It wouldn't have been me if I hadn't gotten home from South American by some insanely incomprehensible and dramatic method.

Ticket from Santiago (Chile) to Cusco (Peru) with a change in Lima. That doesn't sound complicated, does it? I think so. Everything is going according to plan, I'm at the airport all night as my flight is quite early in the morning. I'm waiting for the plane, sipping coffee and while I'm doing that, I'm planning Machu Picchu and Huayhuash trek, which I plan to do in Peru and which I'm looking forward to immensely. Everything is already nicely planned and it's coming together too beautifully, which (out of habit) doesn't sit well with me somehow. So what's the problem?

I thought I was pretty good at surfing. However, after my first lesson in Pichilemu, I found out that I am completely useless and my non-existent arm muscles don't make it any easier.

In Pichilemu I found, as always thanks to Workaway, a volunteering position at one of the surf hostels. Pichilemu is a small seaside town full of both local tourists escaping Santiago to the sea in the summer and surfers from all over the world, as it is the best surf spot both in Chile and perhaps in South America, and not for nothing is it nicknamed the Capital del Surf = surf capital. So why am I going there? To find out that after all these years of surfing, I am absolutely useless.

Well, I've found some interesting volunteering again. This time with a guy who runs and races with dogs, so I'm looking forward to three weeks of living on his farm with over thirty grinning and perpetually hyperactive huskies.

Luis lives with the dogs near the town of Lonquimay, Chile. However, it's far enough away from any civilization that no one would mind a bunch of barking dogs. That also means we had to plan well in advance grocery shopping and any trips into town. So for three weeks I was living defacto in a secluded spot by the woods, but after those few months of traveling in an RV, hitchhiking, trekking, and camping, I'm pretty excited about something quieter.

There aren't many roads in the south of Chile, so you have to take ferries quite often. Right after I finished hiking Torres del Paine I hopped on one of the ferries heading north. Three days on the water and views of the fjords and Patagonian wilderness from the deck, I can’t complain about that one.

Even hospital can’t stop me from hiking! Let’s go to the Torres del Paine national park. 5 days full of hiking, camping and crazy weather!

As a complete coincidence, I drove all over Argentina from the northern border with Bolivia all the way south to the Land of Fire.

Argentina's legendary Ruta 40 is the longest route in Argentina and one of the longest in the world. It runs parallel to the Andes Mountains for nearly 5,000 km and is considered one of the world's greatest driving adventures.

Political problems, protests, strikes and blocked streets. Once the government impeached the president in early December, people started to protest all around Peru. Well, as if on cue, it is in January, when I need to get to Bolivia, that some of the biggest riots occur.

Rafael and his caravan are waiting for me in La Paz, and we're due to go on a roadtrip across Argentina and into Patagonia in two days, so I'm in quite a hurry. But how will I get to La Paz now? Buses cancelled, the whole of Cusco blocked off, streets full of fires and burnt tyres.

Waking up at 4 am to embark on a 3-hour bus journey from Cusco to Seven Lagoons, the launching point for our mountain expedition.

I find I have a backpack twice the size of the others. How "unexpected". The rest of the expedition crew are normal compared to me, most likely because they don't carry a camera, two lenses, massive tripod, a GoPro with various crap that goes with it and a drone, which by the way I won't use once because of the wind.

A quick breakfast, coffee and off we go!

Why is everything so far away?

Starting from Cuenca, Ecuador, I have a week to get to Cusco and travel as much of northern Peru as I can. It dawns on me pretty quickly that the only way to get this done in a week is by night buses.

The Ecuadorian coast is often overlooked by travelers, as most of them head to the Andes or the Galapagos Islands. But I want to surf, relax by the beach and have some time to improve my Spanish.

Traveling from Otovalo back to Quito didn't go quite as planned, as I slightly misjudged the length of the journey. I mean, I took a hell of a turn and arrived in Quito in the dark, which is not very good.

The first culture shock comes on the bus

Immediately after arriving in Quito, I run to the bus towards Otovalo. Why? It's Saturday, and every Saturday the town of Otovalo has the biggest market in Ecuador.

11 months, 4 countries, 2 backpacks and one girl who wants to travel the world.

Hey, everybody! My name is Ellie, my backpack is almost bigger than me and although I can only say hello in Spanish so far, I'm about to travel across Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile.