What are you glad you brought, wished you had brought, or could have left behind

Brought (or should):

Books. Doesn't matter what language you spea, even if it is Spanish, there is so little to read it is amazing. Used shops if you find them are mostly full of novels and often bad ones.

CDs or some music storage device. You can buy pirated music but it is not much of a selecion. Mostly just greatest hits of a rather small number of bands. Legit music comes in an even smaller selecion.

Laptop if you need one.

Camera equipment. Film or digital doesnt matter as neither is that easy to find of good quality at even close to a decent price.

Personal electronics. The smaller and more specialized the better the idea to bring it with you.

There is not much else that cant be bought or made do without. Though if you are a very tall or a very large person it can be hard to find clothes or shoes in much of Latin America.

I basically came with two suitcases, so I only brought the bare minimum of schtuff. I would bring quality kitchen stuff, as well as seeds for favorite herbs. Other than that, there has been little I could not obtain, or, more importantly, learned that I did not really need.

Things that I brought and am glad I did: a good manual can opener, computer and photo equipment, quality flash lights, razor and razor blades, quality umbrella, local spices. Things that I brought and still have not used; tie, golf clubs. While you can buy most things in Managua, often they are expensive and the latest models are not available.

Dan Polley

I sold/tossed out everything I thought I could live without before moving to Costa Rica. I ended up with much too much stuff. When I move to Nicaragua from Costa Rica I did a second purge. If I ever moved again, I would toss more.

I brought "work stuff" (and work is computer and electronics related). That made sense. Putting that in perspective, ordinary computers, monitors, ... are readily available. But, I have "strange stuff" and am glad I brought that.

Zero furniture in both moves and that made sense. Stuff that can be made locally you certainly don't need.

The things I still have and am glad I moved are:

• CDs and such
• Books. A lot of information is available on-line but I have books that are long out of print that I find useful or entertaining.
• Assorted specialty hand tools. For example, a fish tape for pulling electrical wires through conduit. I am sure I could find one here but it is small and I have it.
• Katadyne water filter. This is a little ceramic filter for backpacking. While I have actually never used it, it could get used.
• Personal things such as family photos (that I really need to scan but ...)

Other than clothes, that is pretty much what I have from my past (U.S.) life. I continue to be amazed with how all those "necessities" from the past are no longer necessary. The real test is what I have bought/looked for since I have been here. That has been:

• Strange food such as tofu and Asian cooking supplies. It is available in Managua but not Estelí.
• Assorted computer-related things. I have mail-ordered a lot of this from sites on the Internet. The reality is that I would have done the same in the US.
• Some tools. A pitchfork for example was not available in Estelí but Huehuete Bob was nice enough to find one in Managua and bring it up here.
• Books in English, CDs, DVDs.