For me, maps are little gold mines of information. I love to pour over them imagining what the place is like, or letting them remind me of my favorite parts of a trip to a specific area. As we spent our 9 months in the Spanish Speaking world the one souvenir we kept from every location was the local maps. I'm sure that in years to come these will be great for kickstarting our memories.

Historical Maps of Latin American Locations

On our trip, Nikki and I were a bit concerned about coffee because we like the American style rich, strong, and somewhat sweet roasts. So, we brought along some coffee from the US but also found a couple of local places to get our beans for home brews (we also spent tons of time in the cafes of Argentina - it is known for its cafe culture, after all).

Primula 9 Cup Stove Top Coffee Maker

After having some great times living in Argentina we wanted to end our trip on a travel binge (note the important difference between living somewhere and travelling somewhere). So, we headed north on the so-called "Gringo Trail." After spending months reading various travel books and getting excited about the trip we set off. Who knew that in a few months time we would hate those travel writers for the inaccuracy of their data and the exaggeration of their prose?

(note: this happened before the Salar de Uyuni trip, but got posted out of order - whoops).

Quebrada de Humahuaca

So...that's about it. We're nearly done with our trip. We still need to write about some of the sites we saw in Peru/Bolivia but we're back in Buenos Aires winding down and getting ready to head back to the motherland. We learned some things on this trip - just a few - and some of them might be useful to others who are thinking about heading out on a trip like this.

So...our top 10 tips for extended travelers and digital nomads:

Book your hotel for 1 night and Then Explore.