I love to travel and I have an oppurtunity to go to Peru during Christmas and I dont know if I should. I need help evaluating the pros and cons.
Pros:
- My friend and her family are visiting her brother who has recently moved there, and I would spend new years and christmas with them at his house in Lima
-As an anthropology-archaeology major Peru has always been the most interesting country and my personal favorite, going to Peru is a dream come true!!!
-I found a pretty cheap plane ticket that I must buy ASAP otherwise it wil be too expensive
-I plan on taking a gap year starting in april to do an international internship, volunteer, travel and I could use some travel experience, especially in Latin America
Cons
-I will miss my birthday and christmas with my family, which ive never done before, this is worst because from january to april I am going to vancouver on a student exchange, and my mom hates that i am going to be away from home for so long, and I dont want to upset her (but sheès overprotective and needs to get over it too)
-Going to Peru means I would have to leave right after my finals in december, and since my friend and her brother wont be there yet, i will spend the first 10 days there alone, backpacking solo, which is kinda scary for a 22 year old white female which veeeery little travel experience, but also exciting
-To get the cheap flight, I have to miss the first day of school in vancouver (on exchange). I would arrive and have to move in the second day of classes and have the rest of my stuff shipped from home (montreal)
-my health is uncertain right now. I think everything is fine, and I am just suffering from anxiety (i have an anxiety disorder), but I recently had a whole bunch of tests done for really scary diseases and only get the results in three weeks, so i have to book before knowing if i am sick (which I doubt, but still)
So what do i do??? Should I take this oppurtunity to go to Peru or pass it up???
oh yeah, altitude sickness and malaria are also a concern.
and going to peru means i wont come home before going on my exchang either, i would go straight there, so i wont see my family until may 1st.
is peru safe for a young solo female traveller?
and i do think i will have an oppurtunity again, i plan on going to latin america for my internship next year. but i wouldnt have my friend there, her being in peru is a one time thing