You first trip to Latin America is filled with uncertainty. You don’t know what to expect. Your Airbnb is booked and your flight is coming up in a few days. Here’s what’s going to happen on your very first day ever in Latin America.
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1. You exit the airport, order an Uber to your Airbnb and explain in surprise “wow this Uber is super cheap!”
2. You stare out the window, passing the poor and crumbling outer surburbs. With a lump in your throat, you think to yourself “what the hell have i gotten myself into”.
3. You arrive at your Airbnb. If you booked a ‘mid-tier’ Airbnb, it probably looks like shit on the outside but is surprisingly nice inside
4. You venture out for food. You find a taco shop, gaze at the menu and exclaim “damn this is like 1/4 the price back home”. The food is bomb.
5. You head home to shower and get ready for your first night out. The showerhead might look strange. The hot water may or may not work.
6. You go out. You take a $2 Uber to what is supposedly the most popular nightclub in town. Cover is maybe $5. Beers are $2. Full bottles of tequila or aguardiente are like $25. You notice that the girls are actually dancing. And singing. Guys too. Latin rhythms abound.
7. The night gets better and better. You marvel at the latinos ability to sing and dance for 4+ consecutive hours. You start getting attention. People ask “where are you from?”, you make friends, and get invited into the group. Things get crazier from there.
8. You wake up the next day with a hangover and a huge grin on your face. You just had the best night of your life. You make a coffee and head to the balcony to clear your head. You decide then and there – “Latin America is amazing. I’m gonna do what it takes to live here”.
There you have it! The classic ‘first night in Latin America’ story. It happens to all of us. All it takes is 24 hours in Latin America to realize that it is a special place. The chances are Latin America is more fun, more thrilling, and more happy than where you come from.
Some countries are better than others for your first trip to Latin America. Read enough of the blog and you’ll get a sense for it. Check out the city guides as well.
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9. You wake up the next day around noon. Your head is fine — Latin America parties on good cheap liquor and you slept like a rock. The sun is already blazing. You open your balcony door. The sounds of the city flood in: cumbia from a corner shop, a guy selling fruit from a cart, kids playing somewhere below. You make coffee and sit there for a while.
10. You find a coffee shop with wifi. It’s good coffee, the wifi actually works, and the whole thing cost you $3. You sit next to a couple of other laptop people who are clearly not tourists. You start to wonder what their story is. Maybe they live here. Maybe they’ve been here for years.
11. You walk the city for two hours and barely scratch it. You stumble into a market, eat something you can’t name that costs $1.50, and it’s one of the best things you’ve ever eaten. You check Google Maps and realize you’re completely lost. It doesn’t bother you at all.
12. That evening, sitting on a rooftop somewhere with a cold drink that cost less than a dollar, watching the city light up, you have a thought that doesn’t quite fit back home: I could actually do this.
Not “visit” — do this. Live here. Wake up here. Build something here.
That’s the moment Latin America gets you. It doesn’t happen the same way for everyone, but it happens. And once it does, the question shifts from “should I visit Latin America?” to “how do I actually make this work?”
That’s where we come in.
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