Packing for 6 months in South America

When packing for 6 months with such limited space, you have to be realistic about what it is you are packing for and what you personally will use. For example, the South America Book is massive, so at first seems illogical to bring, however we know from Australia and Japan that we actually utilised our Lonely Planet books quite a lot while travelling, so it made the cut. However, most people would bring flip flops, but I know on every holiday in the last two years I have came back with my flip flops barely touched and my trainers worn through, so for this reason I got trainers that would last me the full 6 months and left the flip flops behind.

A lot of our trip is going to be camping, whether hiking, or cycling or touring or whatever, we are hoping to camp as much as possible. So my entire bag has been dedicated to camping equipment. In fact my bag was chosen specifically because it could fit all our camping gear and fitted my short back (we tried it in the shops, jamming the bag with gear). We also tested sleeping mats and getting into sleeping bags in various stores, which caused many laughs, before buying things (for cheaper online of course). As well as trying before you buy, I think you should try before you fly! We tried out our camping gear on a few trips and even on Ryanair flight to make sure everything got through hand luggage and that we weren’t missing anything. I cannot recommend enough how important I think it is to practice camping a few times before heading off on your big trip. For example after one night in the peak district it became very clear to me that I needed thermals, multiple pairs of socks and gloves. After camping in Oslo without pillows we realised we could survive without them. After both trips it was clear that we both needed earplugs to be able sleep in a tent.

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Packing List

Bag 1 - Camping gear

Small 2 man tent - Black and Fresh (Decathlon)

2 sleeping mats - Vango Trek 3

2 sleeping bags- Vango Fuse 2 season & Vango Fuse 3 Season

Camping Stove (Buy gas and saucepan upon arrival)

South America Book

Silk Liners for sleeping bags

Bouldering shoes & Trainers

(Hiking Boots worn to airport)

Based on previous camping nightmares we decided to purchase a black out tent. For me, I don’t want to wake up as the sun rises, and for Philly he needs the sun rays to be kept out as he can’t sleep if he is too hot. I can honestly say getting a black out tent with UV protection was well worth the small extra weight and extra money! We also did a lot of research into sleeping mats and had many hours of debates on cost versus comfort and in the end we decided on a £20 ¾ length Vango mats which work an absolute treat (he was right I didn’t need the £200 Thermarest one). Sleeping bags also took a bit of research, originally I bought a 2-season one and tested sleeping in the house with it, after two sleepless nights I accepted that if I was too cold in my own house to sleep in it, I would definitely need a 3-season for in a tent. Sometimes you’ve got to accept the extra size and money for a good night sleep. Depends what you put value on I suppose.

Bag 2 - Everything else

Keely’s clothes (1 large packing cube) - 5 pants, 2 sports bras, one pair of leggings, one pair of joggers, cycling shorts, loose shorts, one short summer dress, three tee-shirts, one vest, 2 thick hiking socks, 2 normal socks, 1 mini socks, One thermal fleece, one rain coat, 1 bikini.

I decided I would purchase a thinker coat for hiking if I felt I needed one. I’m pretty sure I will need to buy a warmer coat and a new pair of leggings as I fell hiking and tore them already. So an amendment to my clothing would be extra leggings (I hate hiking trousers) and a waterproof thermal coat.

Phillys clothes (1 large and 1 small packing cube) - Hiking Trousers, Black Jeans, 2 singlets, 2 tee-shirts, fleece, down jacket, rain coat, 5 boxers, 3 socks, one shirt, 2 pairs of shorts, hiking boots and bouldering shoes.

He is going to buy some thermals to sleep in and some other shoes either flip flops or trainers as he regrets only ever having his hiking shoes to wear. For both of us we used to always bring jumpers or hoodies with us, but due to space restrictions we opted for thermal fleeces as our only over top, so far its worked well. We intend to climb as much as possible hence sacrificing space and weight to bring our bouldering shoes, we figured it would save hassle of trying to rent all the time, especially when I have such small and he has such big feet.

Electronics - 1 medium packing cube -

1 small and 1 large power bank

international plug

2 charging leads each

1 Samsung tablet (to write blogs, edit videos or watch movies etc.)

two phones

small earphones

tripod, go pro, microphone

head torch

We had wanted to purchase a drone before leaving to bring, but in the end we decided to opt for an Osmo pocket instead, which we bought upon arrival to South America, so even though we didn’t technically pack it, something to capture good video footage on was important to us. Philly also plans to purchase a new camera, as he has realised pictures on a phone really don’t do this place justice. So electronic amendments would be a good camera and video recorder (if those things are important to you)

Toiletries - 1 medium packing cube

My epilepsy medication took up half of the blooming cube lol.

First aid kit (with sterile needles and IV access, specifically bought as we did not get Hep B injection and this was a way to alleviate risk a little if we ended up getting taken to a rural hospital),

shampoo, conditioner

toothpaste, toothbrush

sun lotion, after sun

face cream, deodorant

face-wipes and insect repellent.

I originally had shower gel but Philly removed it last minute as well as my second bottle of shampoo (which I already regret as good shampoo is very expensive here). I also discovered at airport I accidentally had two lipsticks in my bag, so even though I didn’t intentionally pack them, I’m happy to have them. Instead of shower gel I would recommend bringing a small bar of soap.

Miscellaneous

2 thermal mugs for camping

Small day bag

Frisbee

Cards

Sunglasses

2 caps and 2 woolly hats

2 snow gloves

I believe that is all we have brought. I’m sure things will need added as we go, then I can do a revised list based on more experience. I think packing is quite a personal thing, for example: I cant cope without conditioner and need a tablet for writing, so we would love to hear what you guys could not live without and what you would be able to cut for such a long journey.

Yoga mat