{"id":29587,"date":"2019-02-04T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flashpacknew.wpengine.com\/?p=29587"},"modified":"2023-05-11T16:57:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:57:54","slug":"meet-flashpacker-adventure-chile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/solo\/travel\/meet-flashpacker-adventure-chile\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Flashpacker: Simon’s adventure to Chile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon Thompson, 32, is an architect from Birmingham, UK. He joined us on our action-packed getaway <\/span>to Chile<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I had never been to South America before and Flash Pack\u2019s itinerary for Chile seemed like\u00a0<\/span>it covered a lot of interesting places. I liked the fact that you could go from running down\u00a0<\/span>sand dunes in the Atacama Desert to climbing snow-capped peaks in the Andes within the space of a few days. And the focus on adventure sports rather than just sightseeing appealed to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: The reality of going on a group trip with strangers<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Travelling with Flash Pack was a bit like visiting relatives or friends in a foreign country. I never had the feeling I was following the typical tourist routes, and they would always arrange something like a private lunch spot or an exciting powerboat trip to the next hotel to make it more unique.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve done a fair amount of solo travel in the past, so I\u2019m used to meeting and travelling with\u00a0<\/span>strangers; but this was the first organised group trip I\u2019d been on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: Inspirational TED talks to fuel your self-development<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of the things I enjoy most about solo travel is meeting different people. So it was great getting two weeks to get to know everyone in the group. It\u2019s not always that easy when you\u2019re travelling alone and meet people travelling on a different itinerary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Chile<\/p>\n

Even before arriving in Chile, we had the opportunity to get to know the rest of the group by messaging each other on a Facebook page Flash Pack set up for us. This meant that by the time we arrived at the first hotel, there were already familiar faces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone in the group got on really well. Because we were all of a similar age and life stage, we all wanted the same experiences from the trip. No-one was there just to party every night and, equally, no-one wanted to sit by the pool all day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Atacama<\/p>\n

The local guide, Felipe, was really passionate about his country with great insider knowledge that isn\u2019t written in the guidebooks. <\/span><\/p>\n

It can\u2019t be easy getting 14 people 3,000 miles across\u00a0<\/span>the country in two weeks whilst making sure everyone is having a good time. But he made sure we didn\u2019t have to deal with any of the hassle you might have if you were travelling independently. By the end of the trip we all thought of him as part of the group and not just our tour guide.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am still in touch now with the Flashpackers I met in Chile. A few of us had a mini-reunion in\u00a0<\/span>London a couple of months after we got back and I\u2019m trying to organise a hike for us later in\u00a0<\/span>the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking of travelling with Flash Pack, my advice would be to just go for it! My trip was a bit of an impulse purchase on my lunch break at work and it turned out to be one of the best adventures. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It might seem unlikely that 14 strangers are going to share similar interests and get on with each other but everybody is on the trip for the same reason: to have a good time with like-minded people in some incredible destinations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Best hotel:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Pampa<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m booking trips myself I tend to stay in cheap hostels, so to stay in some interesting\u00a0<\/span>and unique hotels was a bit of a treat. The hotel in Torres del Paine National Park was a particular favourite. <\/span><\/p>\n

It sat on the edge of the Serrano River with amazing views of the Andes and it had a really nice, relaxed family-run feel to it. It was in a tiny little town, so it was a great opportunity to switch off. Watching the sun rise over the Andes from the deck at the back of the hotel was the perfect way to end the trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

Local moment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One on my highlights of the adventure \u00a0was white-water rafting and cliff-jumping. The Petrohue River sits at the bottom of a volcano and the views are pretty spectacular; that is, when you get the chance to look up from the boat or clear water out of your eyes! It was a great ice-breaker for the group as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you fancy challenging yourself with glaciers, geysers and white-water rapids in the spectacular landscape of Chile? Don\u2019t miss our <\/span>game-changing escape<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Images: Simon Thompson and Flash Pack<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon Thompson, 32, is an architect from Birmingham, UK. He joined us on our action-packed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":79071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9033,9029],"tags":[107,644,333,1065,464,433,768,443,662,747,362,465,607,485,785,93,765],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}