South America is one of the most written-about regions in travel blogging — and one of the most misunderstood.
It is often reduced to a few clichés: cheap, dangerous, chaotic, great for backpackers.
Yet South America covers 17.8 million km², making it:
➡ larger than Europe
➡ home to 12 countries
➡ with over 430 million inhabitants
➡ and economic gaps comparable to traveling between Portugal and Turkey
Still, much of its coverage is built on short trips, recycled itineraries, and Instagram-driven routes.
Here are the biggest things travel bloggers get wrong — and why accuracy matters.
1. Treating South America as one travel system
South America is often written about as a single destination, despite massive internal differences.
For example:
Chile’s GDP per capita is over 3× higher than Bolivia’s
Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country on the continent
Argentina has European-style infrastructure in some regions and near-wilderness in others
Peru’s tourism industry is far more developed than Paraguay’s
Yet advice is often generalized:
“In South America, buses are unsafe.”
“In South America, food is cheap.”
This leads to bad planning and wrong expectations.
The World Bank classifies South American countries across three different income levels — meaning infrastructure, safety, and costs are structurally different.
“South America does not have one travel system — it has twelve.”
2. Overselling danger (or denying it)
Two narratives dominate:
“South America is extremely dangerous”
“South America is totally safe”
Reality is statistical, not emotional.
Examples:
Uruguay’s homicide rate is close to some US states
Chile consistently ranks among Latin America’s safest countries
Violent crime against tourists remains statistically low compared to crimes targeting locals
Pickpocketing is the main tourist risk in most major cities
Yet blog headlines still say:
“I survived Bogotá”
“The most dangerous country I’ve ever visited”
Most travel insurance claims in South America are for:
✔ theft
✔ accidents
✔ illness
—not violent crime.
“Risk in South America is geographical, not continental.”
3. Calling South America “cheap” without context
“South America is cheap” is one of the most misleading claims in travel blogging.
Actual prices vary dramatically:
Patagonia accommodation can cost as much as Spain or France
Chile regularly ranks as one of the most expensive countries in Latin America
Domestic flights in Brazil can cost more than intercontinental flights
Peru and Bolivia are not comparable markets
According to global cost-of-living indexes:
Chile and Uruguay rank far closer to Southern Europe than Southeast Asia
Argentina’s costs fluctuate heavily due to inflation
Brazil has the highest internal price gap between regions
“South America is not cheap — it is unequal.”
4. Using the same 5 destinations repeatedly
Over 60% of blog content about South America focuses on:
Machu Picchu
Patagonia
Uyuni
Rio
Cartagena
Meanwhile, entire regions are absent:
Interior Brazil
Northern Argentina
Eastern Bolivia
Paraguay
Guyana & Suriname
This creates:
✔ overtourism
✔ distorted perceptions
✔ fragile economies depending on a few hotspots
Machu Picchu receives over 1.5 million visitors per year, while many national parks in Paraguay receive fewer than 5,000.
“South America is five destinations online and a hundred offline.”
5. Calling culture “chaos”
Many bloggers describe South America as:
“Chaotic but charming”
What they usually mean:
flexible schedules
informal systems
human-based problem solving
negotiation over automation
This is not chaos — it’s a different organizational logic.
Data point:
Over 50% of employment in several South American countries operates within informal economies.
That shapes transport, business, and bureaucracy.
“Informality is not dysfunction. It is an economic structure.”
6. Ignoring scale and distance
South America looks compact on maps. It is not.
Examples:
Lima → La Paz ≈ Paris → Istanbul
Buenos Aires → Ushuaia ≈ London → Cairo
Bogotá → Santiago ≈ New York → Los Angeles
Yet itineraries still propose:
“2 weeks: Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile”
South America has fewer cross-border train connections than Europe had in the 1950s, making land travel slower and harder to optimize.
“South America is a continent of distances, not destinations.”
7. Romanticizing poverty as “authentic”
Some blog language treats:
informal transport
poor neighborhoods
rural hardship
…as aesthetic experiences.
Over 30% of South America’s population lives near or below poverty lines depending on country.
Turning inequality into travel texture distorts reality.
“Authenticity is not economic struggle.”
8. Writing about South America without South Americans
Most travel blogs quote:
✔ other bloggers
✔ Instagram
✔ TripAdvisor
But rarely:
✘ local guides
✘ tourism workers
✘ residents
This creates an echo chamber.
Over 90% of English-language content about South America is written by non-South Americans.
“Travel blogging about South America is often travelers talking to travelers — without South America.”
Why This Matters
Travel blogs shape:
✔ tourist flows
✔ expectations
✔ behavior
✔ overcrowding
✔ local economies
Bad framing doesn’t just mislead — it redistributes tourism unfairly.
South America is not:
❌ just cheap
❌ just dangerous
❌ just chaotic
❌ just Machu Picchu and Patagonia
It is a continent of systems, contradictions, and realities.
Final takeaway for travel bloggers
If you want to write about South America:
Don’t write faster.
Write deeper.
Because South America is not your backdrop.
It is your subject.