Packing List For 5 Months In South America

This is our ultimate packing lis for 5 months in South America based on our own experience backpacking this incredible continent.

This is everything that we brought with us for five months backpacking through South America, through Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. As you can imagine packing this backpack was both exciting and stressful, so we put together the ultimate packing list for you to help you bring all the necessary and nothing more that will weight you down.

Photo by Philipp Kämmerer on Unsplash

A few considerations

• We are traveling during shoulder months, arriving in April and leaving in August, so the weather is an important factor for us to consider, as it won't always be warm.

• Depending on your traveling season and style of adventure the wardrobe selection will surely change, make sure to take these points into account.

Bags

We are bringing 3 bags with us. A 75L Quechua backpack for JP, a 60L Quechua backpack for Asja and a Manfrotto camera bag which will fit all our gear. Read our camera bag packing list here!

Wardrobe

Since we will be traveling into winter and we will be doing several hikes (Machu Picchu, Salar de Uyuni, just to name a few), we are packing winter and summer clothes. Even if you are traveling only to warm countries we would suggest you bring one or two warm items just in case.

Anastasia's wardrobe

Shoes

• Superga

• Birkenstock EVA (super comfortable and replacing flip flops)

• New Balance (for hikes)

• Sandals

Clothes

• Uniqlo Ultralight jacket

• 1 beanie

• 1 leggings

• 1 sweater

• 2 jeans

• 2 long sleeve shirts

• 3 swimming suits

• 6 socks

• 5 t-shirts

• 8 underwear

• 2 shirts

• 2 pants

• 2 bras

• 4 dresses

• 3 skirts

JP's wardrobe

Shoes

• Flip flops

• New Balance

• Veja sneakers

• Birkenstock EVA

Clothes

• Uniqlo Ultralight jacket

• 7 underwear

• 10 socks

• 10 t-shirts

• 2 long sleeve button up shirts

• 4 shorts

• 2 jeans

• 2 swimming shorts

• 1 sweater

• 1 thermal pants

• 1 thermal t-shirt

• 1 beanie

• 1 cap

Toiletries

• Solid shampoo

• Tin to hold shampoo

• Solid conditioner

• Solid body wash

• Tin to hold body wash

• Bamboo toothbrushes

• Organic Toothpaste

• Organic Sunscreen 50 SPF

• Organic Face cream

• Organic body lotion

• Small hairdryer

• Contact lenses

• Basic makeup (Anastasia)

Miscellaneous (all SUPER useful items)

• Grayl Water purifier

• Neck pillow

• Eye mask

• Waterproof smaller backpack

• Dry bag

• Safety pins

• Leatherman

• Portable cutlery

• Stainless steel straws

• Travel towels

• Shower Wash line

Medicines

Before leaving we consulted our GP and a travel doctor to get all necessary vaccines and prescriptions for what to bring with. Based on the countries we will be visiting we are bringing:

• Paracetamol

• Flu tablets

• General antibiotics

• Antihistamine

• Malaria tables

• Malaria self test kit

• Malaria emergency remedy

• Imodium

• Rehydrate

For what's in our DSLR bag read this article.

A last note on insuring your trip. Things happen — lost luggage, flight delays, illness, lost luggage, and unfortunately even pandemics. For this reason, ConsumersAdvocate.org tried out 15 different industry providers and compared their coverage types, customer assistance services, and of course their prices to help future travelers make a decision for themselves. Give the guide a read if you are interested in learning when you should seriously consider protecting a well-planned trip! 

If you have any question or doubt, just drop us a comment below, we will be happy to help you out!

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