On a shoestring.

A couple of months ago I read an article about travel. As click bait goes I was suitably hooked and its message had a far greater impact on me than its author probably anticipated. To summarise,the article described how travel was something available only to those of ‘privileged’ backgrounds. The Gap Yah don’t you know darling. Now this shouldn’t have riled me up quite so much as it did, and to be honest I could see some slight truth in it. Yes a few university friends and acquaintances, that perhaps had a more comfortable economic background, had been and seen and conquered lands that for me at the time were as reachable as Never-Neverland. But as the age-old saying goes, your only limitations are yourself. And in turn your patience. I had the same goals, the same ambitions. To run free, to explore, to be the first (though at this stage of the game it would appear the only originality left is extra-terrestrial) and to take on this beautiful planet one country at a time, collecting national flags like brownie badges. Yet despite my financial restrictions, I fully intended to break this stereotype; this was always as achievable for me as it was for them. Travel is for everyone.  So I went. I educated myself, I worked, I played, I laughed, I raged and ultimately I waited. And saved. Hard. Until now. 26 spins of the sun later, I have set myself up to take on my first big adventure. South America… And some idiot decided he wanted to come with me…