One month has passed. My conclusions and observations

1. Traveling is more expensive than Lonely Planet (or any guidebook) suggests. One could maybe survive on $15-25 a day in Peru by sleeping in the cheapest dorms, eating at local restaurants and being sober. But if one is looking for adventures, guided activities, parties, good food, I would suggest to triple that budget.

2. I expected to encounter a different kind of traveller on my way. I am seeing predominately a younger crowd (5-10 yrs) with a totally different agenda. I though boring and I am not looking for a college scene again if you know what I mean.

3. It´s been easier than I thought to meet fellow travellers. You just say "hi" and a companionship for an hour or a few day is almost guaranteed. Then you say goodbye and never hear from them again; and very often you don´t mind.

4. As I thought everything logistically has been very easy, which leads to a topic of "gringo trail" travel. Gringo trail is a well-travelled route through South America (or any other place) that the vast majority of backpackers follow and for a good reason - the route encompasses all of the continent´s highlights. How bad is it? It´s pretty bad - I´ve met tons of people travelling north due to the season change and they meet fellow backpackers (unexpectedly) in a number of cities in different countries.
"How do you know them?" I ask.
"Oh, we´ve met them in La Paz (Bolivia), Arequipa (Peru), Lima (Peru) and now in Quito (Ecuador)..."

I´ve been traveling only a month, but it happened to me already 3 twice - in Galapagos, Machu Picchu and Pisac.

The fact that I am following some kind of predetermined route or I am doing the same thing as hundreds of backpackers diminishes the "adventure" factor for me. I know it sounds ridiculous to people who are in their home-work-home mode, so I am trying to work on my perspective.

How do you go off the beaten path? (if you want to, of course, as many do not) I think time is of an essence. If you have months and months you can afford visiting less popular towns, hiking more trails and pursuing different activities. But I am talking about A LOT of months - say, a year just for South America.

Secondly, I think a bit different experience is guaranteed if you visit sites alone (or in pairs) at less crowded times. Early morning is the best from my experience as many are still sleeping or recovering from the proceeding night.

Thirdly, I find talking to locals in Spanish is the best tool to learn and experience the country. And then an individual´s ability to see, listen, understand and digest is what determines the experience.

Putting my rhetorical discussions aside, I can report that I am sound, very tanned, slightly tired, quite happy and very excited about many more months to come.

Next conclusions in a month...