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Old Nov 2, 2011, 7:13 pm
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Jax78
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 31
Help with first international trip

I finally managed to get my trip to SA booked and I'm excited! I've been pouring over these forums, looking for advice and things to do, especially since this is my first international trip. Some threads are fairly old, so I thought I'd start a new one.

I'll be travelling in Feb/March 2012. I've taken out any transit time and will have this amount of quality time in each location:

4 days in Lima
3 days on Easter Island
2.5 days in Santiago
4.5 days in Buenos Aires

1. Are there any "must see/do" things in any of these places?
2. How common is Internet access, especially free wifi with lodging? I'm not sure what the practices are.
3. Is it crazy to bring 2 or 3 suitcases (for two people to share)?
4. How accessible is laundry service? If I don't bring much luggage, I'll need to figure out how to get clean clothes.
5. Are there liquid restrictions on international or LAN flights? Meaning, can I buy a big bottle of shampoo, conditioner, mouth wash, etc in Lima and take it with me through the rest of the trip?
6. On that note, hotels in the US usually provide shampoo and conditioner. Is this common in SA, too, or do I need to make sure to have my own?
7. Anything to make sure I bring from home that might surprise me? Like, should I be able to easily find Tums, Advil, feminine hygiene products, sunblock, or anything else like that?
8. If you were going on a similar trip, how much USD cash would you carry? My preference would be to not rely on a bank/ATM in SA but it seems crazy to carry enough cash for 2.5 weeks.
9. I tend to take my laptop with me, but is this a bad idea? What about an iPad or netbook?
10. I have an iPhone on AT&T. What's the best way to go about getting a data/phone plan? Should I just get a prepaid phone? Is there one that would work across my whole trip?

For 2, 9 and 10, I'm mostly thinking about an occasional call/text to the family and posting a picture or two on Facebook.

If my questions didn't give me away, I am really new to all this so I appreciate your patience and help. Thanks!
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