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Is it a good idea to backpack from Canada to Argentina.?

When i was 18 i got bored of my life in England and decided to up and leave to Australia for a year and do some work, while i was there, i got the bug for new places and new experiences and fell in love with traveling, i covered every city and worked 9 different jobs, i then used my return ticket to go to India for 2 months then south east Asia for a further month. I'm now back in England working a 9-5 job and as you can imagine, depressed about it. So i need a new plan, here is my idea, i hope you guys can let me know from your experience/knowledge whether or not it is a good idea and give me some tips or info on the places i want to go. So i want to start in Canada with a working holiday visa and save some cash, for maybe 6 months. I then plan to make my way down using public transport, lifts etc. down to Argentina. I'd like to do the whole thing without flying if possible and want the journey to last a long time. South east asia was cheap, India was really cheap - how do these areas compare? I'd appreciate it so much if i could your answers, Thanks P.s. i know Mexico is a no go right now, but i plan to leave in more than 4 months.

Public Comments

1. I think it is an awesome idea! I thought about doing this after college too! I'm Mexican-American, and I can tell you that the toughest obstacles would be to pass through the United States, but if you have a visa it shouldn't be a problem. It will be more expensive than south Asia, because some of the countries are a lot more developed and charge similar prices as the US for transportation and certain food. If you keep a low profile and you don't stand out as a "gringo" or a tourist, then it will become easier for you because people won't try to as hard to pick pocket you, or beg for money. Now right now there is a lot going in Mexico, but according to what my relatives in Mexico said "the drug cartels only care about attacking their competition like the government, and other drug cartels, and their supporters, they do not target foreigners or people who are not involved in the drug business or the government." So you shouldn't worry about that, and if you carry lightly, and travel by foot only then kidnappers will think that you're too poor to kidnap and won't see you as a potential profit. Also there will be a vaccine for the swine flu within 4-6 months, so you shouldn't worry too much. You might also want to keep caution in Columbia because they still have a lot of kidnappings and druggie insurgencies similar to that in Mexico, and the road system is a bit worse due to the amazon, so if you do get kidnapped, it will be very hard to find you. I recommend in the meantime you try to learn some Spanish, enough to barter and ask for directions so you won't get lost or cheated in purchases.