This time a year ago, the concept of embarking on a three-month trip of South America with a best friend I didn’t even know I had yet would have been enough to send me into a weeping mess on the floor of my dingy, Digs-rented flat.

         Fresh out of the trauma of third-year university during Covid, in the middle of a painful break-up, and isolating in my box room with a sinus system that felt like I’d snorted battery acid, it’s fair to say that life had been better. I’d recently stumbled out of a gruelling battle with the library and into a somewhat more exciting, but still brutal combat as hospitality slave at a nearby restaurant/cocktail bar/events venue. Luckily, I managed to get time off work while suffering from a fierce bout of Covid, but unluckily this occurred while I was supposed to be moving out of the flat I shared with six others. So it was bye-bye! to my flatmates, and hello to a tedious email war with my landlord. Luckily, I could extend my tenancy until I finished isolating, and once it was all over I left the confines of my suffering-nest to help my boyfriend move out of his house. We packed and unpacked the contents of his room, got settled, and promptly broke up.

  So, still smarting from my PTSD-inducing degree, and with an exhausting new job, snotty wrestle with Covid, and a breakup under my belt, you can guess how mentally prepared I felt to face the coming year. Luckily, and I didn’t quite know it yet, I was well equipped for what lay ahead. I had met my soon to be best friend, soul-mate, and partner in crime, Amy Figgins. The 8th of April 2021 saw our first day of training at our new jobs, but the catalyst for our friendship was when Amy’s then-boyfriend decided the perfect time to end their relationship was on her birthday, in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower.  

A fellow wretched soul driven bonkers by the opposite sex, I welcomed her manic breakup recovery methods with open arms and we tore up the town, shortly becoming thick as thieves. Some may call it co-dependence, I prefer the term ‘soul-mate’, but in any case, we were joined at the hip. I soon replaced her ex in their plans to escape to South America the following summer, and the rest is history. We gave in our notices for the 29th of May 2022, a year and 51 days after becoming employed together, and we quit hospitality to begin preparing for our trip.  

So why South America, you ask? We had both already been to Southeast Asia, and Amy had volunteered several years running in Africa. We both wanted jungles, beaches, and culture – and to explore somewhere we had never been before. A priority of ours was to venture off the beaten track, immersing ourselves in the lifestyle and culture of local peoples, and cherishing the sanctity of the natural world. From climbing volcanoes, to scuba-diving with sea turtles; navigating rainforests, to tasting delicious street-food; exploring ancient Mayan ruins, to partying with strangers; we plan to do it all and more, documenting our adventures along the way! Join us as we journey to Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina, to name a few countries.

I hope to regularly update this blog with stories of our travels, so subscribe to our mailing list for notifications about new posts!

Tune in next time and until then, so long and stay groovy :)