I bought an ulocked phone from Amazon. It will take any SIM card, work on any network and the battery lasts a claimed 30 days (about 14 days in practise).
SIM cards are very cheap and easy to find in any country but sometimes have quirks. For example, prepaid mobiles in Chile won't let you make international calls. I get around this by using Skype. I put £10(GBP) credit on Skype before I left Blighty and I've got something like £9.70 left after four months on the road. All my important calls (bank, home, parts suppliers etc) have been on Skype.

Most hostels have WiFi. Some places (Bolivia) have municipal WiFi in public spaces. Many restaruants and bars also have WiFi. Unless you're in the middle of nowhere (very possible in SA) you'll be able to find a connection.


I bought the City Navigator South America maps for about £80. They were fine for Argentina and Chile but not a fat lot of use in Bolivia or Peru. There's a sticky thread ^ that way with links to free maps. Getting the hang of OpenStreetMap is a good skill to acquire before you leave but basically, don't worry about it too much, just download what you need from the net.


Just get out and do it and don't stress out too much. Anything you need to learn can be done on the road and it'll be the best thing you could possibly do.
It's certainly the best thing I've ever done.

Have fun and welcome to the HUBB.

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