SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I chat with expats about their favorite holiday destinations. Let's be honest. Expats are some of the best travelers around. Always planning the next adventure, exploring hidden gems and finding the better spots wherever they go. So who better to ask for travel inspiration? Okay. So thank you so much for coming on. I'm so excited about hearing about Peru. But let's get started. So, Tim, how who like who are you? How did you become an expat? And what kind of a kind of a traveler are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

So I'll try to give the short and easy version. I grew up in the USA. I've lived in a few different cities there and had a few different jobs. I wasn't travel writer from the get-go, but I worked out of college in the music business and I did a lot of writing there for sales copy and that kind of thing. We were trying to make bands famous, basically. I worked for a record company. Now they don't really call them that, but it was a record company then, even though we sold cassettes and CDs. But anyway, I got transferred to New York City and I met my now wife there, and she was just my girlfriend. And we ended up uh both leaving our jobs and going traveling around the world as backpackers, as many people did and still do. And it's a great way to see the world. And we were doing it on a budget, of course, living off of savings mostly and teaching English sometimes. But I was looking into ways that I could still make money, you know, while we were traveling around. And I saw that, you know, people made money as travel writers, and I thought, well, you know, I've done a good bit of writing and I did well in my English classes. Maybe I can uh get some jobs doing this. So this was before the internet when I first started, so I was just writing for magazines, but I got a few gigs here and there and got a job writing for this company that did hotel reviews for travel agents, actually. And so I just did it part-time for ages, and we ended up going traveling around the world three times. We taught English in Korea for a year and made good money doing that. But then I got back and my wife's biological clock was ticking and we had a baby. So that that kind of put the put a stop to traveling for a while. But then eventually I put a book out called The World's Cheapest Destinations, and then I started a blog that was connected to that. And this was in the very early days of blogging, but eventually that became you know an income stream and it turned into something more, and I started other sites. And long story short, in 2006 I went full-time, so I'm coming up on my 20th year anniversary of being a full-time travel writer and blogger. So I've been doing it ever since and finding a way to make money at it, usually by juggling a bunch of different projects at once, and uh but I managed to make ends meet and pay the bills and uh all of that. But then we liked that experience of living in Korea for a year as a you know, as expats, and and we did it in Turkey for a while too, and we really wanted to do that with our daughter, and so we were looking for places to move abroad, but we didn't want to go so far, like moving all the way to the other side of the world. So Mexico's pretty close and easy to the US. Um and it's also a unique culture, you definitely feel like you're in a completely other country, and so it wasn't like moving to England or something. So we we moved to Mexico and with my daughter, and she's on her own now, but she ended up living here for three years and going to school for three years in Spanish. So that was uh great language training. And then in 2018, we moved here for good when uh an angry man with orange hair became president. And never did we dream that there would be a sequel to that. But anyway, it was a good move.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Uh so I mean, you've been everywhere. I can resonate with the whole backpacking thing. I yeah, we did it when with my now husband when I was 21, thinking that uh it's just I'll get it out of my system. And I'm still feel like I'm sometimes backpacking around the world, but without him.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Which is a lot of our relatives thought that was a get it out of our system thing. So after the first year-long trip, they were like, Wow, that's amazing. You got to do all that, and now back to work. And we're like, no, we're just saving up so we can go again.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yeah, exactly. It's really hard to shake it once you've got that travel bug in you. It stays there forever. So let's get into the destination that you chose and why did you choose it?

SPEAKER_01 4:59

So I chose Peru because it's the country I often come back with when people ask you that irritating question of like, what's the best country you've been to, or what's the favorite place that you've been, what's your favorite? And I don't really have one, and so sometimes I'll give a snarky answer, like wherever I'm going next, you know, or wherever I just went. Because of course there's one favorite. It depends on what you want to talk about, you know, food or adventure or luxury, or you know, what's the cheapest place you've been to that's a lot of fun? You know, there's a lot of different ways you can answer that. But for me, I like mountainous places and I like places with a lot of culture. I like places where there's a lot of different things to see, and there's a lot of variety in the landscapes. And so that's why I like Peru, and that's why I've been back there a few times. Not that it's you know the best, in quotes, but it's just the country that I've returned to the most, I think, apart from maybe Thailand, because that's such a crossroads of Asia, you know, like you end up going through there over and over again if you're going elsewhere in Asia. So I've been to Thailand more times than I've been to Peru, but and I will go back, I love it there, but I like the variety of Peru and the mountains and the the changes in altitude and all that. And so, yeah, it's kind of magical. And I think also this is a comparison to Thailand, I guess. The people, the women in Peru, especially, still wear their traditional clothing, especially when you get into the Domes and the Andes. And so they're not just dressing up to take pictures for the tourists. Like I've done some trekking there in some really remote areas, and you'll like stumble into some village where you know they get a few a few tourists coming through every week that are backpackers or hikers or whatever, but you know, they're definitely off the off the map in that sense. And they're still wearing these traditional clothing that they made themselves, or their grandmother handed down to their mother, and their mother handed it down to them. And I think that's pretty cool because they haven't lost their culture, and the men are still wearing, you know, Z top t-shirts and jeans or whatever, you know. But the the women are still they're wearing their traditional clothing, and it's nice to see.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

I love that. There's not many places in the world that actually still have their traditional clothing, so it's kind of a little makes it a little bit more even more special. But you're right. But instead of taking photos with the tourists and dressing up in their clothes.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Yeah. There's this trek there called the Lara's Trek, and it's also called the Weaver's Trek because you go through these villages where there's lots of women still weaving all the time. Oh they're not really doing that to just, you know, sell things. They're doing it because that's what they wear, and it's kind of nice.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

That is nice. I'm going to Bhutan next month for that, and the same thing. They still wear their traditional clothes. Very exciting.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

A lot of it there. Yeah. I haven't been, but that's what I've heard.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Yeah. So I'm very excited. Is it hard to get to Peru? How would you get there?

SPEAKER_01 8:06

So from the U.S., it's not that hard. There are some direct flights, but you usually go through one other stop on Avianca or Copa or one uh one of the U.S. airlines. But Lima is a pretty major destination for flights. And it's not that expensive to fly there from North America. You know, a lot more from Australia, of course, but you can get there. The only problem is if you're going to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley and all that, you have to go through Lima first, at least for now. They they keep talking about building another airport in in the Sacred Valley of Peru and Chincharo, but it's not something that a lot of locals want. And also it's not something the government in Lima wants because they like everybody coming through Lima because uh they get a piece of that. And so anyway, if you are flying all the way directly to Cusco, it's a bit of a pain because you end up having to go through Lima and you get there at some weird hour, and then you gotta wait around for hours. But you know, putting all that aside, it's probably good to just stop in Lima for a bit and then maybe go to Arequipa or the Colca Canyon or something, and then go to Cusco if you have the time. The problem is a lot of people go there on vacation and have a very tight schedule, and so they end up having to deal with uh not so convenient connections.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

And so what does a couple of days look like for you? If you know like in an itinerary?

SPEAKER_01 9:36

You mean getting there?

SPEAKER_00 9:37

No, just when you're there. Once you're there, say yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

I mean, to stop off in Lima, which is certainly worth doing, there's great gastronomy culture there. It they often have like eight or ten restaurants that will show up as one as best in the world.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

You know, on those 50 best lists or whatever. But it's you know, you don't have to go to the super fancy places to eat well. And so it's worth going to Lima just to eat. But there are things to see there, and Miraflorest is kind of nice. It's uh it's a sort of suburb, I guess, but it's like right on the ocean, and there's people paragliding above you all the time, like all day, because the winds you know kick up from the ocean, and and there are people surfing, it's cold, but they have wetsuits on. So it's just kind of a nice place to wander around. But most people don't spend more than two or three days in Lima on their way in or way out. And uh, but you know, you can get to anywhere from there on a short domestic flight or on a bus or there's trains, and so what we did on my very first trip there, and I would definitely recommend is to go to Arequipa first, and that's it's something like maybe 1,500 meters or something like that in altitude. So it's a good stepping stone because when you get to Cusco, it's crazy high, like I don't know, 3,500 meters or something like that. So a lot of people get altitude sickness if they go straight there. And I made the mistake of going straight to the Colca Canyon one time thinking, oh, it's a canyon, you know, it can't be that bad. And here's my lesson: do your research before you turns out that it's almost as high as Cusco. So I had this blazing headache for two days where I didn't get an auspice or anything, but like, you know, I had a migraine-level headache, it felt like for at least 24 hours till I started to get adjusted. Because the canyon itself, if you go down, is is lower, but you know, most of the hotels are on the rim, and so it's quite high, it turns out. So, but otherwise, if you go to Arequipa, that's kind of a stepping stone, and so is the Sacred Valley. So that's another strategy people will follow. They'll fly into Cusco, but they'll leave immediately and get lower for a bit. You can go to basically the Sacred Valley is the area between Cusco and Machu Picchu, and actually Machu Picchu is lower than Cusco. So you could go do all that stuff first and then then go to Cusco and enjoy it. So what I would advise, a lot of people do this super fast, but if you can go there for like a week and spend it in all three of those areas in Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, and Cusco, that would be a really nice way, way to see the area, and you're not so rushed because a lot of people are really rushing, you know. They're on these organized tours that are like bam, bam, bam, bam, and and every night they're in a different hotel, and it doesn't seem fun to me.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

No, I like slow travel now. You know, get to know a place rather than hop on try and do 50 countries in 50 days of gone to the city. That's exhausting.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

And and they're staying in these nice hotels in a lot of cases, and they don't even get to enjoy them because they're just in and out and they're only sleeping there and having breakfast, and then they're gone again. And there's a lot of cool towns in that area that people go on day trips, and then if you're staying there for the night, it's a whole different atmosphere because there's hardly anyone around, you know, all the tourists come during the day. So yeah, like Peasak and Chinchero, I I mentioned earlier, and Oye, this is a hard one to say. Oya, Oye Tantambo, I think it's called. But if you go to those places and or Urubamba, you can, you know, have a really peaceful time at night and have the place almost to yourself.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Is there a standout moment for you that was like, wow, okay, this is a cool place, I'll come back again?

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Well, I did the Anca Trek, Anka Trail with my wife, and there were a lot of moments along the trail where I was like, man, we are really blessed to be here because there's a lot of beautiful overviews and you know, just panoramic views along the way, but also there's some ruins along that trail that the only way you can get to them is if you're hiking. You can't get to them any other way. And so some of them are really beautiful, and like if they were at a place that was easy to get to, they would be mobbed with tour buses. But the only way you can get there is if you're on the Inca Trail, and there's only about 200 people a day that go on that trail, because there's 500 that are allowed, but most of those are porters and you know, workers' guides, and so they're carrying all the stuff up the mountain. And so the tourists are only like 200, 220 of that total. So yeah, you feel like you're really an explorer, even though you know hundreds of thousands of people have done it at this point. It's still when you're on it, it doesn't feel that way. And so yeah, it was really cool, and it did make me want to come back. You know, every every day we were just like walking along, taking in these beautiful mountain views and going, wow, this is a special place. And then I went on later treks, like I was talking about, where you get into some of those remote villages, and it just really feels special. And I mean, I don't know how many millions of people go to Peru each year, it's a lot, but when you're in those places, it sure doesn't feel like it.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah. And do you have to have a guide to take you on these trails?

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Yeah, you can do the one called the Salcontai Trek on your own, and you can do parts of the Laris Trek on your own. But the Inca Trail, you have to get an official permit and you have to have a guide. And actually, you have to have a guide in my in uh Machu Picchu itself now, too. And it's kind of a pain because you have to follow the guide and you you can't get off, you know, go do stuff on your own unless your guide wink, wink, nudges you and says, okay, you're on your own now, we're done. But it's not like it used to be. And honestly, it's for a good reason. It's because the crowds have gotten, you know, out of control if they don't do that, and so they they can't have people climbing all over the ruins and messing things up. And so, you know, they're trying to they're trying to find a balance between letting everybody in that wants to go, but also preserving this UNESCO World Heritage Monument that's gotten kind of too famous for its own good. And so there's a trade-off there. So yeah, you have to have a guide for the Inca Trail or for the Citadel itself.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Is there a season that you should be going?

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah, the high season is May through September, and so that's the best time to go trekking. It's the best time to go to Machu Picchu, and that's because it's dry then. If you go like earlier or later, there's a chance you'll get caught in the rain, which is not fun if you're camping, uh, especially which is what you need to do on the Inca Trail. But, you know, I've been in December on the Laris truck and on the Salk and Thai trek. It was out of high season, and we were okay. We did get drizzled on a little bit here and there, but it wasn't bad. But yeah, the reason the reason that's the high season is because you're guaranteed good weather. And there's been a few times in the past when people have been there, like in the rainy season, and Machu Picchu's actually gotten closed because there were floods, or you know, the train tracks got washed over, and that's like the only way in and out, and they ended up having to helicopter people and all this crazy stuff. So, you know, just again, do your research if you want to go outside of that season because it might be okay, but you know, allow yourself some time, have travel insurance, you know, all that good stuff. Because the Aka Trail is actually closed in February because it is so rainy that they don't want anybody on it. And that's when they kind of let the trail recover and do some trail maintenance and you know, fix the huts and where you take a shower and things like that. So that'll tell you that that's the time you definitely don't want to be there.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Yeah. And it did you is there a dish that you'd have to try or a drink that you have to try while you're there?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

I said that Peru's known for its gastronomy, and at the high end, there's a lot of things people would probably tell you to try. But there's you know a lot of dishes that you can eat on a normal budget, even if you're a backpacker. And and I would say just eat your vegetables there because they're that's one of the highlights, because Peru has something like 80 or 100 different kinds of potatoes. It depends on who you that's the uh origin of the potato is uh for Peru. And a lot of kinds of corn, corn come from Peru, like including ones with these really big kernels. So in some ways, the vegetables are the highlight. And then they do they do serve guinea pig there. It's kuey locally, and they they you know domesticize it, whatever you call it. They have farms that that raise guinea pigs and they breed like crazy, so it's not hard to do. But but there's not really that much meat on it, you know. So it's kind of the thing that tourists will try once to say they did it, but it's not really something they they want to eat after that. But as far as drinks, like there's something called chicha in the sacred valley that's like a beer made out of corn, and it's fun to try that. And then there's pisco. I have a visual aid here. I don't know if you could see that head maybe by my face. But anyway, if that's the national cocktail. Oh, they may if you get a pisco sour, that's kind of the national cocktail. But they drink pisco straight all the time, and they make it in Chile too, but Peru is the original. Yeah. So that's I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

I I I like pisco sour.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

And uh what is um I did you know, I did uh is it like uh spirit pisco?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Yeah, it's made from the leftover stuff from grapes, so it's like grappa in Italy. Okay, yeah. It's like distilled grape juice and stems and skins and whoever, who knows what else. But you know, they do have wine in Peru. They they have a wine grain region, which is the same area that they make pisco in. And it's there's a lot of decent Peruvian wine, it's getting better all the time, but it's not nearly as well known as Chile and Argentina for that. But, you know, otherwise, there's something called A Coca Cola that I think is horrible. It tastes like bubble gum, but it's basically a soda, it's not alcoholic, it's a soda that tastes like bubblegum. Peru is really well known for its ceviche, and you can get ceviche in a lot of places, but Peru takes it to a whole nother level, and they do like 20 or 30 different kinds. So if you're in Lima, especially, you should eat some ceviche. It's it's fish that's technically raw, but it's cooked in lime juice or some other, you know, kind of acidic juice that will basically cook the meat. And so when you eat it, it's not really raw, it's sort of cooked by the juice, and that's something you should definitely eat there, and that's kind of another national dish. And then there's a few things that are kind of a mixture of Chinese and Peruvian that you'll see there that's kind of funny because they've just had a lot of Chinese and Japanese immigrants over the year that sort of spiced up the cuisine and introduced a lot of hybrid sort of things.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Is ceviche from Peru?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Or is it I don't think so because they do versions in like Colombia and Mexico and a lot of other places, so I'm sure that could be a big argument. Yes, like who invented Pisco, but I think they probably all developed it independently with ceviche.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Yeah, I love ceviche, it's one of my favorite. Did you have any cultural experiences or interactions with locals that made it even more special?

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Well, I was talking about Chicha, and I did go to a chicha bar in the Sacred Valley, and there were a bunch of locals there uh drinking their giant glasses, and that was kind of fun. And I I tried when I was in those villages to like Like find the local hangout, but that wasn't as easy as it sounds because they're sort of they seem to be, you know, behind closed doors and everybody knows where they are, but they don't advertise to the foreigners. In the mountains at least, that's not so easy. But yeah, you know, I always try to go to cultural performances and things like that. And even if they're set up for tourists, I think it's still kind of interesting to see what the local dances are and how they celebrate festivals. There's some huge festival in Cusco called Intirami, I think it's called, like INTI and then R-A-Y-M-I, and that's a huge one every year. And if you can time it right to go for that, I think it's around the summer solstice, but I could be wrong. But so yeah, uh there's a lot of festivals at Peru. And I actually did an article about this once, and it took a lot of research because there's like two or three of them every month, it seems, and they uh they find a lot of good reasons for a party. And then if you're there during a harvest festival, that's always a good one. Like it is in a lot of countries. There are a lot of festivals going on then.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

And is there anything that you wish you knew before you went? Besides uh, I think you mentioned before that you you you talked about the altitude.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Yeah, I would encourage everyone to research the altitude and figure out if they're coming from sea level, especially how to get acclimatized on the way. I think some people have gotten surprised by that guinea pig thing because they didn't do their homework and they didn't know the C U Y meant guinea pig, and they felt the random thing on the menu and then they felt bad because they were eating a cute little free picture. But yeah, I I I think Peru, like any place, is a fairly safe place unless you're in the wrong neighborhood. So if you're going to Lima, you know, maybe do a little research about uh where you're going and where you're staying, especially because Miraflores and Baronco in that area is pretty wealthy, but there are parts of central Lima where the historic sites are that are kind of you know dicey by night, and you might not feel comfortable there if you're not a very experienced and savvy world traveler. So yeah, just do your homework about neighborhoods and don't be wandering off into random places by yourself, especially if you've if you've had a few drinks. It's never a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Is it a c is it a place that a solo female traveler can go to?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Yeah, I think so, as long as you're you know sensible and careful. And uh I I've met plenty of female solo travelers that have been backpacking around Peru and haven't had any issues. I mean, you're gonna have that machismo culture that you have in a lot of Latin America, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily unsafe. It's just annoying, you know, men hitting on you and that kind of thing. But I yeah, I've met female solo travelers that have traveled on buses and and it's been fine. And you know, uh as always, just have your wits about you and keep your valuables under your clothing and you know, don't be flashing jewelry and fancy watches around and all that kind of stuff. And just be sensible that it is a developing country and a lot of people are making far less than you do in a year, and so it's not good to be showing off all your cool electronics that cost you thousands of dollars.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or showing some jewelry that you probably shouldn't be wearing anyway.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Which um leads me to the last question, which is is there a one tip that you would give or advice you would give anybody thinking of uh heading out to Peru?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Just please take your time and a lot enough time to really see the country because we didn't even talk about the Amazon. Like that's a whole nother area, you know, all a jungle area, the Amazon River and all of that. And I mean you could spend weeks there by itself, and then there's this area up caught up north, which is confusingly called Amazonas, even though it's not really near the Amazon. It's just sort of like there's a tributary river that feeds into the Amazon, I guess. But that's a whole different area culturally, and there's a lot of things to see up there. So my point is if you just go try to do Peru for five days, that's really doing a disservice to the country. And I would just try to, you know, if you're going there as a backpacker, try to give yourself enough time to really see more than just the highlights. Because when you go to those highlights, first of all, they're gonna cost more. There's gonna be a lot more tourists in those areas. So if you can take your time and just do it more slowly, like we were discussing, even if you go to the main places that everybody goes, if you can just get off the beaten path a little bit, you'll find your prices dropping in half for lodging, and you'll be able to go in a slower form of transportation that's not going to be as expensive. You don't have to go on an organized tour necessarily for everything. So just take your time and don't try to hurry through Peru because it's a country that really w rewards you for seeing it at a human pace instead of a uh a breakneck speed.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yeah, I like that. I think uh Peru is on uh definitely on my big bucket list, but I I need, like you said, I need some time to plan it out because Amazon has been my number one. I love animals and I'm big into traveling where they where I can see nature. So, and I've been told by the family that I can't go without them. So it's still sitting on my bucket list.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Well, the other thing too is um it's right next door to um Bolivia and Ecuador, so you can combine it with some other places as well and uh have another reason to extend it. But it's a place in South America that if you're gonna fly all that way, you might as well spend some time. And then when if you have some more time, then keep going. You know, there's lots of great great places to see apart from that. So if you're gonna do a gap year or you're gonna don't go do your around the world trip, you know, don't try to just cram everything into a week or two.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah, don't rush it because it's worth. I love that. Uh it's worth uh giving it its time it's worth the time it's worth. No, the value of the time it's worth discovering it. You know what I mean? But what I'll what I'll do, team, is I'll put all your links in the show notes for anyone who'd like to read your book or get in touch with you or have a look at your blogs. Is there anything else you'd like to say before we say goodbye?

SPEAKER_01 28:56

No, I don't think so. It's just that Peru is in two of my books. So if you are a traveler, you can pick up the world's cheapest destinations and there's a whole chapter about it. Or in my Living Abroad book, A Better Life for Half the Price, I talk about Peru. You can stay there for six months, actually, without leaving. So it's a pretty good spot if you want to be a digital nomad. It's just after six months you got to get out of there and you can't come back for another six month.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Oh, that's interesting. Okay, that's good to know. That is very good to know. Because usually you could just do like a visa run and go somewhere and come back. But yeah, six months.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Yeah, not there. But at least they're generous in how much they give you to start with.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Exactly. Exactly. Six months seems to be um uh quite a generous time to be able to travel. So thank you, Tim. I really, really appreciate because there is a bit of a time difference between us. I think we're on two separate times of the parts of the world at the moment. So again, thank you so much for coming on. I really, really appreciate it. And uh hopefully I'll see you again soon, maybe next year at TBEX.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yeah, maybe in uh Kazakhstan we were just discussing. But great talking with you, Paul. And yeah, we'll uh we'll drink whatever they drink in Kazakhstan because we go there.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Yeah, exactly. Uh thank you. So join us again next week on Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I have another exciting destination in a world that's too big to be left unexplored. Just for now.