An intro to my Latin American trip

Have you wondered what an adventure in Latin America looks like? I did! Latin America was always on my list until last year when I lived in the US because of a Fulbright program and had a chance to explore the countries nearby. (Otherwise, it’s a 20+ hour flight from Taiwan if flying to Brazil. 🤯)

The reason I wanted to visit is that I like to do things that fewer people would do. Latin America definitely gets way less attention here in Taiwan compared to Japan and Korea and people have an impression it’s not safe. Well, as a rebellious soul, I’d absolutely want to check it out and check off the items laying down on my list for a long time - Christ the Redeemer, theater kind bookstore - El Ateneo Grand Splendid, and Machu Picchu.

Table of Contents

• Top 5 safest/money-friendly countries

• My general thinking of my Latin American trip

Since people generally consider Latin America unsafe, I bet you would want to know which one are the safest to go. And also, you may want to know which one is the most friendly to your pocket before you actually choose and plan. Here’s some rough data:

Top 5 safest/money-friendly countries

Top 5 safest countries in South America (Institute for Economics & Peace - 2024)

1. Argentina

2. Uruguay

3. Chile

4. Bolivia

5. Paraguay

Top 5 safest countries in Central America (Institute for Economics & Peace - 2024)

1. Costa Rica

2. Trinidad and Tobago

3. Jamaica

4. Panama

5. Dominican Republic

Top 5 money-friendly countries in South America (NUMBEO - 2025)

1. Peru

2. Colombia

3. Brazil

4. Bolivia

5. Paraguay

Top 5 money-friendly countries in Central America (NUMBEO - 2025)

1. Mexico

2. Honduras

3. Guatemala

4. El Salvador

5. Belize

My general thinking of my Latin American trip

After doing the research above and considering my bucket list, I ended up going to these 5 countries:

1. Costa Rica

2. Brazil

3. Argentina

4. Chile

5. Peru

Every country has its spotlight - Volcano Arenal in Costa Rica left me in awe; the perfect line of the Christ the Redeemer and the sunset in Brazil is breathtaking; delicate Cafe culture in Argentina makes it unique from the rest; Atacama in Chile has the most mind-blowing natural view that I have ever seen; Machu Picchu in Peru is harder to plan than imagining.

It’s definitely the most adventurous trip I have ever had. I took 9 flights across 5 countries in 3.5 weeks. Some people might say it’s too much, but for me it’s just right! I’d rather keep this pace for exploring new places rather spending a week doing nothing on the beach. The whole trip is so fulfilling that I went home with nothing but satisfaction. One last thing I can say about the trip here is - it’s really not that dangerous as people describe. You just gotta try before jumping into conclusion. 👊