Tag: Backpacking

Packing List: 3 Months in Central America (2025)

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I can’t believe it’s already 2025!! I am off to Central America for 3 months. I plan to explore all 7 countries in the region (Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belie & Guatemala).

Of course I am using my 35L Tortuga Setout backpack 🙂 They don’t sell the exact backpack I have anymore, but here is their latest & greatest! Can’t recommend their bags more. I have used a Tortuga backpack on each of my longterm trips!

Overall tips:

  • Use packing cubes! I love that my Tortuga packing cubes perfectly fit the dimensions of my bag, but Amazon should have plenty of options!
  • Think through how the clothes will feel in heat. Linen & lightweight materials will be best. 
  • Make sure that every top works with every bottom and works with every shoes. Use a capsule wardrobe as inspiration.
  • Less is more! Even though I have done this full time for over 36 consecutive months (holy moly), I still inevitably pack 1-2 items that I never end up reaching for. Think through if you actually will where it or if it’s just an aspirational item.

PACKING LIST FOR CENTRAL AMERICA:

CLOTHES

  • 2 pairs of Lululemon Fast & Free Crop’s â€“ I’m trying to make it easy to workout while on the road this time around.
  • 1 pair of Lululemon Align pants – can be used for working out/walking around town or I can dress it up.
  • 1 Romper
  • 2 Jumpsuits (Madewell) – I’m obsessed with this jumpsuit – it’s great for hot weather but still provides mosquito coverage. I love it so much that I had a copy made while I was in Hoi An, Vietnam. I picked a fun orange print & added cap sleeves.
  • 1 Cute shirt (I’m only taking one as I think I’ll be in my rompers and jumpsuits most days)
  • 3 sports bras
  • 4 athletic shirts (for running + sleeping in). Three are from Lululemon.
  • Booty shorts (to sleep in)
  • 5 pairs of underwear
  • 6 pairs of socks
  • 1 black bralette
  • Running shoes
  • Waterproof sandals- I just bought Teva dupes (will act as my water shoe as well as my cute shoes- I never said the backpacker lifestyle was glamorous haha)
  • Light Patagonia puffer â€“ good for chilly planes/busses & for when I visit countries that are a little cooler, even in the summer. It also smushes down fairly small so it’s a great backpacker jacket. I’ve also used it as a pillow in a pinch.
  • 1 Swimsuit (feel free to bring 2-3 if that’s your thing)
  • Sunglasses (Warby Parker)
  • Rain coat (Patagonia; you can pack it up into it’s pocket so I can easily attach it to the outside of my bag via a carabiner)
  • Tortuga Daypack (they don’t sell the one I have anymore sadly). This acts as my personal item for flights and I can use it for adventures during the day. 
  • Sling crossbody bag (I put it into my daypack on travel days). I use this out and about on a daily basis.

ELECTRONICS

  • Computer + Charger
  • iPad
  • iPhone + Charger (I get a 6 ft cord so I can always reach the plug from my hostel dorm bed!)
  • AirPod Pro’s
  • Fujifilm x100vi – YOU GUYS I BOUGHT A CAMERA!!! I’m so excited to try it out this trip!!
  • Headphones (Bose; noise-cancelling for travel days)
  • Plug adapter (I use this one)
  • Portable charger (like this one)
  • AirTag (This is a no brainer these days; provides peace of mind incase I am forced to check my bag or when it’s below me in a bus. Always nice to confirm it’s still with me!)
  • Extra sim cards for my new camera
  • Extra battery for my new camera

TOILETRIES (I USE A BUNCH OF LITTLE TOILETRY BAGS TO KEEP THESE ALL ORGANIZED)

  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Flosser
  • Any medication you take
  • Retainer
  • Deodorant
  • Tiny roller perfume
  • Makeup
  • Makeup Remover (I’ve become obsessed with cleansing balm for this because it isn’t a liquid, & it’s highly effective at getting makeup off at the end of the day! 
  • Razor
  • Conditioner + Shampoo (Get containers to put your products into & refill on the road!!)
  • Face wash
  • Moisturizer
  • Brush
  • Pocket Hand Sanitizer– I keep one in my backpack and one in my sling/purse. Great in general, but also for when inevitably there is no soap at a random bus stop bathroom 🙂
  • Sunscreen (I love Sun Bum or Goop)
  • Tiger balm (I picked this up in Southeast Asia and it’s now a staple in my bag. Great for mosquito bites and just feeling a little sick. It’s kinda like Vick’s vapor rub).
  • Chapstick (Don’t forget to get one with SPF)
  • Ibuprofen
  • Hair ties and bobby pins
  • Moleskin
  • Bandaids
  • Electrolytes (these are a must for traveling, but especially in hotter climates)
  • A few protein bars for emergency snacks! You never know when you’ll be stuck on a bus in the middle of nowhere & get hungry.
  • Cough drops
  • Topical steroid cream for bed bug bites or regular bug bites to help with itchiness

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Passport â€“ no explanation necessary 🙂
  • ID (I bring my driver’s license)
  • Travel Credit Card- I bring 2-3 cards with me in case I lose one it gets stolen or it gets hacked. Important to get ones with no foreign transaction fee; I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve (hello lounge access!) + Capital One Venture Card.
  • Debit Card (Charles Schwab has the best one because it reimburses ATM fees from any ATM in the world 🙂)
  • US Dollars – I always bring 1-2 Hundred dollar bills as an emergency source of cash (luckily most places in the world would take USD if it was truly an emergency & you needed some cash to get you out of a situation), however, in the case of Central America, I’ve taken more! USD are used in some countries here (like El Salvador), but also some businesses will give you a better rate when paying in USD. Take some smaller bills as they are helpful for border exit/entrance fees.
  • Record of your plans (I make folders within my email inbox to keep track of everything or you could print out a copy of your itinerary)
  • Extra Passport photos
  • Thumb drive with all documentation if desired
  • Quick dry towel – From REI
  • Sarong for a beach cover up or for lying on.
  • Water Bottle – Camelbak
  • Ear Plugs
  • Eye Mask (you can either go the classic eye mask route or get one like this that almost acts like your eye mask + ear plug since you can play white noise through the built in bluetooth speaker- pretty cool!)
  • Lock (for staying in hostels or locking my bag.) Get the combo lock so you don’t have to worry about tiny keys. I take three to be able to lock two different compartments in my bag AND so I can keep my computer/passport/iPad compartment still locked when I use the other one to lock a locker within a hostel (+ one for backup!).
  • 3 carabiners – I just attach them to my backpack and over the course of the trip they will hold everything from my water bottle, shoes, rain jacket and more. You will not regret having a few on hand.
  • Pack of playing cards (My sister got my a custom deck with some of my favorite photos from my travels – such a thoughtful gift)
  • Monopoly Deal â€“ a fabulous compact game for the backpacking trail!
  • Face mask (I’ve used this while feeling sick as well as on a dusty motorcycle ride)
  • 2 pens for writing postcards
  • Ziplock bags of various sizes. I inevitably need to put dirty shoes, wet bathing suit, leftover pizza, or dirty socks somewhere and I am always incredibly relieved to have some ziplocks at the ready. Plus they take up no space/weight so there’s no downside to bringing them.

Here is what I packed in each packing cube:

Bathing suit, two sports bra, one bralette, Nike booty shorts and socks + underwear

One long-sleeve shirt, four workout shirts, one cute shirt

Three jumpsuits, two ropers, two Lululemon pants

All packed up and ready to go!!

El Salvador

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CITIES VISITED:

  • San Salvador
  • Santa Ana
  • Juayua (Ruta de las Flores)
  • El Tunco

PRO TIPS:

  • I FELT SO SAFE. Like truly, I think this might’ve been the country I felt the most safe in which was not on my bingo card. The turnaround is very apparent.
  • This is the smallest country in Central America so it’s super easy to get around! I mostly took ubers or chicken busses! You can practically use uber to get around the whole country (that’s how small it is), but the chicken busses are incredibly cheap (I spent $2 on a 4 hr journey across 3 busses).
  • Although the chicken busses are incredibly efficient, El Salvador would be a great place to rent a car as it’s so small that you’d be able to really see it all in a rental car. The roads all seemed pretty great (not what I would’ve expected) so no worries there. They are super strict on drinking/driving so don’t mess with that.
  • Until very recently, El Salvador was very dangerous. With the turnaround so fresh, there are still very few tourists visiting the beautiful country
  • When flying to El Salvador, you likely will go to San Salvador airport. I thought that meant I should stay in San Salvador for a night or 2 to orient myself. However, turns out that this country is so small that the airport is actually just as close to the beach as it is to the capital. As such, I’d recommend skipping San Salvador entirely & go directly to your first destination.
  • They use USD so it’s pretty easy in terms of cash. Some places take card, but a lot don’t so take some USD with you.
  • There wasn’t much English spoken so brush up on your duolingo or get your google translate app ready.

CITY: SAN SALVADOR

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at La Zona Hostel and it was pretty good. The free breakfast was basic. The beds were capsule style and comfy. AC worked (just make sure to set it to a comfortable temperate as one night it was too hot and the other night was too cold). The area is safe, but there’s not much going on. A few restaurants near-ish by. They had potable drinking water on site. Fairly easy to meet people. I met a group of Canadians to hang with so that was fabulous! Katie, in particular, became a good friend!

WHERE TO EAT:

Honestly no recommendations, except try some cheap pupusas when you come across them.

WHAT TO DO:

I didn’t love the capital 😦 We never could find the “cool/fun” center of town to stroll. It all felt very rundown and chaotic. However we always felt safe and given the history of the country, I understand why the city isn’t necessarily bustling (yet). We did a free walking tour was fabulous to get the background on what’s been happening in this lovely country.

The highlight (if you can call it that) was “hiking” to the nearby volcano, but it’s really just a 15 min nature walk. Overall it was nice to see but also if you are going to do the Santa Ana volcano, feel free to skip this one.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Again, not my favorite and would recommend skipping the capital.

Volcanic Crater
San Salvador
New friends on our way to Santa Ana

CITY: SANTA ANA

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed at Rick’s Hostel. The room was huge and the bed was cheap (literally $7.50) so I can’t really complain. BUT the hostel was pretty loud and I gotten eaten by mosquitos. No AC, but the beds had a little fan which did the job (and helped a little with the mosquitos). It was centrally located. Again it was $7 so I have no issues recommending it 🙂

WHERE TO EAT:

Nothing notable. I had some good pupusas from a random spot and a hot dog from one of the stalls in the main square.

When we went to see the ruins though we had a local dish of chicharron + yuca (literally from this town) at a spot right outside the main entrance to the ruins. Absolutely recommend stopping here for a meal.

WHAT TO DO:

Main highlights:

  • Hike Santa Ana volcano – It’s a long hike and slightly complicated to navigate but just talk with the hostel front desk. Basically you need to do it with a tour guide so get there early. The hike was not hard but not easy. It gets hot so bring water + sun protection. Bring cash for the various entrance fees and in case you want to buy a snack/water from the folks near the top.

  • Do the walking tour – there is a guy (Hector!!) that does a fairly famous walking tour here. I sadly didn’t have time but everyone I met who did it raved about it!!! I am very sad I missed it. He talks very candidly about his experience growing up in El Salvador and how its changes have impacted those around him.
  • Visit the ruins! Parque Arqueologico Tazumal is a nicely preserved Mayan City (it’s small so don’t expect a whole city though!). We took a chicken bus from Santa Ana to get there and back. You could take a very cheap uber (would recommend seeing what this costs as it’s probably the more efficient move.

  • We loved walking around & hanging in the main square in the evening. We met an El Salvadorian Tik Tok star who danced with us on his Live and then we got interviewed by a YouTuber. It was a pretty fun experience.

View from the hostel

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Santa Ana was far more charming than San Salvador! 2-3 days here would be plenty to do all the activities mentioned above.

CITY: JUAYUA

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at a fairly new hostel called Que Ondas. It’s a small but beautiful property at the edge of the small town and you feel like you are in a magical garden. The rooms are nicely done and have curtains. No free breakfast but wifi worked well. Plenty of spots to chill and read and socialize. Would definitely recommend this place.

WHERE TO EAT:

There are two great pupuserias that are a must try!

Cafes to check out:

WHAT TO DO:

  • Visit the other towns on the Ruta de Las Flores! Either rent a motorbike or hop on a chicken bus. All the towns are tiny, cute and charming. I only had time to visit Concepcion de Ataco, but I really enjoyed it! Pro Tip: Eat at Axul Coffee Artesanías – I had a croque madam here. Super cute vibe in the backyard patio & a cute store was attached. Gekos Cafe right off the main square also looked cute!

  • Do the 7 Cascadas (waterfall) tour! You do a nice hike that starts near town and you get to walk through upwards of 10 waterfalls. You even get to hike up one of them (it wasn’t too scary/slippery). You also get to do a facemask with the local mud & then finish the tour with a lovely swim in the last waterfall! Don’t miss this activity!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Juayua was such a tiny, small town and I loved the slow pace of it. Also the flowers blooming around town were stunning. They don’t call it Ruta de la Flores for nothing 🙂 2-3 days here would be perfect. I’d recommend basing yourself in Juayua as it’s probably the biggest town and then just visit the other towns from here.

CITY: EL TUNCO

HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

This was a unique one: Katie (who I met in San Salvador and went to Santa Ana with) went to El Tunco before me and met a Jamaican/American guy who ended up buying a hotel with plans to turn it into a hostel while they were in El Tunco. So by the time I showed up, Katie invited me to stay with her and a bunch of friends she had made that were now staying at the newly purchased hostel. Kemar literally was transforming the place into a hostel while we were there. It was pretty fun to be able to give input on what makes a hostel great and he was super receptive to ideas! It’s now called Karma Muse! It has AC (such a win) and is located about as close to the beach as possible. There are lovely hammocks where you can watch the waves crash on the beach. Highly recommend this spot!

WHERE TO EAT:

Finally a spot with smoothie bowls!!!

I loved the following spots:

WHAT TO DO:

Surf, read in a hammock, eat a smoothie bowl, find a friend with a pool, watch sunset, rinse, repeat.

Life here is so tranquil and just a series of chilling. I love it 🙂

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

This was probably my favorite part of El Salvador. The town is so small so you literally know all the backpackers in town by day 2. It feels like you and your friends are all just running around doing fun, chill stuff all day. One day we sat on the beach and read. One day our friends with a pool invited us over. One day people went to hike the waterfalls nearby. And everyday a bunch of people went surfing and everyday we all would watch sunset on the beach together and then grab dinner. Pure magic!

BUDGET FOR 10 DAYS IN El SALVADOR:

El Salvador was so cheap – what a gift before I go to Costa Rica which is unreasonably expensive!

  • Accommodation: $143 ($14.3 per night) – SO CHEAP 🙂
  • Food: $170
  • Activities: $30
  • Local Transportation: $105
  • Miscellaneous: $50 (visa + new pair of shorts)

Total: $498 (Daily average: $50)

Transportation to next destination: $225 for my flight from SFO –> San Salvador + $156 for my flight to San Jose, Costa Rica

Cambodia

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CITY: Siem Reap

HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at Lub D Hostel and there was good & bad.

First the good: the facilities are fabulous. The rooms look new with very modern bed set ups. No bunk beds, but rather built in beds so no creaking as your upper bunk bed gets in at 2am. Curtains, personal plug, & light are all there. Storage lockers are available in the room. Rooms is blasting AC all day (sometimes hostels turn them off during the day). Bathrooms are VERY nice and clean (just outside in the hall). Never had any issues with waiting for a shower or toilet.

The bad: well this is quite a party hostel (but no issues with sound in the room thank god), but it’s quite large so I found it hard to meet people. I tend to prefer smaller, cozier hostels where everyone kinda hangs out together (like my favorite hostels in Chiang Rai or Hot An). There weren’t many avenues of organically meeting people unless you wanted to approach people who had their headphones in while on a chaise lounge at the pool.

Dream hostel set up
Hostel pool

WHERE TO EAT:

Lots of western food restaurants & cafes in town. Pub Street is filled with bars, burger places & clubs.

I ate at an Italian restaurant, a Greek restaurant, and Cambodian restaurant, but nothing notable.

I had a smoothie bowl which was was sooooo yummy from Brownie Temple Bakery & Smoothie Bar. Very cute, small spot. Next door was Sister Trey Cafe, which also is a great breakfast spot. I had a bacon & cream cheese stuffed French Toast!

Footprint Cafe was my go to for an afternoon drink & they have a fabulous co-working space upstairs (where I spent time catching up on this blog!).

I also had my first gelato in months (European Meg could never). Gelato Lab served up some delicious gelato- I had one scoop of chocolate & one scoop of stracciatella with a cone on top. The gelato would melt wayyyyy too fast if I just had it in a cone.

The famous Pub Street
Chicken Fried Rice

WHAT TO DO:

In a surprise to no one, the main thing to do here is explore Angkor Wat. So I’ll be honest and say, I am not a big temple person, so I spent one day here and felt like I got enough of an experience there. I know I might get roasted for that, but hey travel is personal. I’ve met people who spent 3 full days here and said it wasn’t enough for them. I think it just depends on what your vibe is!

Given I didn’t really meet people at my hostel, when a guy posted in the hostel world app asking if anyone wanted to join him on his rented motorbike for the day to explore Angkor Wat, I quickly responded “me please!” He picked me up from the hostel and we raced around to see 6 temples, including the main Angkor Wat Temple and my favorite temple, Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is famous for all the trees that are growing through, around, and over the temple. Oh, also Tomb Raider was filmed here. I just was mesmerized by the reminder that nature is so much bigger than humans and ultimately nature will erase an impact humans have on the planet- very cool.

My favorite temple

Beyond my time in Angkor Wat, I enjoyed some down time at cafes, catching up on planning & blogging, as well as getting a two massages! One evening I just decided to walk into a run of the mill spa and for $4 USD, I had a 60 min foot massage (my favorite thing is just to watch an episode of TV on my iPad during a foot massage – true bliss for me), but on my last full day in Siem Reap I decided to treat myself to a spa day. A guy at my hostel recommended Devatara Spa and I booked myself a 90 min Four Hands Touch massage (two masseuses massage you at the same time!) as well as a 60 min Aromatic Herbal Salt Scrub. Need less to say, I felt very zen after my 2.5 hours at Devatara.

One of the couples from my Ha Giang Loop trip were in Siem Reap at the same time as me so I grabbed dinner with them, which was fabulous. I absolutely love the overlaps that begin to happen as you backpack through a region.

My last morning before I flew out to the Philippines, I headed to the Apopo Visitor Center. From their site: “Cambodia is one of the most land-mine affected countries in the world, but for the last 25 years APOPO has worked to clear landmines here and across the world. We train African giant pouched rats (they are much cuter than they sound and super smart, too!) to sniff out the TNT in explosives in the ground. Our work keeps people safe by reclaiming land from the dangers of landmines, and returning it to farmers and local communities, allowing them to thrive once again.” It was very cool to see the rats in actions and they were in fact very cute! It takes about an hour and is a great experience once you are templed-out in Siem Reap.

One of the hero rats!
Demonstration of their capabilities
So big
So cute!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I will be brutally honest: I really wasn’t sure if I would like Cambodia. As such, when my plan started to move around, I tended to want to protect my time in Vietnam & the Philippines over Cambodia, which meant I ended up shortening my time here to 4 nights/ 3 full days to explore. I think I was worried how the poverty disparity would feel. I was worried about the heat. I was worried that given I am not obsessed with Temples, I wouldn’t know how to spend my time here. I was worried about leaving the main cities because of the prevalence of Malaria. I was worried about safety. I wasn’t 100% sure how the sentiment towards Americans would be.

That being said, overall I would say I was really pleasantly surprised by my time here. Most of my fears were unfounded. I felt no safety issues (often walked home by myself around 10pm with no concerns). No issues with being an American (it was actually quite strange because they use USD so I felt slightly at home). The people were lovely & hospitable. To be fair, the heat was brutal & I personally didn’t find that I needed more than one day in Angkor Wat, but overall I really enjoyed my time here. Now, I did meet people who were spending the entirety of the 30 day limit on the visa here, and I’m not sure I would need a full month, but I would’ve been happy to spend a bit longer here.

BUDGET FOR 4 DAYS IN Cambodia:

Visa- $36

Accommodation: $40 ($10 per night)

Food: $53

Groceries: $0

Activities: $138 (Spa Day + Angkor Wat entrance ticket)

Local Transportation: $27

Total: $294 (Daily average: $73.5)

Transportation to next destination: $349 (flight to the Philippines)