The Beginner's Guide — Gear, Apps and What You Need to Know
What's actually worth carrying for months on the road, and the apps worth having. Written for travelling alone.
Welcome to the general guide to the trip, where I’ll focus on tips across a range of subjects, mainly for the solo traveller who has left the tourist areas where finding accessible information isn’t a problem. I’d note that most of this is relevant to any traveller. Let’s begin.
Gear
Gear, particularly for someone travelling alone or outside the touristed areas, is the most important thing that can save or ruin a day for you — or even a whole stretch of the trip.
Before I start recommending what to bring, let me say plainly that yes, it isn’t always the easiest or most accessible, and often not the best quality for the price, but you can get absolutely everything in South America.
So, to the point: what do you bring for a few months in South America?
A 70–90 litre backpack. Not much to add. This will be your home. Make sure it’s comfortable and well made. I travelled with a Deuter pack and was very happy with it.
A 25–35 litre daypack. A small, good-quality bag is particularly important and deserves no less investment than the big one. You’ll head out with the small pack on short one- or two-day trips and spend a lot of the journey with it while the big pack sits in storage.
A pack cover. A cover you can lock the backpack inside. It’s a bit of a nuisance all the time, but it’s very convenient and secure, and it also adds a lot of storage space.
A tent. A good-quality tent for all weather conditions, for at least two people, so you can always look after yourself and whoever is with you. Yes, it isn’t the most fun thing to carry and often it just gets dragged along — but many times it saved me (see the carnival side story), and most importantly it gives you the ultimate freedom.
A sleeping bag and a mat. If you’ve given up on the tent, which I personally don’t recommend, then a mat and sleeping bag are essential, so you can always join someone who has a tent, or sleep in places that aren’t necessarily meant for sleeping.
Medical kit. A small pouch with general painkillers for headaches and stomach aches, your own personal medication, iodine, water purification, altitude tablets, plasters, tape and a bandage for immobilising. Beyond that there’s endless medical gear — just remember it’s with you for the whole trip and factor in the weight.
Clothing. I won’t set out a full clothing list; there are plenty of those online and you know yourself best. But on the cold, for anyone planning to travel in Patagonia, I’d recommend gloves, a wool hat, thermal trousers and top, and above all a good rain and wind jacket.
I bought relatively cheap gear at Decathlon which served me faithfully throughout the trip. I’d also recommend leaving room in your bag for clothes you buy along the way.
Cooking gear. A gas stove, a thermal mug, reusable cutlery, a basic spice kit of salt and pepper, and empty space for a spice you can always add.
Beyond that, if you have other good gear, you can certainly bring it — although in terms of weight and space I found it far more convenient to organise myself before setting out from the hostel or from other people on the trip.
A power bank. Invest in a good one. You don’t know how long you’ll go without electricity or a decent connection, and even in very touristed places like Pucón in Chile, during peak season the electricity demand collapses the systems almost daily.
Documents, and photographs of them. Passport, ordinary and international driving licence, vaccination record, flight tickets, diving logbook if you have one.
Cables for everything. If you’re bringing a GoPro, a camera, a drone or any technical kit with charging and connections, make sure you have all the cables you need and keep them together, even in a dedicated case.
Small things from home. Little items you can bring from home that won’t weigh you down too much. I met so many good people on the road who either asked for something from Israel or who I wanted to give something to. I brought a basketball medal that I gave to a child, and regretted not having more things like it. A ten-agorot coin made a taxi driver happy beyond measure — it’s from the Holy Land, after all.
A smile. Yes, it sounds like a bad invitation to a school party telling you to bring a good mood, but I believe in it. Like all the gear you head out with each day, put your smile in the bag too. You’ll find you use it most of all on the trip, and you’ll even be able to hand it out to friends.
Additional gear. A Leatherman, a lighter, a head torch, a sewing kit, a notebook and a pen.
Apps
Let’s be honest: the phone is already an inseparable part of our lives, and on the trip it’s going to be a central part too. Here’s a list of apps that will get the most out of your phone for the trip. It’s important to say — don’t forget to disconnect as much as you can and enjoy the moment and your surroundings without the phone.
Maps.me. An excellent maps app where you can download a region’s map in advance and then navigate and see places without internet. Particularly recommended for trails on treks and hikes.
Google Maps. Beyond Maps.me, a lot of people don’t know you can download maps for offline use in Google too. On top of that, anything you could dream of is on Google Maps — and although everyone searches Google, it’s actually there that you can find plenty of interesting and authentic places.
Google Translate. You can download language packs for offline use, so you can translate from English or Hebrew into Spanish without internet.
Uber. Rides with drivers who come in their own car and function like a taxi. In most cases Uber is significantly cheaper than a taxi, and on the safety side Uber drivers go through extensive background checks, which makes it safer than a taxi.
Moovit. The public transport app (Israeli, it’s worth noting). It works mainly in the big cities and will help you make sense of the chaos and get anywhere quickly and efficiently on public transport.
Waze. Another piece of Israeli pride that will help you navigate by GPS to anywhere by car — and even without a car you can see the traffic situation on the way to your next destination.
XE Currency. An exchange-rate app that will get you oriented quickly on the local currency in each new country.
Hostelworld. An accommodation booking app focused on hostels and cheap options, though you can find hotels there too.
Booking.com. The ultimate accommodation booking app, which has everything.
Airbnb. For renting houses and private accommodation where you get a whole property to yourself. An interesting option that gives you extraordinary freedom, privacy, the ability to cook, a more local experience — and in many cases works out far better value than a hotel.
A word before we go on about booking accommodation: on most sites, and especially Booking, the system works so that places pay a commission of more than 15 percent on every booking. If you have the option to shortlist a few places you’re interested in and then check whether they take direct bookings through their own site, or contact them, you can save a lot of money or get better terms for the same amount. It isn’t always possible and it isn’t the most convenient, but it’s definitely a tip worth taking with you.
Skyscanner. A flight booking app. There are many in this space, but I found Skyscanner the cheapest in most cases. If you’re flexible about destinations on the trip, you can look at flight prices across a whole month and then see when it’s cheapest to move on.
An expense tracking app. Not essential, but I’d definitely recommend looking for one. It helps you keep a controlled eye on your spending, and the leading apps today are very user-friendly — logging an expense takes seconds.
A music app. I’ll admit it, I’m a Spotify freak. It gives you an endless range of music and podcasts and helps you find songs in the style you like. Beyond that there’s Apple Music. The main thing is being able to listen without internet, for a token monthly fee.
Social networks. I’m sure you have Facebook or Instagram, and it’s worth knowing there’s a lot of information on those networks too — events, or places in your area. So if you’re weighing up a particular place, you can search for it and see it through the cameras of the people who were there before you.