For years Justin and I have dreamt of exploring the vast and wild continent of South America. A land of diversity and extremes ... from balmy Caribbean beaches and tropical Amazon jungle to arid deserts and the breathtaking peaks of the Andes. Home to the ancient Incan empire with their mysterious stone cities, remote mountain villages with their colourful markets and kind simple souls through to vibrant hip capitals filled with culture, cool street art, music and food!

I briefly visited South America on a ‘famil’ in 1996 (a lifetime ago when I was a travel agent specialising in South American travel) and totally fell in LOVE with its culture, colour and people. Travelling on a famil meant that I was whisked around in private buses on a tight itinerary, staying in four star hotels, but I vowed that one day I would come back and see South America my way … at a much slower pace with long stays in our favourite places to soak up the culture, beauty and experience.

This year Justin is due for long service leave with his job, so we've decided to take a career break and travel to South America for 7 months in September 2015. We're packing up the suburban dream and trading in the daily grind for the trip of a lifetime! Check out the details of our South American Adventure.

With such an exciting trip planned, we decided to "Give it a Try" and start Gypsy Soul Mates travel blog, mainly as a way of sharing our travels, photos and experiences in South America with family and friends, but hopefully we can entertain and inspire others to travel along the way.

Wish us luck! x