1. Essie for JCrew nailpolish. It lasts, it doesn't chip, and it makes even a hiking-boot clad outfit hot.
2. 64 oz. Sigg bottle. Agua is your best friend, amigos, when you are adjusting to a high-altitude climate. With a significantly less amount of oxygen in the air, your heart must beat faster to deliver more oxygen to your tissues. So keep that blood volume up, stave away the headaches, nausea and bloodshot ojos that pair with altitude sickness, and drink at least a couple liters of water a day. Plus, it ain't bad for curing the other Cusco illness that typically befalls backpackers: the Pisco Sour aftermath.
3. Ear plugs. A whole, big pack of them. Hostel living has it's perks, but it also has people stumbling in at all hours, guests talking outside in the halls, that one guy (I'm not naming any names) that claims he doesn't snore, but every night it sounds like a ship coming into port. Do yourself a favor and get a good night's sleep here and there.
4. A journal. My favorite is a little leather-bound journal I picked up in Costa Rica that has natural paper leaves. I bring it nearly everywhere I go here so I can jot down notes of places I've been, reflections on my experiences, people's names and e-mails, songs I'm coveting and books I'd like to read. It's even worth having your bunk mates write something funny in it here and there so you can look back and really feel their personality come to life on paper once again.
5. A sturdy lock and photocopies of your passport & travel medical insurance card. Listen closely: check into your hostel or hotel, put your passport in your locker, lock it up and walk away. All you will ever need is a photocopy (even for a cell phone contract.) Not to go without mentioning, a lock that you can set yourself trumps a key lock any day...nothing is worse than losing your key and being locked out of your necessities in the middle of the noche.
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