details of each place I visited. The order was as follows:

• I left Rio de Janeiro for Buenos Aires.
• ARGENTINA – Buenos Aires and Tigre (5 days)
• ARGENTINA – Córdoba, Alta Gracia, Villa Carlos Paz and Villa General Belgrano (3 days)
• ARGENTINA – Mendoza, Uspallata and Puente del Inca (3 days)
• ARGENTINA – Neuquén and San Martin de los Andes (2 days)
• ARGENTINA – Bariloche (4 days)
• CHILE – Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas (2 and a half days)
• CHILE – Pucon (5 and a half days)
• CHILE – Santiago (only to catch the flight to Cálama – San Pedro de Atacama)
• CHILE – Cálama and San Pedro de Atacama (4 days)
• CHILE – Santiago, Vina del Mar and Valparaíso (3 days)
• Return from Santiago to Rio de Janeiro.

Map of places visited:

To find out about each of the stops, just click on the links from each place. Have fun and if you have any questions, just ask! 😉