I got my bags back on a roll heading out there and I'm ready to go looking real good

in my passport photo.

Amateur Traveler episode 585. Today the Amateur Traveler talks about deserts and geysers and volcanoes,

soft flats, flamingos, llamas, copper mines, and mummies as we go to Northern Chile.

Welcome to the Amature Traveler. I'm your host Chris Christensen.

We'll hear more from our two sponsors later on in this episode,

but first let's talk about Northern Chile.

I'd like to welcome to the show Steph Dyson from worldly adventurer.com, Guidebook writer and travel writer, and she has come to talk to us about Chile.

Steph welcome to the show.

Hi, thanks very much for having me.

And why are we talking about Chile?

What is your relationship with the country you are not from Chile?

No so I'm actually originally from the UK and I moved to South America three years ago

and have actually lived in a couple of different countries here, but arrived in Chile about a year and a half ago.

I actually met my boyfriend who is a Chilean and a month trip here in Chile turned into a year and a half and I'm still here now and have

fallen desperately in love with this country and do my best to see as much of

it and write as much about it as possible.

And what led you to South America originally?

I think it was the excitement of going to somewhere

that I didn't know many people who visited there before.

A lot of it as well was the idea of learning a language.

The great thing about South America is if you can speak a bit of Spanish,

...