South America or South East Asia first..?

Hi there!

Wow my first topic/post ^_^

Im planning my travels for about this time next year. I have done a very small amount of backpacking this summer but only across Norway.

Ive always wanted to go to South america and south East asia im researching into everything atm but its all very intimidating esp when i dont even know where i want to start out first!

Ive read alot of your topics on women traveling alone..im not entirely sure if i will be travelling on my own yet or with someone but regardless, i really dont know where to start out. I am equally drawn to both South Amer. and South East Asia. where is a good place to start off for the first time traveller..or what are the good ways of helping you decide?

Anyone that has been travelling to either of these places on their own as a woman, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

thankyou 😊 Reply to this

I did my first back packing trip with another woman and we travelled around SE Asia for six months with no problems. It was inexpensive, the culture, people, food and weather was fantastic. We met alot of other people travelling and alot of women out trekking on their own, or in groups of two or three who we are still in contact with. We are currently planning our next adventure for India in January for a few months. I would suggest you also look at Couchsurfers.org as another source of information, and there are groups where people hook up and find other people to travel with. Also you can meet locals who will show you their city and possibly stay with them for a night or two. Good luck and happy travels. Reply to this

Hello Abi 😊

Wow my first topic/post ^_^

Welcome to TravelBlog.

Ive always wanted to go to South america and south East asia im researching into everything atm but its all very intimidating esp when i dont even know where i want to start out first!

Maybe the weather could be a factor in deciding which to go to first.

I have been to Thailand and S. America as a woman alone. Thailand was by far the most pleasant for a lone female traveller. In fact, it is the only country in the world, where I have never experienced sexual harassment. I dont think S. America is so horribly dangerous that I wouldnt go as a lone woman, but too much attention from the local men gets annoying.

Mel Reply to this

Well, there are robberies, and some of them armed. Dont wear jewelery, even fake gold looking jewelery. Idealy, the way to travel in S. America to avoid robbery would be without camera, laptop..., but many hate to do without these at hand to record their travels, as they happen.

But, the good news is that I have never been the victim of these robberies, and I have been in S. and C. America around 3 times. So, be careful and it is a lot less likely to happen to you. No wandering around drunk at night or in isolated streets.

I am off to Brazil on Saturday, by myself. 😊 Woohoo! I am excited about it. 😊

I dont think there are so many hostage takings. There used to be a lot of them in Columbia, but I dont think it happens as frequently anymore, and unlikely at all unless you wander out into the wilds.

The main thing is to take precautions. For sure you could still get unlucky, but I think most of the people who have bad experiences were not careful or informed enough. Reply to this

Thankyou for your replies! >_<
I think im definatley leaning towards starting off in south America. Some of my friends are in Chile at the moment and it looks just like norway..a bit more friendlier with climate i think as you said tikanchayfanatic.

Me and my boyfriend have been talking and think we will start off at the bottom and work our way up. and then hopefully make our way across to south east asia when we hit Ecuador.

Just wondering though about cost of living in south america..we have been on a couple of websites,one which lists a practical shopping list and how much things cost in relation to english pounds which is really useful but wondering if there are any other websites travelbloggers use that might be useful for us? thankyou 😊 !! X Reply to this

There are pros and cons of each:
South America: Mostly they speak one language. Even in Brazil they usually understand Spanish, and more than SEA they understand English. I believe there are more adventurous things to do in South America: Sand boarding in Peru, Parasailing in Chile, Glacier trekking in Argentina. SEA's sports seem to be mostly water sports and scuba diving. In SA you can usually just trade paperback novels, but in SEA you usually have to pay more than a new book would cost back home to get a badly copied book. SA has fewer visas (more for Americans) than SEA. Air pollution is less of a problem in SA (except for Lima). There are various climates instead of wet and dry only.

South East Asia: There's less of a chance of getting robbed in SEA, if you go to Quito chances are you WILL be robbed. It's much cheaper, probably $15-$25 per day per person instead of $20-$50 in SA. Flights on Air Asia are super cheap, where as in SA they are rediculously expensive. Amount of time spent on buses is less because SA is so huge. I spent 34 hours on a bus to go from NE Brazil to NE Brazil.

I hope some of that helps Reply to this

I've just done both and would definitely advise South America. Absolutely nothing wrong with SE Asia, it's just SA is better in my opinion. SA has so much more variety compared to SE Asia. Climate, sights, treks etc. Reply to this