Hi Imogen, I tried to reply to your post on the board, but it's not letting me! argh...so anyway... Going to South America can be a challenge, my advice to you depends on your personality. If you're independent, have common sense, aren't the type to get homesick, don't mind a challenge, like trying new things and new experiences, then I'd say definitely go to South America first. If you don't have much travel experience, I'd suggest sticking to organised tours. There is a lot of street crime there, but then again so has Europe. I personally found it not to be as bad as it's made out to be and I've written an article about it here http://www.wheresshelly.com/articles/?cat=58 If you're just doing a Contiki tour then you'll be fine. There are heaps of people with you all the time and everything is organised for you. If you're doing some solo travel as well, then the above paragraph relates. If you look at my previous posts in my profile I've written a hell of a lot on my experiences of my tour and solo travel after. And if you're interested there's some tour videos at http://www.wheresshelly.com/video/southamerica But you're definitely not foolish for wanting to go! Cheers -Shelly

Thinking about travelling to south america on a tour, without bringing a friend etc. I haven't been overseas before. Thoughts?