Hello from London, where we’re housesitting for a couple of weeks before we start the next chapter of our adventure: we’re moving to the Algarve! After a hectic year of travel in the Americas, our plan was always to move to Portugal in the autumn, but we had our sights firmly set on Porto until Andrew was offered a great teaching job in the Algarve.
Our four-month South America trip was filled with incredible experiences. We trekked through the Amazon rainforest, rode a bumpy jeep across the largest salt flat in the world, climbed up Machu Picchu mountain and watched the sunset from an eco-retreat in the Colombian mountains. It wasn’t all smooth sailing and there were definitely some things we weren’t prepared for though, including the high prices, freezing altitudes and meat-heavy menus.
Getting lost in the Amazon Rainforest, driving across the world's largest salt flats, boating on Earth's highest navigable lake, we did all these bucket-list activities in Bolivia, but were they expensive? What about Bolivian food and accommodation? And how much does it cost to get around Bolivia? Read on to find out all about our Bolivia travel costs.
Hello from Oregon, USA! I’m writing this from a caravan overlooking the red outcrops of Smith Rock State Park, with a cup of Earl Grey beside me, reflecting on how long it’s been since I blogged. In fact, my last post was back in Lake Titicaca, which now feels like years ago. Since then, we’ve travelled through Peru, visited Machu Picchu and spent three idyllic weeks road tripping in California. Somewhere along the way, amongst dealing with a ton of freelance work and a house-sitting disaster, I just had to let blogging go, but now I’m back.
Thinking of travelling in Colombia? From our experience, South America can be an expensive beast to tackle, especially when it comes to activities and getting around. We budgeted £50 for two people per day, but did we manage to stick to that? Here’s a breakdown of how much our seven-week trip to Colombia cost, from food and accommodation prices to activities and transport.
It’s been five years since we visited Australia and we barely scratched the surface during our five-week adventure. So where would we visit on a return trip? Top of the list would be one of our favourite cities, Melbourne, followed by Queensland highlights. The Sunshine State has so much to offer, from Five World Natural Heritage Areas including the Great Barrier Reef, to bushwalking in the outback and whale watching. Combine that with 7,000 kilometres of idyllic coastline and an average nine hours of sunshine a day and what’s not to love?
The Galapagos Islands is undoubtedly one of South America’s top natural highlights, but also one of its most expensive, so what if you don’t have thousands of pounds to spare for the trip? Well, head to Paracas National Reserve in Peru instead. We took a boat trip from Paracas to the Ballestas Islands, known as ‘the poor man’s Galapagos’, for a fraction of the price and saw incredible flocks of birds, sea lions, penguins and rock formations.
Meat, fried meat and more meat, including guinea pigs and llamas. That’s been our experience of the South American diet so far. We definitely haven’t been living the vegan dream while travelling through Colombia, Peru and Bolivia this year, so how exactly have we been coping? From renting apartments with kitchens to stuffing our faces with avocados and surviving travel days on Ritz crackers, here’s how we’re managing vegan South America travel.
Medellin, Colombia, can be a tough city to love. Yes, it has a dark past and there are still plenty of visible problems, including street crime and a community that literally lives on top of a toxic trash pile. However, Medellin is also a city in the throes of a staggering transformation, one filled with some of the friendliest people we've met anywhere in the world. During our month in Medellin, as we took time to learn about the city, it steadily grew on us. So, from cable cars to graffiti tours, here are our top things to do in Medellin Colombia and some tips for making the most of your stay.
Ever wanted to move to Prague in the Czech Republic? We fell in love with the city when we visited in summer 2016, so we decided to return, this time for a month in winter 2017. Our month was filled with tours and family visits, trips to the stunning Christmas market and hours spent wandering Prague's famous cobbled streets. We had a great time, but how much did it cost us? From accommodation to food, activities and transport, here's our cost of living in Prague breakdown.