I'm Thinking of Backpacking in South America

I haven't been to South America, but have done a couple of backpacking-travel trips. The things I was skeptical about buying but were TOTALLY worth the money: http://www.exofficio.com/ underwear. Wash them in the sink, they dry overnight. I brought 3 pairs, you can get away with 2. One of those quick-drying travel towels. I got a large one, whatever was on clearance at REI. Same as the undies; dries quickly overnight. Related, a clothesline you can hang up wherever you're staying. A http://www.steripen.com/ was AMAZING for rural areas. I got the "traveller" one, with no filter since I wasn't planning to drink out of puddles or anything. But I could re-fill my water bottle with whatever tap water was around and not worry about it. Get the smallest backpack you can get away with while carrying what you need; nothing is worse than feeling annoyed at all the crap you're carrying around. Compression sacks are pretty handy. In general, a bigger budget so you can pick up what you need as you go is better than trying to bring it all with you and worrying about being 100% prepared. But... travel with a small budget is better than no travel at all.

I backpacked for 3 months in 2009. My trip expenses were $4000 total which broke down like this: $1000 housing, $1000 food, $1000 buses, $1000 getting drunk Go in the South American winter. I was there for three months and saw rain 3 times-- it was gorgeous, 70s every day and sunny. My route was Peru (Lima-Arequipa-Cusco-Lake Titicaca) Bolivia (La Paz, Sucre, salt Flats), Chile (Atacama Valley) Argentina (Salta, Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls,Cordoba, Mendoza) Chile again (Santiago, Valparaiso). It was the greatest adventure of my life. Tips: 1.Salt Flats are the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Go there-- do a 3 day tour 2. Bolivia requires a Visa (need a yellow fever vaccine). I got one in Peru for $5 and did my visa on the border betwen Bolivia and Peru 3. Spend the extra money to take the nice buses 4. Stay in social hostels or guesthouses 5. Don't fly into Chile-- you have to pay a steep entry tax, but you don't need to if you bus in or fly out. 6. Go with the flow. I had a fairly distinct itinerary 7. I came with a large backpacking backpack and a small school backpack. I took about 4 changes of clothes (nice shirt, mostly t-shirts) and jeans (I never wore shorts in public once there). You can do laundry for a $1 just about anywhere. 8. I would bring nicer clothes next time-- South Americans dress nicely and you feel less like a dirty backpacker wearing a button down shirt and nice jeans. 9. I got the Lonely Planet South America book from a cabbie in La Paz-- it's great. 10. Buy your trips when you get down there-- you play ridiculously inflated prices outside of the countries. 11. Peru was definitely my favorite country, but other backpackers really liked Colombia. Please message me if you have any other questions!

I spent a year backpacking through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, and I loved it. I can only specifically answer a few of your questions, but I have some related recommendations. 4. In the countries listed, I spent an average of about $1000/month. This covered staying in hostels/cheap hotels, a few tours, a few flights, lots of bus rides, and eating at generally cheap/mid-range restaurants. You can certainly spend more or less, but this was a fairly comfortable budget. Bolivia was the cheapest, followed by Peru-Ecuador and Colombia most expensive (but still very reasonable). I've heard that Argentina, Chile, and Brazil are all significantly more expensive than the Andes region. 5. That depends where you decide to go. In the Andes region they have a rainy season for about 3 months a year that can make travel a little more difficult, but it seems to vary slightly based on the country. Any travel guide should cover this. 6. Don't take a tent, you will hate yourself. Pack lightly. Most anything you will need can be rented or purchased down there, and lugging around a bunch of stuff is a pain. And as someone noted, most overnight hiking trips require guides, and the guide usually comes with food, tents, etc. You probably want to bring a good pair of shoes if you'll be hiking much. General recommendations: - If you are going to be traveling for more than a month, put some effort into learning spanish. The experience is much richer if you can converse with the locals and don't just hang out with fellow travelers -Border crossings and visas aren't a problem (in the countries listed), unless you want to stay for more than 3 months. I was never asked for anything more than a passport. In some areas you should look into anti-malaria medication. -One of the highlights of my trip was settling down for a few months and volunteering at a non-profit. You get to know an area well and meet lots of interesting people. I can recommend a place - send me a message if interested. -Go to Colombia! It doesn't have a stellar reputation among most westerners, but the country is beautiful and the people are incredibly welcoming. -Take night buses for journeys more than a few hours. This way you won't waste entire days on buses (this is personal preference, of course. Some people like staring at the scenery all day). However, keep all valuables on your person. On of my bags mysteriously disappeared from under a bus in Peru. Specific places: Bolivia: -For hiking, the area around Coroico is beautiful and so is Copacabana (Lake Titicaca). The La Paz surroundings has spectacular mountains that I believe require technical climbing experience to scale. - Don't miss Salar de Uyuni. Truly spectacular. - I also thought Potosi, Sucre, and La Paz were quite worthwhile. Watch The Devils Miner before going to Potosi. - Saltenas (the Bolivian version of an empanada) are my favorite street food in the world. I became moderately obsessed with them during my time in Bolivia, so I recommend giving them a try. -I did a jungle trip from Rurrenabaque, and it seemed a lot more interesting than the descriptions of jungle trips friends of mine did from peru or ecuador. You can do your own research on that though. Peru: - The multi-day trek to Machu Picchu is definitely worth it (I did one of the alternative treks, because the traditional Inca trail requires reservations months in advance), but the best hiking I did in Peru was in Huaraz, a few hours north of Lima. There are numerous agencies that offer dozens of treks for really reasonable prices. The landscape is amazing. I disagree with Sara that the alternative treks to Machu Pichhu need to be booked in advance, unless you are going during the middle of high season. You will get a much better deal if you go to the agency in person a day or two before you want to leave (and negotiate!) -Other good hikes: Colca canyon near arequipa. The hike to Kuelap near Chachapoyas was pretty cool, though this is somewhat out of the way for most tourists. The region of cajamarca-chachapoyas is worth a trip if you know some spanish. -Other recommendations: The floating islands on Titicaca (very touristy but still interesting), the sacred valley, sandboarding in Ica. Plan to spend some time in Cusco apart from Machu Picchu, it's an amazing city. Ecuador: -Hiking around Lago Quilotoa is recommended. You can hike from hostel to hostel in different villages around the lake. - There are lots of places to hike around Banos, and the area is really beautiful. There's also a large national park in the south of the country, though I didn't spend much time there. - Don't miss the Galapagos if it's in your budget. There are some nice little beach towns in western ecuador, too, though I am not much of a beach person either. Colombia: - The Zona Cafetera is great for hiking and hanging out. It's also where most of colombia's coffee is grown, so you can visit the fincas and see how it's grown. - Decent hiking around Villa de Leyva and the town's very nice. -San Gill is the adventure travel center of colombia, and there are many hiking opportunities. I did a few around barichara that were very pretty. Barichara is also a really nice town. - I didn't do the ciudad perdida trek but it's supposed to be pretty cool. It's a several-day trek through the jungle to an old ruined city. The area is totally undeveloped, so there is no other way to get there except I think by helicopter. There are also mountains east of Bogota that I didn't make it to that are supposed to be very nice. - Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena are all very interesting cities. - I'd give cali a miss. Good luck! Feel free to message me with questions.

Where in South America do you want to go? It's an entire continent. Saying you want to "backpack South America" is like saying you want to go for a nice walk in Europe. What do you like to do when you travel? Are you more into culture, or outdoorsy stuff, or adventure travel? Would you die if you didn't get to see the Galapagos islands? Would you die if you didn't get to see Machu Picchu? What's your travel style? Do you want to camp, couchsurf, stay in hole-in-the-wall youth hostels, or "flashpack" via AirBnB or in nicer hostels and lower-end pensions or boutique hotels? We can't really answer any of your questions without this information. Except, of course, for #7. Keep in mind that, as an American, you will be subject to a lot of visas and entry fees because the US doesn't have immigration reciprocity with certain countries. In other words, because the US makes it difficult for, for example, Argentinians to visit here, Argentina makes it difficult for Americans to visit there. This will substantially add to your budget if you plan to travel overland through several countries rather than being more selective about what you want to see and do. I don't think there's a lot of advance paperwork you'll need; most of these fees and visas can be taken care of at the border. But do your research so you don't get to the border and discover they want $200 USD to let you in.

Oh btw here are two things I've been lusting after all day.... https://www.goruck.com/gear/details/GR2 http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_x100s_review/product_images/ Le sigh. I also just had a beer and started ebaying all the random crap I have floating around my apartment. Let me know if there's anything you want and I'll sell it to you. Initial costs indeed. Oh btw the best all south american travel guide that I've seen is http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1907263624/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/. It's updated through 2013 and is a frickin' phone book.

I have been researching this as well, and am using "what do I need to backpack south america" as a search term on Google to great effect. Thus far http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/17/tips-for-backpacking-south-america/ has been useful to me and the friends with whom I am planning on taking this trip.

I spent an average of about $1000/month. This covered staying in hostels/cheap hotels, a few tours, a few flights, lots of bus rides, and eating at generally cheap/mid-range restaurants. You can certainly spend more or less, but this was a fairly comfortable budget. I think this is a pretty good budget, though I'd limit that $1000/month to on the ground costs. I would add your flight to that amount, and any other travel costs to get you to the beginning of your trip.

Checking in. The length of time for my trip can be whatever I want so at this point I'm aiming for longer. I don't know that I want to do Machu Pichu just because everyone does it and paying a lot of money for a touristy area doesn't seem as fun for me. That might be one of those things where I take the train and see it and then hike elsewhere, which I would be cool with. I'm also allergic to having strict itineraries - not nearly as fun! But Peru does sound cool. I like good food with not spending much money. I'm not opposed to doing some "culture" stuff but I also don't want to do stuff that would smack of cultural imperialism or "indian gawping". Yick. I guess when I said parts of Patagonia seemed desolate I'm basing all of my information from a cursory reading of In Patagonia so please realize I have less than zero idea about anything. memailed Saul Wright!

I did something like this about 10 years ago. I camped and hitchhiked a lot in Chile, which was great. Lots of camping in Argentina, too. I did less camping in Boliva and Peru, but went on an Amazon tour for a week or so from one of those places and stayed in little huts or something. It was great. If you want to focus on Patagonia, you will not regret bringing your own camping gear, but if you hit up the Gringo Trail only, you probably will because I didn't see many opportunities for camping up there. Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia was a huge highlight that has not been mentioned yet. Also La Paz in Boliva is really amazing. You can bike down the "world's most dangerous road" from La Paz and that was so fantastic. Have you bought the Lonely Planet yet? If not, go for it. Always a great place to start. Have fun!