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[mercenarri]

Hey everyone,

So I've planned a trip to South America (and some USA and Canada) and I'm planning on leaving October this year. I have no idea when I'll get back, but its not on my mind at the moment. I'm going to get a single flight to Rio de Janerio, and then go from there with a general plan on where I want to go and see.

Here are the places I wish to see, in order, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil all the way to Vancoucer, Canada. There are many little towns that I've researched that I will be passing by for a day or two, but these is the main sights I wish to see:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ushuaia, Argentina
Patagonia, Chile
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Rurrenabaque, Amazon, Bolivia
Machu Picchu, Peru
Lake Titicaca, Peru
Nazca Lines, Peru
Panama City, Panama
San Jose, Costa Rica
Guatemala, Guatemala
Belize City, Belize
Mexico City, Mexico
Los Angeles, United States
San Fransisco, United States
Seattle, United States
Vancouver, Canada

A couple of questions about this trip if I may. I'm not fussy at all when it comes to living standards, accommodation, travel times, etc. Living in youth hostels every day would be okay for me, I'd like to do everything on the cheap. I will also be going overland everywhere, so will not require flights. What would you suggest my budget will need to be for a trip like this? I'm thinking around £6,000. Would this be okay or too little? Note that the USA and Canada isn't as much as a priority as South America for me, so I can sacrifice them.

Another question, looking at the itinerary, are there any places that you can recommend I visit that I've missed? Anything like small towns and sights would be much appreciated

Any kind of advise would go a long way for me. As you can imagine going solo around South America is making me a little nervous. Thanks for reading! I'll post updates of planning, and pictures of the trip as I go.

[aopaq]

I just took another look at your itinerary and realized that you are planning to go everywhere via overland transportation. However, I just wanted to point out that the latest I had heard is that traversing the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama by land is next to impossible unless you want to have many dealings with armies and terrorists and perhaps even be kidnapped. I think this is one section you will have to look at going by sea or air.

With that said, I should also add that Colombia is an amazing country and one of my favorite places for chilling was the lovely town of Popayan in the SW department of Cauca . And north of Bogota in the Santander province is the town of San Gil which is the centre of many adventure sports such as whitewater rafting and hiking. Or it is also a lovely spot to just relax and toss back hormigas tostados (toasted ants).