Americas 2024: Planning, Itinerary and Budget

---I'm trying to blog about my Americas trip this year. I need to redesign, reorganize and do some updating in this blog. But that's gonna take some time and a lot of energy. For now, I'll post what I can before another trip displaces my motivation to blog. So here we go. ---

I started planning for trip this fifteen (15) months before the trip. I knew I my full-time job would be ending and I wanted to travel a bit after. Perfect timing for an long trip to South America!

Top 3 spots that I picked for this trip: 1) Patagonia, 2) Easter Island, 3) Galapagos Islands. I visited 6 countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, USA) over 3 months. For now, I skipped the Amazon. 

I braced myself for lots of flights, packing and unpacking, lots of walking, hiking and 3 months of adventure. While I could have gone longer, I wanted to celebrate my birthday back home. 

The itinerary looks sorta wild when mapped out:

Americas 2024 itinerary mapped out

I'm glad I was able to do Macchu Picchu and Uyuni back in 2015. I decided to skip the Amazon for this trip. Maybe someday, when I get another opportunity to travel for a long time. 

Day	City, Country	Activities
Day 0	Manila, Philippines	Depart Manila. United Airlines flights: Manila to San Francisco, San Francisco to Houston, Houston to Rio de Janeiro (MNL-SFO/SFO-IAH/IAH-GRU). Total flight time: 34 hours
Day 1	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Arrive in GIG at 09:15H (delayed). Private ride to Copacabana (1+ hour). Lunch. Check-in. Walk around the area. Dinner. Catch up on sleep.
Day 2	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Christ the Redeemer. Sugar Loaf Mountain via cable car
Day 3	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Walk from Copacabana to Ipanema and vice versa. Morro da Urca.
Day 4	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	City center tour (booked via AirBnb tours),
Day 5	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Should’ve been rest day but weather was great so I went back to the city center. Sunset in Copacabana
Day 6	Rio de Janeiro/Foz do Iguaçu	Flight to Rio de Janeiro to Foz do Iguaçu (GIG-IGU). Booked transportation and tickets for Cataratas de Iguazu.
Day 7	Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/ Puerto Iguazu, Argentina	Morning: check-out. Travel to Iguazu Falls, Brazil side. Aves Zoo. Mid-afternoon: back to hotel, private transfer to Puerto Iguazu.
Day 8	Puerto Iguazu, Argentina	Iguazu Falls, Argentina side.
Day 9	Puerto Iguazu, Argentina/ Buenos Aires, Argentina	Flight from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires (IGR-AEP)
Day 10	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Buenos Aires Walking Tour
Day 11	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Rest Day. Steak Lunch
Day 12	Buenos Aires, Argentina	AirBnb Buenos Aires Walking Tour: San Telmo Market, Puerto Madero, Puente de la Mujer. Afternoon: Museu Nacional de Bellas Artes
Day 13	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Recoleta Cemetery, El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Centro Cultural Kirchner (CCK). Laundry
Day 14	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Morning Tour in Teatro Colon. Pack. Evening Show in Teatro Colon
Day 15	Buenos Aires, Argentina/ El Calafate, Argentina	Flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate (AEP-FTE). Book tour for Perito Moreno Glacier.
Day 16	El Calafate, Argentina	Perito Moreno Glacier Tour
Day 17	El Calafate, Argentina/ Torres del Paine National Park, Chile	Transfer day to Ecocamp. All transfers were arranged by Ecocamp: Taxi from El Calafate accommodation to bus station. Bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales. Private van from Puerto Natales to Ecocamp
Day 18	Torres del Paine National Park, Chile	Ecocamp Safari Tour: French Valley (partly sunny, partly cloudy with snow)
Day 19	Torres del Paine National Park, Chile	Ecocamp Safari Tour: Glacier Gray (mostly cloudy with a bit of sun)
Day 20	Torres del Paine National Park, Chile	Ecocamp: Base Torres Trek (sunny great weather)
Day 21	Torres del Paine National Park, Chile/ El Calafate, Argentina	Depart Ecocamp. Private van from Ecocamp to Cerro Castillo border crossing. Bus from Cerro Castillo to El Calafate. Taxi from El Calafate bus station to accommodation. Booked round-trip bus tickets from El Calafate to El Chalten.
Day 22	El Calafate, Argentina	Bus travel to El Chalten. Buy crampons.
Day 23	El Calafate, Argentina	Rest day.
Day 24	El Calafate, Argentina	Laguna Torre hike
Day 25	El Calafate, Argentina	Miradores Condor and Miradores Aguila
Day 26	El Calafate, Argentina	Unplanned rest day (bad weather, low visibility)
Day 27	El Calafate, Argentina	Laguna Capri
Day 28	El Calafate, Argentina	Rest day.
Day 29	El Calafate, Argentina/ El Chalten	Bus back to El Chalten
Day 30	El Calafate, Argentina/ Bariloche, Argentina	Flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Bariloche (FTE-AEP, AEP-BRC)
Day 31	Bariloche, Argentina	Walk around Bariloche City Center
Day 32	Bariloche, Argentina	Cerro Llao Llao hike
Day 33	Bariloche Argentina	Morning: errands. Evening: Stargazing tour via AirBnb
Day 34	Bariloche, Argentina	Cerro Campanario via chairlift
Day 35	Bariloche, Argentina	Los Arrayanes and Lago Escondido
Day 36	Bariloche, Argentina	Rest.
Day 37	Bariloche, Argentina	Walk around the city
Day 38	Bariloche, Argentina/ Santiago Chile	Flight from Bariloche, Argentina to Santiago, Chile (BRC-AEP, AEP, SCL)
Day 39	Santiago, Chile	Errands. La Moneda tour.
Day 40	Santiago, Chile	Santiago City Center. Castillo Hidalgo. Online purchase for Rapa Nui National Park
Day 41	Santiago, Chile	Museum of Memory and Human Rights
Day 42	Santiago, Chile	Telerifico Santiago Cable Car, Cerro San Cristobal
Day 43	Santiago, Chile/ Easter Island, Chile	Flight from Santiago, Chile to Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile (SCL-IPC)
Day 44	Easter Island, Chile	Rapa Nui Tour 1 (Orongo side)
Day 45	Easter Island, Chile	Rapa Nui Tour 2 (Rano Raraku, Ahu Tongariki)
Day 46	Easter Island, Chile	Ahu Tongariki Sunrise Tour, explore Ahu Tahai
Day 47	Easter Island, Chile	Moto tour (1 hour boat tour)
Day 48	Easter Island, Chile	Rest. Evening: KariKari show
Day 49	Easter Island, Chile/ Santiago, Chile	Flight back to Santiago Chile (IPC-SCL)
Day 50	Santiago, Chile	Explore Providencia area.
Day 51	Santiago, Chile	Rest day
Day 52	Santiago, Chile/ Quito, Ecuador	Flight from Santiago, Chile to Quito Ecuador (SCL-LIM-UIO)
Day 53	Quito, Ecuador	Teleriqo cable car, Basilical del Voto National
Day 54	Quito, Ecuador	MItad del Mundo, Intian Museum
Day 55	Quito, Ecuador	Walk around city center
Day 56	Quito, Ecuador/ Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Flight from Quito Ecuador to Baltra (Santa Cruz), Galapagos
Day 57	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	180-degree tour Santa Cruz
Day 58	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	North Seymour Tour
Day 59	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Floreana Tour
Day 60	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Walk around Santa Cruz town. Rest day.
Day 61	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Afternoon tour in Charles Darwin Station
Day 62	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Galapagos Galaxy Yacht Cruise - Western Islands - Day 1/6
Day 63	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Galapagos Galaxy Yacht Cruise - Western Islands - Day 2/6
Day 64	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Galapagos Galaxy Yacht Cruise - Western Islands - Day 3/6
Day 65	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Galapagos Galaxy Yacht Cruise - Western Islands - Day 4/6
Day 66	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Galapagos Galaxy Yacht Cruise - Western Islands - Day 5/6
Day 67	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Galapagos Galaxy Yacht Cruise - Western Islands - Day 6/6. Morning dock near Baltra Airport. Take bus+boat+taxi back to Santa Cruz town. Rest.
Day 68	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador	Rest day.
Day 69	Galapagos Islands, Ecuador/ Quito, Ecuador	Flight from Baltra airport to Quito (GPS-UIO). Overnight in Quito.
Day 70	Quito, Ecuador/ Mexico City, Mexico	Flight from Quito, Ecuador to Mexico City, Mexico (UIO-MEX)
Day 71	Mexico City	Centro Historico, Templo Mayor, Palacio de Bellas Artes
Day 72	Mexico City	National Anthropology Museum, Chapultepec Park, Castillo de Chapultepec
Day 73	Mexico City	Lunch concert at Bellas Artes, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Day 74	Mexico City	Walk to Parque Mexico, La Condesa
Day 75	Mexico City	Monumento a la Revolucion, walk around Zocalo again
Day 76	Mexico City	Day trip to Xochimilco Market
Day 77	Mexico City	Teotihuacan Day trip
Day 78	Mexico City	Rest day.
Day 79	Mexico City, Mexico/ San Francisco, USA	Flight from Mexico City, Mexico to San Francisco, USA (MEX-SFO).
Day 80	San Francisco, USA	Walk around Pier 39 area, Ghirardelli Square
Day 81	San Francisco, USA	Hop-on Hop-off bus tour
Day 82	San Francisco, USA	Alcatraz Day Tour
Day 83	San Francisco, USA/ San Jose, USA	Travel to San Jose, CA
Day 84	San Jose, USA	Shopping day for pasalubong and souvenirs
Day 85	San Jose, USA	Another day for shopping
Day 86	San Jose, USA	Hang-out day
Day 87	San Jose, USA	Rest day
Day 88	San Jose, USA/ San Francisco	Drive from San Jose to San Francisco. Flight from San Francisco to Manila
Day 89	Hong Kong	Stopover
Day 90	Manila, Philippines	Arrival. Home sweet home.

This is not the first time I'm traveling for this long. The first time was in 2018. After I finished my coursework (September) and while waiting for graduation (December), I traveled around Europe for 3 months (91 days), beginning in Birmingham, UK and ending in London, UK. 

Budget:

 

I'm sharing the pie chart in percentage. 

Airfare: Expensive to fly on the other side of the world. This includes the round-trip flights from Manila, domestic flights and regional flights. I used Google Flights to check the flight routes, but I booked the flights via each carrier's website. The first flight I booked was 330 days before (I booked the flights to Easter Island as soon as the dates I wanted became available). The last flight I booked was 3 months before the flight. Despite all the planning, there were multiple flight adjustments before and during the trip. 

Accommodation: As a tita traveler, I opted for more comfortable accommodations this time. I booked private rooms in hostels with very good facilities and services. I mostly used Booking-dot-com. For accommodations in Argentina, I used AirBnbs to have a "fixed" cost with the dollar rate. I also selected apartments with a kitchen and washing machine when I was staying for some time. Wifi is a basic need since I still had a side accounting job that I do online. 

Tours: The biggest chunk. I decided to splurge on two full board tours: 1) 5D4N Safari Tour with Ecocamp in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile; 2) 6D5N Galapagos cruise in the West Islands with Galaxy Yacht. Both tours include transfers, accommodation and full board meals.  This also included the day tours that I booked and the tips for guides for some tours. 

Fees: Entrance fees for the sights. Some included fees included the tour already. 

Gear: I had to purchase some gear before this trip. This includes new hiking boots (my old pair fell apart), new outer jacket (I just want a new one), accesory bags, a large luggage (stuff wouldn't fit my medium one), and some cheap travel accessories all bought online. 

Visa: Ah, to be a wanderlust with a Philippine passport. I should be used to this. I had to pay for visas for Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. PH passport holders were visa-free in way back in 2015 but that has changed. I learned about it when I have already decided I was gonna include Galapagos in this trip. 

Transportation: bus tickets, boat tickets, private transfers, Uber, city transportation tickets

Food: cheap, mid-range, a few times I splurged. The cheap meals are mostly cooked 

Others: travel insurance, optional vaccines I had before the trip (rabies prophylaxis, Yellow Fever vaccine), courier fees, simcards, replacement for lost charger cords, and other auxilliary expenses that added up. 

Be fit! Be healthy!

I didn't get seriously sick during the trip. No fever or food poisoning. I got some coughs and colds when I was in Patagonia but it didn't linger. My skin was dry at times so I doubled up on my lotion and moisturizer regime. I did not do any workout prep for the trip but I did exercise regularly (Barre3).  I was fit enough to do all the physical activities in the trip. I am not a fast hiker, I trail behind, but I can complete the hike. I can walk for an entire day if needed. Though nowadays, I am more selective of the spots that I will visit.