About 25 years. At least. That's probably how long it's been since I last saw Lukas Zettl. In any case, it's been long enough that I didn't recognise him at his mother's dinner party. In a way, it was actually the first time I had seen him: tanned and, despite the windy and cool evening, wearing shorts, flip-flops and a rowing shirt, with a deeply relaxed aura.

I soon found out that Lukas had just returned home from a long trip. Nine months in South and Central America, to be precise. That simply called for a Wanderhunger interview!

7 questions for Lukas Zettl

Lukas, what was the background to your long journey? How did it come about that you left?

Even during my studies, I always wanted to visit South America. I had never been there before. This desire to travel there kept coming back to me – but at the same time, I knew that I didn't want to visit individual countries on separate holidays. If I was going to do it, it had to be the whole experience.

Right after graduating, I couldn't afford to go on such a long trip. So I had to work for a few years to save up the travel budget.

What plans did you have for the trip – or did you just set off on a whim?

To be honest, I didn't plan much. I just set off and let myself and my travel destinations be inspired by the people I met along the way. It was like that from country to country. You meet new people all the time anyway – in hostels, on various tours you take, on the bus – wherever. I should also mention that people travelling in Central and South America tend to follow very similar routes. This makes it easy to strike up conversations. Everyone is usually very open-minded – typical backpackers, in other words. And so, thanks to many conversations, I was able to decide on my next destinations.

What was your route like?

It was pretty random. I started in Mexico, in Cancun, where I flew from Europe. However, the night before my flight, I spoke to a friend who told me he would be in the US in 10 days and asked if I wanted to join him on a road trip along the east coast. So I spent five days in Cancun and visited Playa del Carmen and Tulum before flying to Atlanta. From there, I travelled to cities such as Orlando, Nashville and Charleston.

Back in Mexico, I spent five days in Mexico City, then continued on to Peru, because I had talked to someone in the USA about this country. That was in September – it was the rainy season in Central America at the time, so it was clear to me that I would start with South America. In terms of weather, that was the ideal decision.

So, from Peru I went to Bolivia, back to Peru (I saw a lot in Peru), Ecuador, Colombia. From Colombia I sailed to Panama via the San Blas Islands. From there I went back to Ecuador, where I spent more time. The next stops were El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Mexico again, from where I returned to Austria after nine months.

What were your top three places or experiences during your trip?

It's hard to say because there were so many, but I'll try:

My top 3 experiences:

My master's degree in freediving on Utila, a small Caribbean island that belongs to Honduras.

Climbing Huayana Potosí, a 6,000-metre mountain in Bolivia. It was the first time I had climbed such a high mountain. The whole experience was really cool: lightning in the distance, stars above us. When we reached the summit, the sun rose on the horizon – it was incredible.

And, of course, the Amazon region, a real jungle experience far off the beaten track, where we only occasionally encountered members of the indigenous population.

And my top 3 places:

I really liked Peru. Cusco, the former Inca capital, was very impressive to me.

The city of Cuenca in Ecuador, where I spent about a month and a half. It's just a small town, and many say it's nothing special, but for me, everything was just right there.

And the third place, hmmm, that was actually Colombia, on the Caribbean coast. It's not really developed for tourism yet, although you can already tell that tourism is starting to take off there. Right near the town of Palomino is Tayrona National Park, which has gorgeous beaches: white sand, hardly any people. Incredibly beautiful. Palomino is a small town, or rather a larger village. There are already a few hostels, the people are great, and the vibe is just awesome.

Hattest du auch negative Erlebnisse oder schlechte Momente?

Ja, tja, meine Kreditkarte ist eine Zeitlang nicht gegangen. she says laughingly. But otherwise, I can't think of anything else. Fortunately, I've never been robbed or had any bad encounters – so I can't really think of any negative experiences.

What advice would you give to other people who also want to travel through South and Central America for an extended period of time?

Definitely learn at least a little Spanish. Not just for communication purposes, but because hardly anyone speaks English. I kept meeting people who didn't know a word of Spanish – I have no idea how they got by. I took a one-week Spanish course in Ecuador and then another four weeks later. That brought me up to A2 level, which was fine. After that, it's just a matter of ‘speaking whenever possible’ to get into the language quickly.

Otherwise, I would say: use your common sense. ‘Street skills’, so to speak, don't do anything stupid, avoid dodgy areas. At the end of the day, you're still the ‘gringo’, as they say, and as a European you simply stand out there. Especially if you're blonde. she says laughingly.

What's on your travel bucket list for the near future?

Europe. I haven't travelled much in Europe yet. Of course, I've been to many countries, but you don't usually get to see much of your own continent. There's just so much here that I haven't seen yet but really want to see. Northern Europe, for example: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark. Iceland too, but that's the big hype right now, so we'll see.
Außerdem Osteuropa, dort gibt es noch einige Schätze zu entdecken. Ich war schon auf einem Osteuropa-Roadtrip unterwegs, aber da sind wir viel zu schnell durchgefahren.

Another thing that really appeals to me is backpacking in East Africa. I met someone who travelled from South Africa to Kenya, Tanzania and Eritrea as a backpacker. When I travel, I like to have a bit of adventure, and in South America you often have to really seek out the ‘real’ adventure. In East Africa, it's different because there aren't as many tourists. You're unlikely to meet any run-of-the-mill tourists with wheeled suitcases there.

 

Thank you very much, Lukas, for the interview and the great pictures from your trip. Aaaaah, I can already tell that these interviews are getting on my nerves. I want to go there too!! 😉