7 Indian Bloggers to follow for South America Travel Tips

Traveling to South America from India can be a daunting task to plan. South America doesn’t have the provision for a single Visa that can be used across the continent like the Schengen Visa for Europe. Spending nearly Rs.100,000 on flights alone puts the pressure to make the most of your time on the continent.

South American continent’s increasing popularity in the last few years is to an extent the result of easing Visa norms. However, Visa alone is not the only thing one has to worry about when planning a trip across the ocean; in fact, that is just the beginning. Safety tips, ideas to pick up the language faster, various stay options, and the general travel norms in the continent are to be researched with equal fervor to make the most of your trip.

Here is a list of Indian Bloggers who have spent months on the continent traveling and documenting their journeys along the way to help fellow travelers out especially from India. These 7 blogs collectively provide a great deal of information on traveling in South America from India.

1. Ashray and Zara – Backpack me

While Zara is from Portugal, Ashray brings his experiences of traveling with an Indian passport around the world. With years of traveling, writing, and working on the go experience, the blog is a mine of useful information on South America travel.

The blog is particularly useful for people applying for Visas from third countries as Ashray was based out of Dubai before he and Zara quit their jobs to travel to Latin America.

Countries traveled in South America: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru Ecuador, Colombia

2. Kaushal Karkhanis – Exotic Gringo

Kaushal started his tryst with the digital nomad lifestyle a decade ago (I didn’t even know the term back then) and his love affair with South America began in 2008 with a six-month trip.  In the last 12 years, Kaushal has been to South America three different times, one of which was as a tour leader.

Kaushal likes to travel slow, pick up the local language wherever possible, and prioritizes meeting people over places.

Also, he’s so multi-faceted he has a website just to explain everything that he does – https://www.kaushal-karkhanis.com/

Travel duration: 11 Months (across three trips)

Countries traveled in South America:  Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia

3. Manisha Singh – The Sole Speaks

Of course, I’m not going to skip my own name from the list.

I quit my job in 2016 to take a career break and focus on my mental health. In order to use that time I went the farthest I could and ended up traveling in Latin America for a year.

Although I largely stuck to the tourist trail in South America owing to the time limitation in each country and my own limited travel experience. Before heading to Brazil from where I began my journey, my only international travel experience was a 7 day trip to Sri Lanka.

Now, I travel slow but I have always been focused on traveling as responsibly as I can, taking public transport, eating local, and promoting local businesses.

Travel duration: 12 Months (Including 2.5 months in the northern part of Latin America)

Countries traveled in South America: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia

4. Priyanka Gupta – On My Canvas

Priyanka, a graduate from IIT, Delhi quit her banking job in 2016 and headed to Chile as an English open doors volunteer. That was only the beginning of her travel adventures, she has been traveling ever since, dividing her time between these magic lands and Bangalore where she is currently based.

She should be your go-to person for Chile, Bolivia, and Peru travel, English open doors program for Indians, and picking up Spanish on the road among other things.

Travel duration: 9 Months

Countries traveled in South America: Chile, Bolivia, Peru

5. Sandeepa & Chetan – SandeepaChetan

Sandeepa and Chetan make for the perfect travel blogger couple. Sandeepa is the mind behind the words and Chetan is the eye behind the pictures. Together they stand for slow, mindful travel. Their blog is all about realistic travel – good, bad, and ugly.

Sandeep, an electronics engineer, and Chetan, a digital media professional, quit their jobs in 2013 to travel full-time. Apart from their South American adventure, I’m a fan of their Himalayan odysseys that they have beautifully captured on their blog.

Duration: 5 Months

Countries traveled in South America: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru

6. Shivya Nath – The Shooting Star

Shivya is a known name in the travel industry. In 2011, she quit her job in Singapore, and in 2013, she began living nomadically.

Shivya promotes responsible travel and over the years has vehemently supported a vegan lifestyle and sustainable ways of traveling.

Countries traveled in South America: Ecuador

7. Thirumal Motati – Visa Traveler

Thirumal had what many aspire to have in India – a stable job in the US. He had it for 8 years and then gave it all up to chase his travel dreams.

Thirumal travels slow, often spending months in the country.

He has the most extensive blog on Visas possible all through the experiences gained on his Indian passport.

Countries traveled in South America: Brazil, Chile, Colombia

Additional Sources on Youtube

1. Sachin Bhandary- Eccentric Sachin

PR professional with over 8 years of experience, Sachin quit his job to pursue a personal project that he named ‘The 12 Project: 12 months, 12 countries, 12 challenges’. 

As part of this project, he learned rock climbing in Thailand, fought at a fighting festival in Peru, learned Salsa in Colombia, learned about a mystic religion in Brazil, among many others.

Countries traveled in South America: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia

2. Nary Singh – Indian Tripper

Nary travels frequently between India and South America for Business. He is fluent in Spanish and can be seen talking in Spanish in his videos too.

His videos are primarily in Hindi and are a great source to understand everyday life in South American countries especially for understanding the cost of living there. Occasionally he also interviews Indians living in South America and that brings a fresh perspective to life in South America through an Indian lens.

Countries traveled in South America: Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia

Please note, I have curated this list based on my knowledge of other travel bloggers, if you know of other travel bloggers who have been documenting their journey in South America, please do let me know so I can add them to the list for the benefit of everyone.