El Salvador preparation

31st Dec So after dithering intermittently over the last few months, I finally booked flights to El Salvador via Bogota. Got a possibly half-decent deal and although there are some annoyingly long waits at Bogota airport, at least I don't have to transit the US or Canada. This will be for just under 9 weeks, which is perhaps a bit short (but I did already have some idea of doing about 8 week trip quite apart from dithering and not booking flights months ago when they *might* have been cheaper).

Annoyingly I appear to have accidentally done the "leave something you intend to buy in your basket and the vendor will sometimes offer you a discount to complete the purchase" trick and got e-mailed a £40 voucher about 5 minutes before I actually paid. The voucher went to spam and to be fair even if it hadn't the intermittent mail collection on my PC and the lack of mail notification in Thunderbird and so on might mean I'd not have seen this anyway. I am undeniably annoyed about it but it's not the end of the world.

I do need to start sorting stuff out. I did already buy some new travel trousers and get them turned up a month or two ago and with luck I shouldn't have too much to do, but definitely some stuff.

I haven't checked precise vaccination etc requirements for this trip but I did check a week or two ago and all my basic vaccinations are good until at least the end of 2026.

Basic plan here is to wander round El Salvador and Nicaragua (getting the ferry across to avoid having to cross Honduras, which would require a visa) and time permitting maybe also go into Guatemala to go up to the north (Flores, Tikal, etc) and/or to Lago de Izabal.

2nd Jan Let's just have a quick check on vaccinations. No fuss, just a quick look over NHS site, I am 99% certain I just need the standard ones which I already have:

Guatemala - hep A, tetanus, typhoid, map shows at worst "low risk" of malaria so just awareness and bite avoidance (no antimalarials recommended) even in the low-lying north

El Salvador - hep A, tetanus, typhoid, no malaria risk

Nicaragua - hep A, tetanus, typhoid, "low risk" of malaria for the whole country

I have a yellow fever certificate although I don't expect to be asked to show it.

Checking a scan of my vaccination certificate:
- typhoid given Dec 2023 and valid for 3 years, so that's fine til end of 2026
- tetanus/diphtheria/polio is good til Sep 2028
- hepatitis A says it's good to August 2016 but there is some sort of tweak here - OK, the certificate says it was given Aug 2006, Mexico 2025 preparation blog entry suggests I am good for probably 25 years based on this (and even if it's 20 years I am still technically good for a trip before August 2026). I am really struggling to find a super-authoritative link. OK, I found https://travelhealthpro.co.uk/disease/70/hepatitis-a which is the same site the NHS pages link to for the travel vaccination info anyway, and that says at least 25 years and probably indefinite (albeit the individual vaccines listed show slightly shorter times, and mine is ">=15 years") but recommends a booster at 25 years. So I am basically fine until 2031.

So I think I'm basically OK here, which is what I expected but as well to check while there is still just about time to get something. And it's good to know that malaria is at least low risk. As usual, since I don't have any specific reason to get it and it is an enormous faff all round, I'm not getting rabies vaccination.

5th Jan Just had micro-search on web and it looks like you can get a public bus from the airport in San Salvador into the centre, then maybe an Uber or local taxi or another local bus on if necessary. I suspect a taxi or Uber from the airport is rather expensive. I will see what advice my accommodation offers, but I haven't even started looking for any yet.

0209 Very quick look on booking.com for San Salvador accommodation. Superficially half decent hotel at £117 for three nights, so not too bad as a baseline. Hostel dorms from about £10/night. I can have (not clicked through) a private room in some sort of private host accom for about £50 for three nights, which isn't superficially terrible.

OK, I am going to stop for the night as I'm in no mood to get into researching areas etc, but clicking through at least one of the hostels which lists as a dorm on the initial, I can have a single room for about twice the price of a dorm bed, which doesn't feel terrible, and might be a decent option (if the hostel is otherwise decently located and with some prospect of socialising etc). For initial arrival I definitely want a private. An actually maybe-social hostel would be good as it would be nice to be able to chat to people for its own sake but also to get tips etc on where to go in the city/country/region etc. I don't want to let this slide for ages, but it's looking like there are at least half-decent options at half-decent prices of various styles and so on, so that's reassuring. (As usual, I probably will do some dorms - maybe trying to roughly alternate dorms and privates if both are equally available - but when I arrive zonked after the flights etc and am finding my feet, I really don't want to be in a dorm unless I have no choice, and it looks like I do have a choice.)

7th Jan 2202 Set up the postal redirection. This grates a bit given how little post I get and that I almost inevitably come back to find a letter or two has been delivered to my regular address (almost certainly by Royal Mail) anyway, but I can't really help it. Risk of theft of post if anything important does turn up plus I need this in case of bloody jury service summons or the like turning up while I am away.

9th Jan Having a look over my various travel supplies and my packing list to see what I need to order.

I suspect all but one of the four thin pairs of socks I wore for the 2025 trip are past it, and given the way I'm fairly sure the second-use pairs on the 2025 trip started to go during that trip it may not be prudent to re-use the not-that-bad pair on this trip.

I can't help suspecting there's an unused short-sleeved red T-shirt (ISTR Mum buying me one for my birthday, but who knows what year) which is either misplaced in my flat or short-term uselessly (they're cheap enough that it's not worth posting if it is there, and it won't go off and can be used in future) at my parents' house. I also have a note from my 2025 Mexico preparations blog entry that I bought a blue short-sleeved plastic T-shirt and although I'd probably prefer red anyway, I cannot find that at all. I guess it will turn up at some point.

OK, since these T-shirts don't seem to qualify for prime and are slow-ish to deliver, I've just ordered myself a red one - free but slow-ish delivery. It should arrive in plenty of time and if it doesn't it isn't the end of the world, I have ones from previous years which would do at a pinch albeit they're cheap enough that I prefer to get a fresh one each time.

I have two completely new black Raging Sport tops (birthday present 2025) and one completely new blue RS top (probably from a previous purchase - the blue ones generally seem to be out of stock whenever I look). I also have the older ones some of which are likely fine. I also brought the blue Craft LS top back from parents after Christmas on a sudden whim, I just might consider taking it with me for variety, it is in reasonable shape. I haven't looked over my other non-new tops yet. However, I think it's fairly clear that I am OK for my 4 LS tops, I just need to decide what to take mixing new/old and manufacturer/colour.

Quechua socks used for 2025 trip look fine but there is a just-maybe minor hole on one (it might be nothing) so I will swap them out with one of the several other pairs I have, as I might as well rotate them anyway. I haven't put the hole one aside, I am quite happy for it to be in the general rotation and maybe picked on a future trip if it looks OK to me at the time.

Fairly sure I had already inspected it some months ago but the fleece I got for the 2025 trip looks absolutely fine to be used again.

Right, I just found two short-sleeve red T-shirts in a pile of clothes I'd overlooked. However, one has 2025 fadedly written on the ticket (suggesting this was written when it was new and it's been washed a few times) and has a few smallish stains on, and the other has some more stains on and the ticket looks faded so it's probably from an even earlier trip. So the one I just ordered probably isn't a waste (but as noted as long as I make a note about it, it can always be used for a future trip) but these are just some of the more-or-less acceptable substitutes if it doesn't arrive in time.

My lightweight Trespass jacket appears to be fine, I got a bit confused and found the Regatta one from the trip before which is OK but a bit heavier/bulkier and that's OK too, but I will likely take the Trespass one. (It feels like there is some potential for cold-ish mountain-ish hikes on this trip, but I can either buy/hire clothing there or more likely just as in Colombia in 2024, the clothes I have are likely good enough when layered etc and perhaps augmented with a locally purchased/hired sweater etc for not-too-extreme stuff.)

That pile also had three LS tops from 2025 trip, but there should have been a fourth - presumably blue given a skim of my notes suggests I took all-RS LS 2 of each colour and I only have one blue in this pile. Maybe the blue got put somewhere else but I am not obviously seeing another *used* blue (the new one I mentioned earlier is clearly new as it has a sticker on).

In terms of clothing purchases, it looks like I basically need the red SS T-shirt (already ordered) and some "plastic" lightweight/thin socks - the Quechua as noted very often are relatively thick and while not actually that uncomfortable when it's hot, it feels better take one pair of them and four pairs of lightweight. I have one possibly OK lightweight pair but they've done one trip already and evidence suggests they are likely to start going in holes, so best to replace the lot.

Now I have varifocals and the only reason I need the "reading" aspect on holiday really is for the bluetooth keyboard with the phone (which isn't critical), I will not take my reading pair as spares, I will take one of the two pre-varifocal prescription pairs I have as a spare (I don't have a spare varifocal and given the relative unimportance of reading prescription on holiday I don't think this is a problem, and I will likely naturally acquire a spare varifocal pair in the next year or two anyway), and as always take the fairly old but still serviceable prescription sunglasses. I hardly ever wear the sunglasses but it's nice to have the option. Post-trip I may investigate a new pair of varifocals with automatic tinting and if I get on well with that, I can probably drop to just that pair of varifocals worn and the current clear pair of varifocals as a spare, cutting down to two pairs total instead of three pairs total, but for this trip I'll accept taking three pairs total.

Quick look on the web suggests El Salvador has carnival in December-ish but there may be carnival in Nicaragua/Guatemala in mid-February. Obviously some potential for seeing unusual stuff there but I also want to be aware so even if I'm not interested I don't get caught out by accommodation demand/price surges. ChatGPT seems to agree (I didn't ask a leading question), maybe mid-Feb into early March for Nicaragua/Guatemala as it can vary regionally.

If I didn't already note this the new travel trousers have a sort of string loop with a plastic tab on the zips. I am half tempted to take this off but I think it just comes on/off fairly easily and my inclination is to start the trip with them on and see how I feel and I can easily take them off and save them after - if I take them off now I am likely to feel I ought to take them out with me anyway, so there's no real saving on having to carry the detached tabs around. This is about a mixture of appearance and also how (presuambly) easy it is for me or a pickpocket to open the zip.

Both my lithium AAs - one in the torch, the other spare - are due to expire March 2026. I'm sure they'll be OK really but I have obviously had them a while and not used them very much. Maybe I should just be a tiny bit less over-sparing of the torch (not that I routinely need it) this time. ;-)

I am almost certainly not taking my travel washing line with me this time. I always go on about how I hardly ever use it, I am sure I will survive without it and if a chance comes up where it would have been helpful, at least I'll finally think "yes, I should have been carrying it". It's not super heavy but it's still extra bulk and weight.

My universal sink plug is (and I think has been for a while) very hard. I do seem to have had notes about using it once or twice in Mexico in 2025 though. Still, since I often end up using a sock in practice I may not take this with me, but I'm not 100% sure.

I can't remember if I usually take a sleep mask but I don't often use it and I have a note that a bandanna can be used in its place and I just experimented with this and while not as absolutely blacking out in a bright-ish room, it certainly does diminish light levels quite a lot and I suspect this may be an acceptable substitute instead of taking the sleep mask.

So a first and slightly shoddy pass over the packing lists suggests I don't have too much stuff missing, I've been making a pseudo-shopping/todo list in addition to the above notes. I will go over this again properly in a day or two but I think that's the essentials sorted. If I didn't already say I did do some intermittent shopping for a trip back months before I actually booked anything, and I got some travel trousers and had them turned up and I ordered myself a replacement bandanna for example.

Sat 10th Underwear from 2025 trip all seems fine, I might give it a bit more of a test wear over the next few days. I could rotate in a brand new (purchased at least a year or maybe two ago but never worn) pair or two just to be vaguely on the safe side, but I am really not sure it's necessary.

Right, I've had a look round on booking.com for accommodation. I don't want to hang around but there is still a reasonable amount right now. Struggling to decide. I talked to ChatGPT even though I can't quite trust it. I don't have a guide book yet and I scarcely trust them either. Simple web search appears to turn up random pages contradicting each other on whether Uber is an option or not. I was and still half am toying with the public bus from the airport into the city, but OTOH after a 20h flight and with my full bag and in a new country/city it might be worth springing the (I just actually went on Uber app and tried it, so I hope these prices are about right) USD30-ish for an Uber. Some of the accommodation does offer airport shuttle services but it isn't clear what the price might be and I'm reluctant to choose accom just on that basis.

I am not too sure about socialising, one or two genuine hostels or hotels with common areas which may be low-budget enough to be pseudo-hostels seem to exist, private guesthouse type stuff is very common and that may or may not be sociable. It's not critical but still would be nice.

I need to remember that I haven't sketched out any kind of itinerary at all but that although yes I will be in San Salvador at the end of the trip (and quite possibly at other points during the trip, particularly if I like it or want to get to know it better), as it is a completely novel place to me it's not necessarily off the cards to book for say 3 nights at one accom and then after a bit of initial exploration/finding my feet, decide to spend another 2-3 nights in a different part of town (although yes, I may prefer not to do that straight away - but I don't want to be running off too much in mad haste and as I say it is a completely fresh city/country). But this doesn't alter the question of where to stay initially. And while the Uber feels a bit of a cop out and not without its own stress, it might be the smart move on first arrival in a city I don't know at all. (I can't remember what I did e.g. my first time in Bogota, but although I've used TM on more recent visits on arrival, at least I half know what I'm doing and how it all works, ditto Buenos Aires and Santiago - albeit both a while back now, I think the point still holds.) I will probably be a bit zonked after a 20h flight and there's the usual fresh off the boat nerves and I will have all my stuff with me which also makes things feel extra edgy. Don't have to decide tonight. At least I had a fairly decent look around at the accommodation options, more thoroughly that when I did it early Jan.

Sketching out a draft itinerary can come much later (it requires buying no new stuff etc, or setting up any phone/IT stuff, so it has to be a lower priority). I do want one though, even if I decide to drastically change it (I won't let myself be bound by it) it's good to have a starting point. I think my gut feeling is that Guatemala is an optional extra, if one way or another it happens that I feel I've done enough and haven't wanted to leisurely hang around more in El Salvador or Nicaragua. It would be good to see more of Guatemala, but it would also likely be natural to visit from southern Mexico on a future trip, whereas ES/N are a bit more out of the way, perhaps.

Actually, I think (and had thought before) it's even more "specific" than that - while I want to visit ES and expect to spend significant time there, in some sense the real "core" of this trip is Nicaragua. I am reluctant (certainly right now where there are other countries I can visit without it) to go to the hassle and expense of getting a visa for Honduras, and that makes Nicaragua slightly isolated as I can't visit it overland and will need to visit and return by boat from ES. Which is fine and mildly adventurous. But this makes getting there and back a bit more intensive in terms of travel - I'm dependenent on boat schedules etc. So I probably want to be getting over to Nicaragua relatively early in the trip and coming back to ES later. Also if I am in Mexico or Guatemala in future I can fairly easily just pop over into ES on my own schedule, whereas the boat/Honduras visa makes popping into Nicaragua from the northern side less convenient.

Got a cheap-ish Bluetooth transmitter/receiver off ebay to use the new P40i wireless earbuds on the plane. Giving it a quick test with my PC's audio jack and it appears to be working surprisingly well. It is annoying to have this extra item to take but if I didn't already note my bluetooth wireless-but-with-dongle headphones have broken (one earpiece has stopped working, possibly fixable but haven't tried yet and it would quite likely destroy them) so I had to get the P40is for Christmas. I must admit they are quite nice, but needing this extra gadget to make them work on the plane is annoying. On the plus side, this would - albeit it's not super common - take the place of the 3.5 inch jack-to-jack cable I've toyed with buying and carrying sometimes so on the rare occasion I am e.g. renting an apartment with a stereo system, I can use it to play music from my phone. Pleased to see it has a USB C charging port (the Amazon listing was not IIRC all that clear), as this does mean I don't need to take a micro-B cable with me (which I used to need just to charge the older pair of wired dongle Bluetooth headphones).

I do miss having an actual volume control - my old BT pair did, but AFAICS the P40is nor the new tx/rx gadget have one. It may be possible to use the P40i app to tweak the supported gestures, I haven't looked yet. There also appears to be significant latency which destroys lip sync - I had already noticed this using the P40is direct via Bluetooth from my phone to watch video without the tx/rx gadget being involved, so I don't particularly blame the gadget for this. Of course, this "just worked" with the cable so a backwards step, but it's not the end of the world for watching a bit of video on an in-flight entertainment system while taking advantage of the noise cancellation.

Also got a 6 pack of new "plastic" socks (65% bamboo fibre, 25% cotton, 7% polyester, 3% elastane) and trying them on now too - the excitement! The seem OK so far.

Pulled out my 2007 vintage Central America on a Shoestring (probably purchased shortly before my 2010 trip?) and will have a skim through for El Salvador and Nicaragua. I'm sure lots has changed, but basic "geographical" tourist attractions will probably still have some kind of resemblance. And a paper book is nice for flicking through, even if I perhaps do look on the web later. Prepare for random jottings about things.

- Quetzaltepeque near San Salvador, easy to walk up day trip kind of volcano
- Ruinas de San Andrés near SS might be a low key but pleasant day trip
- Santa Ana (Western ES) sounds good, but I'm inclined to skim over this in guidebook right now as I am thinking heading east from SS (which is relatively far west) at first would give me some good time in ES at start of trip while heading towards Nicaragua, then I can maybe do some kind of loop round within ES on the final leg, or perhaps go via SS (especially if I like it) on my way to western ES again towards the end of the trip. So this is less critical for draft itinerary. It should perhaps have been obvious but wasn't until I read the guide book that the border with Guatemala is to the west too (I keep thinking north-ish) and this would fit well with my general plan that Guatemala is an optional extra towards the end of this trip depending on how much time I want to spend in Nicaragua (in particular) and ES.
- Parque Nacional El Imposible sounds interesting but I can probably consider national parks separately to some extent as I could imagine these having changed in practical terms over time
- San Vicente might be a reasonable first stop heading east out of SS
- Alegria?

Just spent 30+ mins double checking the files I left on the 128GB USB stick after the last trip were in fact duplicates. FFS. As well to be careful and it's not a huge job but every single bloody time. I really need to get round to writing some proper non-ad-hoc tools to make this kind of deletion safer and easier and less stressful.

Sun 11th Jan 0110 Having a first look at paying for a bloody seat selection. On the outbound Lon-Bog flight, there are lots of Economy aisle options, some even oddly at "only" £24 (although I seem to have missed out on the pair rather than triple right at the back, which the one free window seat there suggests would also have been £24. I guess sitting right at the back is considered crappy but as waffled about endlessly before, it doesn't really bother me and if anything it's quite nice as you sort of get all the space round the toilet area at the back as almost "nearby space". There are so many vacant I will probably risk sleeping on this (I am out all day Sunday but we'll see how it goes). I still vaguely hope to get my £40 "discount" - but I've really struggled to even get in touch with someone - but I can probably afford to sit on booking a seat for the return in March for quite a bit longer while I argue. FTR emergency exit row is £72! And perhaps oddly - maybe said this before - the "shitty" middle seats are also £24 to reserve, I guess they figure anyone who actually prefers one will pay and anyone who has no strong preference will just wait and see. [Presumably there's also an angle with groups of people wanting to pay to sit together.]

FTR they want £15.30 for an aisle seat on the BOG-SAL flight (I am not likely paying that, I am much more relaxed about an arbitrary seat on a 3h daytime flight) - OK to be fair it's £13 right at the back, but still not paying that. Ditto SAL-BOG. BOG-LON is £23.80 for the back seats and the pair-rather-than-triple right at the back is available. Vaguely tempted to book this but I won't rush into it (the theoretically more desirable further forward seats are £30.50 BTW and emergency exit £67). I could book this from abroad soon after I arrive and as it's a 787-8 in both directions that would give me a chance to see whether those seats are somehow shitty and e.g. don't recline, though I suspect they are fine. My inclination for the LON-BOG flight would be something like 39F, second to last row in the middle (block of three) on the right (so I have my right arm on the aisle side), avoiding row 40 just in case the seats don't recline.

I might sleep on this and look to book it in the morning before going out. I can't see the price rocketing up and it will be annoying if it's a pound or two more but it's probably a worthwhile gamble. At this rate if I do get my £40 (not super optimistic) discount back as credit I won't quite need it all for the remaining main leg, but getting it as credit towards stuff like seating is highly speculative anyway.

So anyway, 39F on the outbound flight at £24 is probably what I'd like to be booking, maybe first thing in the morning. Of course the flight might be half empty and it might also be that I could afford to gamble and see what I get allocated at online checkin and then pay to change it, but it's possible the priecs will be much higher and/or that few "cheap" aisle seats are available and I remember getting a bit stressed about this flying to Mexico a year ago and for £24 - which does suck but is probably not that insane for a reservation, cf BA's prices - it's probably not worth it. (It does make me annoyed about that £40 discount as it would more or less have been free seat selection, but can't be helped - as I already noted, the way it arrived so unexpectedly means there was a triple whammy of reasons I missed it and I can't really blame myself.)

OK, let's try something. I'll select 39F on the outbound and 39C (in the pair of two at the left of the plane) for a total of £47.80 and leave them in the basket and we'll see if they e-mail me a discount. Nothing to lose really, since I am not really that keen to book right now, preferring to at least sleep on it.

1136 No joy yet on the leave it trick, just a little gamble. 39F outbound is still £24 and 39C return is still £23.80. I'll leave these in my basket again today on the offchance and maybe book them tonight. I am going to be annoyed if they go up but I also don't want to rush into booking them when I am out today - also I am unlikely to book the return flight seat now, it probably does make sense to wait and book that until probably soon after my arrival - no point having it hanging around as an uncertainty the whole trip and the price going up etc, but it probably isn't that urgent given the return date is in May and it would be sensible to have a look at the seat layout on the outbound flight first.

FWIW seatmaps.com does suggest that the rear row of seats including that pair-of-two "might" have limited recline, but I am not sure how seriously I take this. In any case, for the outbound flight I'm not intending to book one of those seats and barring some sort of "left in the basket" offer I am not intending to book the pair-of-two seat until after I've been on board anyway.

Mon 12th 39F on the outbound flight is still £24. I haven't seen any e-mails about my deliberately uncompleted purchase of seats, not over-surprised but it was worth a try. (Of course this isn't posted live, so there's no way they can see this, not that they'd be checking anyway.) I will probably take the very small gamble on this price not changing today, chew it over for a few more hours and then book this.

1621 FWIW I got the chance to try out Uber on the A06 yesterday as I was visiting some friends. I got a friend to do most of the actual operation of the app as I didn't know the area and it was a bit miserable weather etc but still, it did work, which is reassuring. I am not sure the location stuff was working properly but that may have been my fault for having fine location off (as I'm not on holiday) and/or just my inexperience but it did basically work.

2345 39F out outbound London-Bogota flight is still £24. I'm starting to get sick of indecision paralysis and I think I'm going to book this. I have submitted a complaint re the discount voucher and we'll see what happens. OK, done the seat reservation. Not feeling super chuffed about it but at least it is sorted, and I will probably just take a chance on the shorter BOG-SAL flights and reserve a seat on the BOG-LHR return flight once I've flown out and seen what the cabin layout is like.

Tue 13th 0004 Tinkering with shopping list pre-trip. I think I'm almost certainly not going to take my rather un-rubbery (and old) universal sink plug anyway, blog suggests I did use it at least one in Mexico 2025 so it does probably work, but I suspect in practice a sock nearly always works and is usually what I do. The point here being I don't need to get a new one ordered in time for the trip. As I write this I am dithering because I do wonder what would happen if a sink had an absolutely flush plughole and I couldn't therefore squash a sock into it, but TBH I'm not sure the universal sink plug would work (whether new or not) anyway and my Mexico 2025 blog notes do suggest I rarely use the USP anyway, so not having it is unlikely to absolutely ruin the trip and it's also the sort of thing I could doubtless buy abroad at relatively low cost if I really decided I needed one. But in any case, I don't think I'm going to buy a new one, even if I do last minute decide I'm taking my old one just because I'm incredibly over-cautious.

1118 I have tested my collection of SD/micro SD cards and they seem to be OK. I don't use these that much but they don't weigh much and it is probably good to at least have the option to put copies of photos on them. Given my Panamanian postcards still haven't arrived and the general existence of internet backups, the chances of posting backups home on one mid-trip feel fairly slim but not absolutely zero, and that's not the only reason I am carrying them.

I do still have a few films on at least one of these from probably 2025 trip and I've put a few films on the 128GB USB stick as well. I could in theory copy a few onto my phones and/or onto the other SD cards, as they're easy enough to wipe mid-trip if I need the space, the idea being these will give me something to watch if I need some entertainment (low stress entertainment if it's a film I've already seen) when I have no net access or just don't want to faff with it. This isn't a terrible idea but I don't think I ever watched even a single film during Mexico 2025 so I don't really expect this to happen, but it's worth having a few. Whether I'll go and copy a few more onto some random SD cards remains to be seen.

Thu 15th 2354 Been having another look at accommodation. Dithering. Also just remembered out of the blue that Athlete did a song about El Salvador. (Not listened to it yet, but will.) TBH there's probably no madly wrong decision. I am a bit dubious about the general "meeting people" potential of almost anything, the one place I've seen listing a bar does vaguely tempt me but that probably means very very little. I have a sort of gut inclination towards somewhere central-ish even if some reviews make out the surrounding area isn't great/safe at night. I am also still dithering about bus vs taxi from the airport, but although it's not a deciding factor there just might be an easier bus from airport to somewhere central-ish, albeit probably not that central. Reviews are all over the place but they always are. There is free cancellation and TBH maybe I should go with my gut. I actually find myself mildly concerned at the probably lack of a fridge (since even with no bar, I could maybe buy a tin or two or beer or a bottle of coke or something and sit around on the terrace - but this is hardly a killer, and assuming it's allowed I could of course bring one back and have one around sunset and hope to get chatting, or just have a warm coke or whatever). Also, it's for three nights, and assuming all goes well the first day I will check in knackered around 1pm, go out for food and a walk round the immediate area and maybe see if I can get a SIM, and I am going to want to go to bed about 8pm if I can stay up that late. It's three nights out of a nearly 9 week trip, if it's not sociable or I'm stuck in my room at night or whatever then it's hardly the end of the world, especially when as I say only two of those nights will I likely even feel like going out or chatting or whatever. So I should probably go with my gut, especially with the free cancellation. And I can if I want to always move to a different ho(s)tel in San Salvador after those three nights, and/or it's quite likely I will be back in the city at some point mid-way through the trip, and if not I can try other accommodation at the end, and probably in smaller towns outside SS and/or when I'm willing to try for a dorm in a more hostel-y environment (which I do not want to do when I've just had the long flight and stress of getting from the airport) that also offers more chat/meeting people potential. And there is probably Uber cheap-ish to get from hotel to places at night if I want to and it is (not really sure I can trust all the reports, as I say reviews all over the place) really not advisable to walk.

This is looking (most of the non-dorm options at the cheap end are more-or-less the same) at about £23/night which isn't too bad for a private room in the capital with (perhaps grotty but who cares) ensuite bathroom (so with luck I can head out from the hotel with a full set of clean clothes). I am not planning to splurge for air con (there is a fan), I may regret it but I think it isn't likely to be too hot at night and I don't expect to be in the room much during the day and it's probably good to start acclimatising etc. Even some of the reviews say things like how they had the air con on at midday but didn't have it on at night, and it is quite a lot more expensive.

Fri 16th 0013 Just listening to "El Salvador" by Athlete. :-) Takes me back, ISTR listening to this on the train visiting friends somewhere round Twickenham or Richmond back in maybe the early-mid 2000s. Just looked and Wikipedia says it came out 7th April 2003, so that wasn't too far off the mark.

0056 OK, just booked the centre-ish option. It's actually listed in my old paper guidebook and that seems oddly comforting. It's not super convenient for where the old paper guidebook shows the airport bus location in the city centre, but it's not absolutely terrible. I was tempted by Ximena's which also existed in guide book era and now, but even back in 2007 it was showing as needing a bit of maintenance and charging for wifi by the hour, and although it isn't explicitly saying that, the current listing on booking.com *also* doesn't say the wifi is free and says something about chargeable, which was seriously offputting. FWIW the place I've booked also doesn't seem to have the doubtless outdated but mildly disconcerting covid crap on the booking.com page unlike some of the others. I don't really imagine this is enforced but especially when arriving after a long flight etc the last thing I want is scope for this stuff. (I would hate it but push comes to shove I could wear a mask if I really had to, but I couldn't show proof of vaccination or negative tests, of course, because *it's 2026*.)

FWIW Organic Maps says 23 mins walk from bus 138 stop to hotel.

Oddly I couldn't find the hotel by name on OM even though it's there on the map. GM offline on the A06 found it no problem, but even though the A06 has a full Google account etc (but is offline, but still?!) I don't seem to be able to star or otherwise save the place. Because reasons? OK, I enabled mobile data very briefly and managed to star it.

0137 OK, I expressed interest in the airport shuttle during pickup and I've had a message saying it's USD30. Gut feeling is I won't book this. It *may* be cheaper than the airport taxi or an Uber, but probably not by very much. And I am still dithering about the airport bus. Some of the reviews also mentioned the pickup being late. OTOH USD30 isn't terrible in general terms compared to airport taxi or Uber and maybe there's even an argument that pre-committing would save me being torn or making bad decisions when I arrive at SS airport. However, I do not want to be booking this until near or after the free cancellation deadline anyway, and if it's too late at that point then so be it. I will sleep on it for at least a day or two.

Incidentally I will take *some* USD cash with me since I have it, but not too much. I take cash with me because a) I already have it for that country and want to use it up (not really the case with USD, since it's so generally useful that I am not keen to use it up, unlike e.g. the GTQ I think I have and which I will likely take because there's a small but non-zero chance I will be in Guatemala, plus I suspect in this region GTQ may be borderline acceptable by some businesses even if at a crappy exchange rate in an emergency) b) I want it to help get me out of a jam if I can't get cash out at the airport. a) as noted isn't relevant here. b) is. But there's no point running down my private USD stash and risking theft of a lot of cash en route. I probably want a couple of hundred dollars, enough to pay for a taxi and the hotel and a meal or two for the first few days if none of my cards will work at all, so I have time to get that sorted out. Since El Salvador is USD-based if anything I hope to come home with slightly more USD than I took out, so as to replenish and maybe (although I'll need to count it and see - I obviously don't want *huge* cash exposure to any currency, even USD, over the long term) to slightly boost my stash, since USD is the general most useful currency to take with me when I fly out if I don't have the country's own currency in adequate quantities.

Of course the reality is I probably will be able to get some cash out at the airport, and unless the cash machines are truly extortionate and I have some reason to believe I might do better at a cash machine in the city I probably will get a fair wodge out then. It's just that since I will have USD on me it won't be so necessary. (And I suspect - especially if I'm not taking the public bus and thus don't have to be on public transport with my freshly withdrawn wodge of USD - it's more secure taking money out at the airport than at some random ATM, although if it's inside a bank or shopping centre or something like that it may well be more or less a wash.)

0210 Just tried the new red short sleeve T-shirt on. It fits fine. There is however a small triangular mark - the material is slightly darker - towards the bottom of the front, maybe 20x5mm. This is a little bit shit but it is fairly cheap and it's probably not worth making a fuss over. Given it is so triangular my best guess would be it was a slight irregularity during dying (maybe something was folded?!) but not really sure. I doubt anyone will notice, but wanted to make a note so I don't think it's a stain I got on it. I am half tempted to complain and see what happens, but I don't really have time to order another one or get a replacement and it is a very small cosmetic thing, not like the material appears degraded or in poor condition.

Actually I just went and had another look - and it's in the exact same position on the bed, same lighting - and I can't really see the mark. I do have photos of it and I can see it on there, just, so it's not my eyes going crazy, but it must be very lightning/angle of viewing dependent. I think I'll just forget about it.

1321 Avianca e-mailed me an upgrade offer and JOOI I clicked. Yeah, I can "bid" on business class seats, but since the single LHR-BOG leg minimum bid is USD665 I don't think I'll be taking them up on this, even if they'd accept this lowball bid (the slider starts in the middle at something significantly higher).

1649 About to try to hack up a fresh bar of the green "laundry soap". The whole bar weighs 119g. OK, so I have two clingfilm-wrapped 25g pieces which I will take with me - the idea being these inevitably turn into lumps of soap-slime and end up having to live in a plastic bag which gets water sloshed in to get soapy and then sloshed out again, so if I have small separate pieces I maybe reduce the amount wasted like this. I also have a chunk of misshappen dried soap-slime from last trip which I (probably foolishly) tried to add the leftovers from cutting the whole bar up onto (I suspect I lost more soap in the soaking and semi-futile squishing together than I saved) which I will weigh once it's dry and probably take with me as well as my initial laundry soap supply. I have probably slightly over half the bar left. It cut OK, if anything the lesson to learn would be that I should turn over about 1/2-1/3 the way through and start cutting through from the other side to get a squarer cut.

1810 Had a look at my foreign currency stash. I have GTQ 105 (about £10) which I will take - this isn't a lot but I might as well have it and use it if I do visit Guatemala and having some small bills or simply anything may ease the situation shortly after crossing the border etc. I have a fair quantity of USD on hand but as waffled earlier I am going to be moderately restrained. I have only two $1 bills but I will take them (they may be helpful for airport bus or whatever) and 4x$5 bills, so there's a modest amount of small-ish bills. I also have 5x$20 decent condition but folded up bills which I will fold again (these form part of a hidden reserve) and try to mostly ignore (or just possibly rotate with fresh $20s if I am getting some decent ones, as presumbly over the years these folded ones will get more and more dog-eared if they're never used) and will take another 5x$20 nice but not absolutely mint bills with me. That gives me $222 (a neat amount, coincidentally) on arrival which would get me a taxi to the hotel and my initial three nights with nearly $90 left for food and other incidentals in the event that I somehow cannot get any cash out at the airport or during my first day or two and need to be contacting banks etc. My gut feeling is that I'll try to withdraw the max amount at the airport (unless maybe I am taking the public bus) to give me my initial spending money, what I'm taking is an emergency reserve. And ideally I will fly back with >$222 (but not necessarily loads more, given my stash is already reasonably sizable and I don't want inflation exposure), and in particular some small bills would be good to come back with.

(I plan to pay the hotel with credit card, since there's only the most marginal privacy gain from cash when it's already booked with booking.com and possibly some sort of prepayment or hold on my credit card. But the above calculation assumes total failure of bank cards on arrival. Cash costs slightly more than credit cards given the cash machine fees, but I will continue to use it for ad-hoc purchases for the privacy benefits and the reduced risk of a card becoming a victim of fraud with the associated hassle or sorting it out and losing that card for the rest of the trip.)

Sat 17th 0309 Playing with ATM Fee Saver app. It looks like it *might* be fee-free to withdraw from Hipotecario ATMs in ES (and with a $500 limit, but if it really is fee free the amount to withdraw isn't that significant, except insofar as the ATMs might be rare). Cuscatlan also appears relatively good at 0.73% on a $500 withdrawal. Davivienda might be next best, with a $300 withdrawal limit and a $5.65 fee. Atlantida might actually not be bad, fee free "depending on card type" or $4.52 even if there is a fee with a $300 limit, so probably better than Davivienda. I don't fully trust this, but we seem to be saying (best first): Hipotecario, Cuscatlan, Atlantida (and try multiple card types), Davivienda. With Banco Agricola bringing up the rear and ignoring a few relatively "minor" banks for now.

1445 Slowly tinkering with the somehow awful-feeling task of checking minor medications for expiry and stuff like that.

I can't quite remember but AFAICT from 2025 trip prep notes and a vague feeling, I probably only take one 50ml bottle of sunblock with me. I have two of the small bottles but I probably only take one. One is nearly full but I got some "last summer's" sunblock from mum (she won't use it once it's a bit old) in a biggish bottle so I'll probably fill the empty 50ml bottle from that and take that with me.

1604 Probably taking 2x25g chunks of "fresh" laundry soap and the old leftover 16g chunk. This is borderline too much but it's not crazy, and I'm never quite sure how much I'll need and quite a bit can get wasted (e.g. when you get down to the last tiny bit, it might tend to just dissolve or not be usable).

1617 Just discovered another £40 and $57 stashed in my bag as I am pseudo-packing. I guess I will take these dollars with me as well, but that means I am going out with $279 so would like to come back with that much or slightly more. There are quite a few $1 and $5 bills in that stash.

1647 Hard to avoid the feeling that all this checking and pseudo-packing is a big waste of time, but while probably not essential, it probably does have practical benefits (not forgetting anything which might come in helpful under whatever circumstances) and also making me feel more comfortable.

1803 It's 1203 in El Salvador (so roughly the time I might be travelling, albeit on a different day of the week) and I've just checked out the hypothetical journey I'd be booking. UberX is coming in at $24.61, Uber Planet at $24.81 and UberSUV at $37.48. I might try this again on e.g. Monday.

2021 Starting to look at picking tops out. I see from 2025 prep notes that I took a red ss T-shirt (which I am doing this year, but the new one of course) and 2 blue and 2 black RS long sleeve tops, one of each colour being new and one being re-used. I didn't segregate them strictly (or if I did I have since de-segregated them) but I think I can fairly clearly see that one of each colour of my general accumulated stash of RS tops is pretty new looking, so I think I will definitely include those two this time (and try to remember to continue (?) to wash them inside out, to stop the logos falling off although it's not a huge deal).

OK, I just found another one of each RS colour in the wardrobe. This maybe suggests the ones I had out were the ones from 2025, but maybe I hung some of those up - and really it's hard to say. I also have two brand new black RS tops and one brand new blue. And there's also that brighter blue Craft top which I looked at just after Christmas and decided was actually in pretty good condition and is worth considering, if only for variety. They all look pretty OK to me, various states of logo degradation on the RS tops but I'm not that bothered (if I was I'd just pick off the remains of the logos). I am vaguely tempted to just take the one RS black and have three non-black tops (e.g. two RS blue and the Craft blue), on the grounds blue is maybe slightly cooler in the heat? Not that the black is in practice a big deal.

Craft top is slightly bobbly under the arms but it really generally looks fine. It is I think just a touch thicker than the RS and the colour is a tiny bit more in your face, but I wore it no problems before and it's not necessarily a bad thing to not look like I'm wearing exactly the same top all the time. Plus it is possible that there will be mountain hikes or something and slightly thicker tops might be good. (I can layer the Craft on top of an RS, although I did also just try RS-on-RS and that does fit too.)

My old notes suggest it had really bad staining after I washed it but I think I left it with mum and she also saw me wearing it before I came back after Christmas so she must have washed it with something I didn't. My old notes do suggest I felt the RS were better when it was warm, but I'm torn - the RS maybe are better in the generally warm conditions I am expecting, but if for example there are cool nights and/or I'm on mountain treks or whatever then a slightly thicker top may well be good. I do seem to recall feeling just a touch chilly in San Cris wearing a top+fleece, for example.

I had the Craft top with me on the Colombia/Panama trip. And my notes do suggest it may have been useful but wasn't that big a deal during the cooler conditions on the Paramillo hike. And probably El Salvador/Nicaragua aren't quite as generally high/volcano-y etc as e.g. that Colombia trip or Guatemala (and if I do go to Guatemala on this trip it's likely to be more the warmer lower northern parts anyway). But I am still a bit tempted by the Craft one if only for a bit of variety in the clothing - e.g. as I said, one black RS, two blue RS and the blue Craft and the (taken as read) red short-sleeve T-shirt.

I'll probably try to just let my brain chew over it some more. There's probably no really wrong decision. And at least I've forced myself to think about it a bit. In any case, my inclination is to leave my two black and one new RS tops at home and save them for future trips, given I probably don't really need them this time.

2216 FWIW I was thinking in bed last night that maybe the simple option is just to book the hotel's airport pick up service. I am far from having decided. But this would be the minimal fuss option - yes the driver may be late etc, but probably it's fine, and it does allow me to avoid either having to faff with mobile phones and my travel SIM to get Uber access in an airport while being hassled by taxi touts, or navigating the taxi touts and wondering if I should be going to some booth to get a booking for the taxi into town instead of just going with someone.

2347 Been re-reading some of the Mexico 2025 stuff (El Chiflon) and the voice typing really can be very waffly and repetive and like "you know". But it is readable I guess.

Sun 18th 0032 Having a few beers. Feeling quite pleasantly meditative. Bit (not exclusively) of old travel blog reading. Looks like I did take 2x50ml bottles of sunblock to Mexico BTW. Also thinking - easier said than done - that if I feel remotely comfortable somewhere, I really need to hang around. Yes, I kind of did this in San Cris. But really, I want to feel kind of relaxed and I need to avoid running round like a blue arsed fly. Said this a million times, but maybe repetition will help.

0306 I am also reminded that although maybe a touch short, this trip at approx 8 weeks 6 days is still a bit longer than the Mexico 2025 trip at ~8 weeks.

1337 Random guide book examination brings up Ruta de las Flores in western ES, near the border with Guatemala. This sounds interesting and not a huge time sink. However, at least my initial cursory examination suggests it's a Nov-Feb sort of thing, so while it might otherwise make sense to do this towards the end of the trip (particularly if I am going into Guatemala), I suspect in practice (and given the relatively small size of the country as a whole) it might make sense to look at this fairly early on, perhaps heading in that direction as soon as I leave SS after my initial visit (which doesn't need to be rushed, although this "go west initially" plan might make it more natural to revisit SS a second time, unless I loop round the northern parts of ES as I head over towards Nicaragua).

1600 Decided I'll just stick with my current half-ish full bottle of shaving oil and not buy another, which feels wasteful and a bit awkward. It is very likely to be enough for the trip, I can likely buy more or *something* not too bulky if I really need it (and I'd only be carrying it for the last bit of the trip).

2315 Did a "final" machine wash of the trip clothing I hadn't already washed before. So this will with luck be dry enough to do a proper-ish test pack (albeit probably without swimming stuff) tomorrow or Tuesday.

Mon 19th 1716 Looking on Uber for airport to hotel, UberX is $25.19, UberXL is $39.45, UberSUV is $25.39.

I don't have to decide now. This is cheaper than the $30 the hotel wants to charge me and probably cheaper than the official airport taxis. However, I have been leaning towards just booking the hotel pickup. (And yes, I'm likely to have to give a fucking tip on any of these TBH, though maybe not. ChatGPT tells me tips are optional but rounding up or giving $1-2 extra is welcome but not required. FWIW.) Struggling to find consistent or trustworth web information on airport taxi fares but we're looking maybe $25-35, and some possibility it's a fixed fare not on the meter. So perhaps the hotel pickup is overpriced, albeit not massively so. OTOH, while it may turn up late or something, it is in some sense the low stress option - I commit to it before leaving home, the decision is made and I'm not torn every which way by my frugality and various different stresses and touts on arrival when I'm frazzled after the flight, plus the driver presumably has no excuse whatsoever for not knowing where the hotel is. Some web sites hint at shuttles being a thing but I'm not over confident. Welcome Pickups is quoting €45!, probably because it's just me, and it's far from clear (this actually the crux in general) that they will do the kind of "we collect multiple disparate individuals or small groups and put them in a shuttle and drive them round to their various hotels" type shuttle I want - I do not want it all to myself. Viator doesn't seem to want to do shuttles, just tours. So I think I am going to assume a shared shuttle is not an option.

2125 Finally and rather slowly pseudo-packing. Going to take the pink toothbrush out of the new pack of three I bought because it's turned sideways whereas the others aren't. :-)

2333 I seem to have two good condition PackTowl mesh bags. I was sure I had one good one and one which had started to tear. Maybe I'm just not looking closely enough.

Tue 20th 0155 So I have kind of packed. Lots of stuff isn't in the bag because it's being charged or swimming stuff I need in the meantime and I haven't put a bottle of water in and my fleece is separate ready to wear (but I think I usually stuff it in the bag for weighing) etc. I have probably slightly overdone the plastic bags as always. I've tried to put stuff I can imagine wanting to grab quickly at a hostel (especially in a dorm situation) in the underside of the bag lid, where it's hopefully relatively accessible and thus won't be too "I can't be bothered" inaccessible.

At the moment I have not packed travel clothes line, (rather "dry") universal sink plug or sleep mask. I am inclining towards taking the blue craft top but I have it and the second-best of the ones I picked out black RS tops on the settee and I can decide when I dress on the final day. (As it's cold-ish here - not that bad, but still, not warm - and tends to be cool-ish on the plane, it makes sense to wear the slightly thicker blue Craft top to fly out if I am taking it, and if I don't take it then the second best (TBH this is very borderline after the latest wash) black=slightly warmer RS top is also the natural choice.) I do feel a small twinge of concern that not one of the tops I am taking (except for the red short-sleeve T-shirt) is brand new, but they do all appear to be in pretty solid condition. I absolutely could swap in a brand new black RS top for example (I have two of these, and unlike the blue they are pretty easy to get hold of new) but it just feels unnecessary, except for this twinge. I really don't want to "waste" my only new blue RS top when these others seem pretty solid.

FWIW replaced some of the no-bubbles-left bubblewrap around my spare glasses/prescription sunglasses. (Think I did one pair the other day, but did one tonight.)

Printed - crappily, given my printer, but readably - the basic flight itinerary and accommodation details for arrival, which will go some way towards helping to satisfy immigration officials if necessary. Can't print actual boarding pass yet of course.

Have set up some more bank account apps on A06, so I have a little bit of overlap with the P7 and some distinct.

1204 I have packed two small nominally 50ml (overfilled) bottles of sun block. Fairly sure that's what I did on the previous trip too. It may technically be unnecessary but I think it's borderline necessary and sunblock can be expensive and/or bulky when purchased abroad and I don't want to feel I have to overly skimp on it. Plus even wearing e.g. T-shirt, it only takes a few visits to a beach for whatever reason and that burns through an awful lot.

1650 Not a huge deal but because my packing list is a bit chaotic and outdated and relates to "one or two travel bags ago", I nearly forgot to take one of my combination locks with me. Wouldn't have been the end of the world but does suggest some effort (probably post-trip) to tidy this up would be worth it.

Got some nuts and raisins at Tesco, the 500g bag was so much better value than the 250g I couldn't resist it. I will probably open and rebag it, this means it isn't likely to last but a) with the 5h-ish wait at Bogota on the way out the likelihood of me wanting to snack are higher b) in some ways this is no bad thing, as I often find myself nursing the bag of fruit/nuts from home most of the trip, so if I just eat the damn stuff over the first week (fingers crossed it isn't forcibly tossed out at security or immigration or something) and perhaps over the flight out, that's for the good and I can replace it (albeit probably at a high price) with something locally purchased and cart that round as general "I could not get anything to eat today and I'm hungry" supplies.

I am not taking the Lifestraw soft water bottle filter with me. As I may or may not have noted before, I've started to doubt whether some of the risks it doesn't protect against (e.g. giardia) are actually things I can discount with urban domestic/hostel water supplies, so I've got some chlorine dioxide tablets (which are also lighter and more compact, of course, for my specific use case) and will use those in the event I have short term urgent needs for water when I can't get anything potable from a tap.

Avianca e-mailed me "tips" and there was a link to the required documents checker, I've done it and it appears everything is fine. It seems to suggest there is a tourist card type thing you need to enter El Salvador which you buy at the airport, but a web search suggests this has been dropped and (while annoying) it was only $12 anyway so not the end of the world.

Had a quick scan over FCDO advice for Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala and it all looks OK. (There is some stuff about state of siege/exception in Guatemala, but they're not advising against travel and while clearly not great, this is something that I can check out if/when it becomes relevant and visiting Guatemala seems more likely.)

2017 Just cut hair. Half meant to do it last night but didn't realise until too late. Not all bad, this way I have an extra day's "freshness". ;-) I half intend to try to get my hair cut a bit more often this trip, maybe every 3 weeks or even a smidge more frequently, if a reasonable looking barber comes in my way. I don't know but it may help me look a bit younger and/or "sharper".

2114 Oddly got an e-mail about half an hour ago from Avianca saying I can now check in to Bogota. So online check opens 2 days early? But can I check in to El Salvador!?

2137 OK, I just logged in experimentally and check in opens in 3 minutes. This feels a bit scary somehow but I suspect in practice the sooner I check in the sooner I will spot any possible issues with my paid-for seat reservation on the London-Bogota flight, and it probably doesn't meaningfully commit me in any significant way.

2154 Fuck me I hate doing online check in. I nearly put the year as the day of the month for my passport expiry date. FWLIW, the middle seat on the transatlantic outbound leg is showing as vacant right now.

I have been randomly assigned a window seat on the Bogota-San Salvador leg. They want £15.30 to change it to the aisle. I really don't mind that much for this short daytime flight. 23K BTW. (Airbus A320.) [Later note - this is about what they wanted before. While it probably depends on how busy the flight is, this suggests - although I also don't want to ruin my last night faffing with this, unless I am otherwise expecting to be very bored - that just possibly I could wait and see what I get allocated for the return transatlantic leg before paying to change seat.]

Wow, I can pay £40.20 to be among the first to board! What a bargain! I'd get to sit in exactly the same seat. I suppose *maybe* my bag might get ejected into the hold if the bins are full, but that's their problem and I wouldn't have to pay, so only a modest inconvenience and very unlikely (touch wood). "From" £34 for the Avianca lounge access is something that just *might* be worth toying with - but I note the "from", and there may be cheaper ways to get access anyway - on the return leg with the extra-long wait in Bogota, but at this point I think not.

2159 OK, I am checked in. Just double checked various screenshots etc. Fingers crossed this is all OK. I absolutely hate this, it feels like (e.g.) you scroll the mouse wheel and instead of scrolling the page it scrolls the "nationality" box and there's this scary "this cannot be changed" message and you're just fucked. [This didn't happen this time, but it has absolutely happened on other sites.]

2233 Right, despite utterly confusing lack of information (most web search results are those piratical "we will fill in free form X for you for $38 while making it seem very scary" sites) and a general feeling (e.g. Avianca didn't mention it, at least not yet) that it's not necessary (especially for transit - the one non-piratical result was a three year old Tripadvisor thread), I have done Colombian CheckMig "just in case". I did get to pick "transit" at one point, but it seems very heavily oriented towards actually visiting Colombia, but you know, maybe I'll be forced landside at the airport for some reason or someone will ask for it at Heathrow and it's one less thing to worry about. The resulting PDF doesn't even seem to have a QR code on it any more, which I'm sure it used to. As I think I said, I never got asked for this during my 2024 visit despite it cropping up in casual asides (probably left over from when they cared more?! but I also found some random website saying this *isn't* specifically a Covid thing, it merely happened to be introduced about that time so who knows) in automated e-mails at the last minute. I am not printing this out, although I have printed the boarding passes (I did get one for each flight) twice. I have them all electronically and as I have two phones it ought to be fine.

2343 I am aware my free cancellation on the initial accommodation will expire in a few hours. That's fine, I am 99.9% keeping it.

Wed 21st 1404 Bit jittery ("last full day at home") but not too bad and slightly "excited". Been tinkering with an e-mail asking if the hotel can do the airport pickup. I am still not super happy about the choices, but I think in reality I am as well not to chance the public bus after a long flight on my first ever visit to the city. (I will seriously consider taking it *back* to the airport at the end of the trip, or if (although I don't expect to) I take a local flight from there during the trip.) And while the hotel pickup is arguably borderline expensive compared to an airport taxi or Uber, it isn't insanely so (I should try not to fret about $5-10 under the circumstances) and in some senses it is the easy, safe, reliable option - and it allows me to politely blow off any touts at the airport because I have already arranged something.

Going to pop out to Tesco and maybe send this e-mail when I get back. Or continue dithering further for no really good reason of course, that's always an option too. :-)

1433 Yay, Avianca e-mailing me to tell me I can now check in to San Salvador. Even though I already checked in yesterday and have a boarding pass. But this just sows that little seed of confusion and doubt. OK, I clicked the link and it shows I am checked in for London to San Salvador, so I guess it's fine.

1636 I really do need to send this e-mail about the airport pickup. Talking to myself:
- I am not chancing the public bus after a long flight when I'm zonked, in a brand new country, not acclimatised (to the weather or the culture), my Spanish is "rusty-ish", etc. I can and will try it on the return, maybe at other times, but if I did get mugged or pickpocketed or even perhaps just frustrated or confused or stressed on this initial trip it could really disrupt the trip/my mindset - the stakes are highest right at the start of the trip. So I am not doing the public bus.
- The hotel pickup is the same order of magnitude as Uber or an airport taxi. It may be worse (the driver might not turn up on time when there's dozens of gguys ready and willing to take me) or it may be better (no fuss about where the hotel is, potentially someone waiting there for me on arrival) but on balance it's probably the best option up front overall and the difference in cost and expected hassle is fairly negligible at worst - maybe in hindsight I'll wish I'd gone with one of the other options but it's not a trip-ruining difference.

So I should just send the damn e-mail. OK, done. Well, sent via booking.com messaging anyway.

1758 It has been sort of not-cold (10C?) ish today, cloudy with a light drizzle. Actually semi-pleasant in a way, but will also make a nice contrast with ES I guess.

1814 Skimmed the remainder of the El Salvador section of my printed 2007 guide book earlier.

2016 Final swimming lesson before the trip was cancelled (about 1500) and it's left me oddly discombobulated.

Hotel has confirmed the pickup and we've exchanged details via WhatsApp so there should be a reliable line of communication there in the event things go wrong. I feel moderately pleased with this. It should mean as little fuss as possible (which is not to say no fuss of course, since this is air travel and there's plenty of fuss) between leaving home and having a secure base. Incidentally we'll see how I feel but the basic plan for Friday is to check in (I anticipate being able to do so more-or-less when I get there, given flight times and check in times and a tiny bit of luck), go for a wander and get some food (how urgently will depend on how I feel) and not put much pressure on myself other than starting to get a feel for the place and trying to stay awake until 8-ish (later is fine if I can/want to). If I see anywhere I can at least enquire about buying a local SIM I will go and have a chat (but maybe not buy, unless it's super cheap or I manage to speak to a few places) but getting one sorted on Friday is not an explicit goal. I need to relax, enjoy myself, acclimatise etc and if I spend Saturday puttering round, buying a SIM and maybe walking round the odd park or a museum or something, that's absolutely fine. I don't want to waste time, but this isn't wasting time, it is seeing the city and practicing Spanish etc, and I have a long-ish trip and part of that is being able to not run round like a blue-arsed fly all the time.

Just for the record, I am putting $42 in my pocket wallet. That should allow me to pay the driver with exact money and throw in $1-2 tip if I feel it's appropriate/necessary. I also have 2x£10+£5 in cash exclusively towards (touch wood) an emergency taxi to the airport - note in particular the £5, so if I am sharing it and we need to split the bill I do have something small-ish. (I suspect credit card is acceptable or even preferred these days, if it's just me, but cash is definitely useful if we are sharing at least.) As usual not taking change and in the unlikely (last time I was there the only pub seemed rather queue-for-table-allocation) event I get a beer at the airport, I will pay on card - yes I like cash, but I don't want to be lugging a load of UK change around with me the entire trip. I want just a few lightweight bank notes with me.

I am leaving my main bank account card here, as I think I always do. I don't need it to log into online banking, it is not good for foreign spending or cash withdrawals and I have a lot of other cards with me that are. [I do at least see I made a note that I did the same for Mexico 2025, which is good.]

2335 Liquids bag weighs 567g (which excludes my dry stick deodorant). With 600ml bottle of water and fleece stuffed inside, the lower (non-extension) drawstring more or less shuts, though there is a fair amount of stuff in the two compartments in the lid. Weight for this full load is 7.50kg, 7.25kg and 7.30kg on successive readings. I usually get completely confused about what the weight is, but looking at the Mexico 2025 notes I seem to have come in at 7.05kg-ish (6.85-7.25kg range) with 753g (ml too, I guess) of water but without swimming trunks or goggles. If we take the water difference off, Mexico 2025's bag is weighing 6.9kg-ish, so I am considerably heavier. I do however have 500g of mixed fruit and nuts in there (since as I think I noted, the big bag was so much better value I couldn't resist it) and I also have abour 143g of extra strong mints (I had to buy a pack of four tubes and the expiry is late 2026 so I figured I might as well take them). We might assume I had 250g nuts last year and thus for a fair comparison I can take 250g+100g (3 packs of mints) off, making this year's bag weight (if we take the middle 7.30kg weight as our starting point) 6.95kg, so we're about the same. This is more-or-less what I'd expect, since I haven't changed things up that dramatically. I am missing as noted the travel clothes line, sleep mask and universal sink plug, which total 111g according to my spreadsheet, and I'd also expect to have a saving (albeit probably mainly in bulk rather than weight) from having the chlorine dioxide tablets instead of the lifestraw and its backwash filter. Of the top of my head I don't think I have anything extra of note compared to Mexico 2025, so I might have hoped to have the base weight come in about that 111g under that year's figure. Still, the scales are clearly not super accurate, and we are also clearly in the right ballpark, and the bag doesn't feel too bloated in terms of volume even with all this stuff in. [Later note: the swimming trunks and goggles are 201g according to my spreadsheet, which probably accounts for some of the difference.]

I just did a "final" weigh and got 7.50kg FWIW.

To be clear I did not do a full repack tonight. I've been semi-incrementally packing and checking for so long that e.g. ripping the contents of the tube cube apart to cross-check against my somewhat imperfect (rather dated, as noted) packing list feels more likely to do harm than good.

Dithering a bit about whether to take the hip belt for my backpack. I did find it. But it's 160g and e.g. I did the paramillo del quindio hike without it and I've never got on super well with hip belts despite everyone saying how great they are (admittedly I maybe never get to give them a fair try on an actual hike), and perhaps at my kind of pack weights the value is minimal. Gut feeling is I am not going to take it.

Thu 22nd 1237 Going to post this from P7. Been writing on desktop of course.