Last spring I spent two months backpacking South America, solo female travel style, with one day pack strapped to my front and another to my back. Here are 19 tips I learned from my eight weeks abroad.

After a week in Peru, I was off to Chile for some time in the desert. If you’re looking to visit Machu Picchu, read my tips before you go here! A friend recommended San Pedro de Atacama as a “must stop” on my backpacking route so, of course, I added it into my itinerary. I ended up meeting up with some friends I met in Ecuador, which made for an even more fun few days, to explore this otherworldly terrain.

The longest and narrowest country in the world covers a lot of climates - from the desert to the mountains of Patagonia and beyond to many glaciers - allowing for a lot to be explored.

I tell you what, I am a sucker for positive reinforcement. Give me a motivational quote on a coaster, the back of a t-shirt, scratched into a wall or spelled out with food, and I will feel automatically empowered. So you besta believe, when I see any and every type of could-be motivation while I’m traveling, I capture it. These are 15 of my more recent finds.

This isn’t the comprehensive list we all love and adore BUT I believe it’s just as important of one - it’s the random stuff that you don’t always think to pack but praise yourself when you do. During my two months backpacking South America, these are some items that came in handy during my trip.