As I’ve completed a full year of travelling in Latin America, I got to reflect on some aspects of long-term travelling as a solo female traveller in this part of the world. The truth is long-term travelling is not all roses. Yes, it can be inspiring and exciting in the first few months, but as time goes by, you will start feeling worn out.
In this blog post, I want to talk about the ugly truth of my long-term travels in Latin America. Long-term travellers experience mental and physical changes which I believe should be discussed more by the people who’ve gone through it. I believe it can be useful for those of you currently planning a full year of travel in the region.
Table of Contents
- Just Do it!
- The ugly truth of long-term travelling in Latin America
- Travel Fatigue
- No long-term friendships
- Social Media will be your only ally
- You might be single for a while
- You will lose your sense of belonging to a place
- You will miss having a routine again
- Let’s talk about body changes
- It’s time to wrap this up!
Just Do it!
If you want to embark on a one-year-long travel experience, I assure you that you can do it. I know so many people who have not even tried because they were scared. You don’t have to because there is no blueprint on how a sabbatical year should look like.
Some of us are more adventurous and have an entire year of bungee jumping and paragliding experiences. Others are more city-oriented and spend most of their time in big cities. Other people are party animals and don’t miss any opportunity to go out and have fun. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you do that one thing which makes you happy. After all, you never know if you will have a second chance to get a year off work again.
But as you prepare to take on this lifetime experience, I would like to warn you about some of the pitfalls of having a sabbatical year in Latin America.
The ugly truth of long-term travelling in Latin America
Is there such a thing? How can travelling to Latin America for an entire year be a bad thing for you?
Travelling for a full year will definitely be awesome. But be aware that you might experience some of the things I listed below.
Another blog post you may find interesting about Latin America:
Truths and Myths about Latin America: Here’s Some Helpful Advice
These are some of the pitfalls I experienced during my year off work in Latin America.
Have you experienced others I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments box below:
One of the most common reasons people embark on long-term travelling experiences is to escape work burnout or some sort of trauma/stress. Some of us want to get away from a toxic office environment while others use it to come to peace with things that happened in their lives: bereavement, breakups etc.
Travel Fatigue
Sure long-term travelling can help you with all these. But be careful that while you cure your past traumas you might end up experiencing travel fatigue. Moving around for a long time can lead to travel fatigue for some people. Some travellers never experience such things. Yet, some of us (including myself) did have to battle travel fatigue towards the end of this experimental year.
No long-term friendships
Travelling around for 1 year is great. You will meet inspirational people along the way. Yet, don’t expect you will keep all these newly formed friendships alive forever. The distance will be a huge impediment. Therefore, some friendships will die out in the first few months. Others might last for a few more years.
You need to be realistic about the people you will meet along the way. Once you return home, your new friends will be spread across the world. Life will happen and you will naturally go separate ways.
Moreover, if you are one of those people who is always on the road it will be harder to maintain durable friendship relationships because you need to settle somewhere to build something like this.
Social Media will be your only ally
Somehow related to the point I raised above, as you move to different countries and cities, most of your social life will happen online. For some of you, this might not be too different from your old life, but when you travel you crave spending more time with the people you’ve met (not all of them, but with the ones you really felt you had a connection with).
Unfortunately, as each of you part in different ways, you will only be able to keep in touch online. I would argue it is not the same, but at least you are still in touch with the people you really care about.
You might be single for a while
During my travels in South America, I saw people who entered romantic relationships but I also saw people who ended their romantic relationships because one of the partners started travelling for such a long time.
Then you have the other option when both start travelling for 1 year, but along the way one of them realises does not want to continue anymore. That’s when the rupture usually takes place.
The truth is long-term travelling is not everyone’s piece of cake. This can lead to breakups and because of the lifestyle, some long-term travellers stay single for long periods.
You will lose your sense of belonging to a place
Travelling all the time is great. It fuels your adventurous spirit, it impacts you in so many positive ways. Yet, it makes you lose your sense of belonging to a place. Losing your sense of belonging to a place can be complex and impact you in many ways. You can end up feeling lost and restless because you feel you don’t belong to any place anymore.
I met many long-term travellers who felt this way, including people who settled in a foreign country for many years.
Up to the moment this blog post was written I lived in 6 countries and travelled to 40+ more. Throughout the years, I developed an ability to move around that even I find amazing. At the same time, I don’t feel I belong to any of the places I called my temporary home. This is the price you have to pay when you move around too much.
You will miss having a routine again
Most of the long-term travellers I met during my sabbatical told me that an adventure was what they were missing in their lives. The life-sucking 9-5 routine made everyone so miserable.
The funny thing is that after you’ve travelled for months this is exactly what you will end up missing. You will end up craving a routine again and the comfort of a home. As well as mundane things like cooking your favourite meal, having your own space etc.
Long-term travelling is adventurous and exciting, but after a while, it can become as mundane as taking the rubbish out.
Travelling around, and crossing yet another border will become more of a routine if you do it repeatedly. You will be craving something new, something you have not done in a while, something that will challenge and motivate you because yet another history museum in a foreign country suddenly doesn’t sound as appealing anymore. You will end up missing your miserable 9-5 routine again.
Let’s talk about body changes
It depends on where you were born and lived most of your life and where you’re heading on your sabbatical. But based on my experience after I lived my whole life in Europe and moved to Latin America for 1 year, the body changes I went through were pretty obvious.
You can experience weight changes (both weight loss and weight gain) and other physical changes like damaged hair and skin from sun exposure. You might find it hard to get the care products you’re used to in your country, so you will need to be flexible. If you have a strict care routine, you might need to lower your standards because there will be cases when you will end up for 20+ hours on a bus.
Food poisoning is common in Bolivia because of the poor standards on how the food is cooked/stored etc. Almost every European I met in Bolivia experienced some sort of food poisoning during their stay in the country (including myself).
It’s time to wrap this up!
This is the ugly truth of my long-term travels in Latin America. This list is by no means exhaustive and I am sure other people’s experiences can add more things to my list.
If you wish to share your travel experience with me, comment in the chat box below. I would love to read what others have experienced during their long-term travels in Latin America.