Last summer after 3 months saving money to travel, I had one of the most challenging experiences of my entire life, and not because of the beautiful places I met, but because it was my first time backpacking in the south of Chile.

My boyfriend and I share the same interest in discovering new places and their nature. We always talk about how beautiful the flora and fauna are in Chile, but also how expensive it's to travel to visit certain places within the country. At the end of 2021 we both decided to work and save money to be able to make our first trip to the south of Chile together, and to make the most of the experience, and because it's much cheaper, we opted to backpack for two weeks

Days before the trip I was super anxious and nervous thinking about the dangers that we could find traveling alone, and also how difficult it was going to be for me to adapt to sleeping for two weeks inside a tent. But all this fear disappeared the first day our journey began, in which we arrived very early in the city of Valdivia, and despite the fact that it wasn't my first time there, I couldn't help but be excited to be in that beautiful city again.

besides of getting to know Valdivia, and enjoying its beers and food, we saw the possibility of visiting sectors near this city. We met a seaside town near Valdivia called niebla, we camped in a beautiful campsite where you can put your tent in the middle of the forest, but the most unforgettable thing for me were the daily visits that we received from some very affectionate Goldens that lived there.

We went to many cities and islands, all with a very varied nature and with all kinds of birds, in all these cities we met different stray dogs or cats that joined us daily on our adventures, having the opportunity to be close to them gave me a lot of peace and calm, because inside of me I felt that they knew that my boyfriend and I were on a trip and their intention of accompanying us was to protect us.

Knowing new places backpacking was a very rewarding experience for me, being able to get out of my comfort zone and risk living in different places every day helped me a lot to learn to take risks and make the most of my youth. Despite the complications and all the fatigue that we endure from the heavy backpacks, I really enjoyed to go to new cities in Chile with my boyfriend

I really hope to one day get to know Chile completely from north to south, I think that the landscapes and the experience are completely worth the effort.