Travelling On A Budget In Latin America

Learn Spanish

Right, first things first.

We can say with absolute certainty that if you don’t learn any Spanish before you go to Latin America, or make no effort to pick any up whilst you’re there, your trip is going to cost you an awful lot more.

You will be forced to stay in more expensive hostels, have little choice but to depend on tourist shuttles or fly, eat out more often in gringo-centric restaurants, find yourself on several overpriced tours, and will almost certainly get ripped off a few times.

One of the joys of travel in Latin America is that a single language runs through the whole region (bar a few exceptions), and learning even a basic level of Spanish will go a long long way. You can negotiate, you’ll be able to order from a menu that has more than pictures, find the correct chicken bus and know the real price, and even sweet talk the hostel manager into giving you a long-stay discount.

And, importantly, you’ll have countless meaningful interactions and conversations with locals wherever you go.

And the more you speak, the faster you’ll improve. Travel should be about education as well as experiences – and how wonderful would it be to return home having mastered a second language?

So, whether you’re going backpacking in Central America or criss-crossing South, the sooner you start learning, the better it will be for your experience and your budget.

Resources / There’s a plethora of free and paid-for resources out there, but our hot take is that Duolingo really ain’t all that for those who are serious about learning (though its podcast series is fantastic once you’re past beginner level).

We arrived in Mexico with hardly any Spanish, but studied independently and then did a language school in Guatemala. The best resource was undoubtedly the Michel Thomas Method, which is entirely audio – no reading, no writing, no textbooks – and it completely rewires how you learn a language. If your British school experience left you thinking you’re ‘just not good at languages,’ this will absolutely change your mind.

We asked them for a discount, and you can get 30% off any course using code MTMADR on the official website.

CoffeBreakSpanish is also good. Otherwise, spend some time on YouTube to find a free teacher/course that suits your learning style.

Make sure you also check out our articles on how we learnt Spanish in Latin America (full of amazing free resources – and a bit of Enrique Iglesias, because, well, who doesn’t love a bit of Enrique?!) and how to pick a language school.