A picture of Nellie from Wild Junket

It goes without saying that we’ve interviewed some brilliant bloggers in our interview series, and today is no difference, as we interview Nellie from Wild Junket.

Let’s see what she has to say!

What would be your number one tip to someone before they head off to South America? Is there something that you wish someone could have shared with you?

Learn some Spanish before you go or sign up for a Spanish language course when you’re there!

You’ll find that it’s usually the only language spoken in the continent, and being able to speak it helps you connect with locals so much better.

I already spoke Spanish before traveling to South America and I realise how useful it was to be able to speak their language.

On some tours I did in South America (such as trip to the Salar de Uyuni and trek to Torres del Paine),

I noticed that guides were much more comfortable speaking in Spanish and would share a lot more info if you spoke Spanish.

A picture of a young lady travelling through South America by train.

We think it’s absolutely brilliant that you can travel with your family? What advise would you give to someone looking to do that?

I didn’t think it was NOT an option to travel when our baby came into our lives.

I knew I wanted to continue with our travel lifestyle even while I was pregnant.

My advise to those who want to travel with their kids, start early and get your kid used to traveling as early as possible.

We flew with our daughter when she was 5 months old and since then we’ve been traveling with her every other month.

She’s now 4 years old and has been to 36 countries, from Haiti to Japan, Costa Rica to South Africa.

Budgeting when travelling is obviously a big part of it. What would be your advice for someone who wants to look after their money? 

On our first backpacking trip through South America, we were on a tight budget.

We had saved around US$10,000 to travel South and Central America for around five months, so we had to be careful with our expenses in order to travel as much as we could during this period.

South America is quite a cheap destination to travel, so it’s not difficult to travel on a budget.

I would recommend booking budget hotels or hostels as you can find some decent hostels that are good on the pocket.

Also, you might have to reconsider some destinations/experiences that are expensive, like the Galapagos and the Inca Trail.

Your two weeks in Brazil sounded absolutely phenomenal. What was your favourite part of it?

My favorite part was probably being in Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval. I had a blast — everyone was partying on the streets and there was a party atmosphere everywhere I went.

I was there with a group of friends, and we just had the best time of our lives.

If you plan to go to Rio for Carnval, make sure you book your accommodation early as everything gets booked up in advance.

Sandboarding in Peru is something we’ve always wanted to do. How hard is it for someone who, erm, might not be a little clumsy?

I’m pretty clumsy myself and don’t do well at sports like surfing or wakeboarding.

But sandboarding is pretty easy and if you can’t do it, you can still just sit on the board and slide down like a kid, and enjoy some fun in the sand dunes.

A picture of a lady sandboarding in South America.
Woman sandboarding down the dune in a desert

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