South America Travel Guides: Where do you want to go?
South America stole my heart with two very different trips. South America stole my heart with two very different trips. Peru was my first — a group tour through Lima, Arequipa, and Cusco, capped off by hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (there's something about your FIRST South American trip that just rewires you). Chile came this year [2026], and the Atacama Desert delivered some of the most surreal landscapes I've ever seen: flamingos wading through salt flats, high-altitude lagoons, and valleys that genuinely look like Mars. These South America travel guides cover everything from planning a Peru group tour to exploring the Atacama Desert in Chile — real advice from real trips, chaos included.
Chile Travel Guides
Chile's Atacama Desert broke my brain a little, in the best way. From San Pedro de Atacama — the little town everything launches from — I watched flamingos wade through the salt flats at Laguna Chaxa, gasped at high-altitude lagoons (Miscanti and Miñiques), and walked through Valle de la Luna, which looks so much like the moon that NASA literally tests equipment there. Chile is such an underrated travel destination.
Peru Travel Guides
Peru was my first taste of South America, and it set the bar absurdly high. I did the whole sweep on a group tour — Lima, Arequipa, Cusco — and then hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which I can confirm is every bit as hard and every bit as worth it as everyone says. If you're deciding between the Inca Trail and the train to Machu Picchu, wondering if a Peru group tour is right for you, or just want to know what nobody tells you about the altitude in Cusco, start here.
Eat the World - Recipes from South America
South America might be my favorite continent to cook — the Eat the World challenge has taken my kitchen through multiple countries' worth of dishes from this part of the world, with varying degrees of success and one hundred percent commitment. Recipes, disasters, and triumphs below.
