TRAVEL LIST
This list is modified according to destination. If only going to tropical destinations, you do not need a down jacket, warm tops, and warm sleeping bag that you need for Nepal or Mongolia. Spring and fall travel in temperate climates will also require warm clothing. The list is intended to be all inclusive – remove or add things as indicated by the trip. This represents what I have found over ten years of travel to be the lightest, most compact and essential gear to go just about anywhere – whether cold or warm, if trekking or going on the Camino.
There are many specialized things here accumulated over 10 years of travel that could only be purchased in Western countries. Even finding simple things can be a chore when you don’t know the language. You can get t-shirts anywhere though.
Then I have included all sorts of other packing advice: How to Pack Light, Ways to Save Weight, An Ultralight List, Tech Gadgets, Bicycles, Laundry, How to Take More Stuff on Airlines, Gear for Women and Exercise Gear for Women.
Backpack: Deuter Futura Vario 50 litre +10: The best pack in the world. Has lots of pockets, sleeping bag section, built in rain cover, hiking pole loops, a great suspension system if trekking, completely adjustable to fit perfectly. Big enough to carry everything for cold climates but not so big that you can buy many souvenirs.
pack cover: necessary to keep things clean especially in the dirty luggage storage in buses. Saves the built in rain cover.
daypack: Serves as day pack when need more room and at night on air conditioned buses (sleeping bag, down jacket, socks, travel books, headlight, TP, toothbrush, water, food, pillow case). I had a Serratus Genie pack that folded into its top pocket as has no padding. After losing it, I replaced it with a similar North Face daypack, again with no padding and folds into an inside pocket. I like this better than the Serratus pack as it is smaller, has an outside pocket that is more accessible and has small mesh side pockets.
shoulder bag: This is what I used to use on a daily basis. The MEC brand has no padding and thus takes up little room when not in use. It never left my shoulder. Carries guide book, computer, umbrella, sunscreen, lip protector, water bottle, and whatever I need for a day walking around town. I no longer use this as the North Face day pack with no padding is larger and more functional.
money belt: I virtually never use as I find it uncomfortable and hot around my waist. Use pants with zipper pockets that hold passport, wallet, and distribute my money around several pockets. Or better yet, have an inside pocket sewn into the pants and shorts you use.
umbrella: The only thing to have in the rain. May even be able to skip a rain jacket.
sleeping bag: The Western Mountaineering Mitilite is the perfect travel sleeping bag as the high quality down packs down to very small size. Warm to +4C, I have slept in it to -10C with extra cloths on. Zips out to make great comforter. Mates with their Summer Coupler for two people to sleep together with 2 sleeves for sleeping pads. I sleep very warm and the blankets in many beds are too hot for me. As a result I use this most every night.
sleep sheet: essential as often have only one sheet or none, or dirty sheets. The silk/cotton blend or pure silk is very comfortable. Keeps your sleeping bag clean, may give some protection from bed bugs and mosquitos.
pillow: A small polyester pillow case with a fold-over top sold in hiking stores for backpacking. Stuff with down jacket and other clothes.
CLOTHES Can always buy clothing anywhere and buy t-shirts as souvenirs. Laundromats are available in every city and most often organized through your hotel. If use anitperspirant like Drysol, never get body odour and use far fewer clothes. Use layering system for maximum efficiency.
hiking shoes, low cut: any brand with stiffer soles (essential for extra support if walking lots). I usually buy ones with a waterproof liner like Gortex XCR. Broken in shoes can be a life-saver especially on long walks like the Camino de Santiago. Refer to my post Treatment of Blisters on tips on buying shoes that fit.
flip-flops: Buy the best flop-flops with formed foot bed. I wear them 12 months per year. A problem with flip-flops is the heavy callus that develops on your heels and will eventually produce painful cracks (a pumice stone deals with this). Chacos or Olukai make the best.
socks – 2 liner, 1 thick, 2 light, 1 with toes for flip-flops
nylon shorts with zippered pockets or sewn in interior pocket.
long nylon pants with zip off legs and zippered pockets and sewn in interior pocket.
long cotton/khaki or nylon pants. Inside pocket.
bathing suit
belt – Nylon with plastic buckle – never has to be removed in airports.
underwear – 3-5 merino or cotton boxer shorts
cotton tops – 2-4 t shirt, 1 long sleeved
long sleeved zip T poly tops – 1 for cooler climates, great for hiking.
synthetic long sleeved shirt. Or dress shirt for when you need to dress up.
light fleece top or hoodie
Marmot Dri clime: A light nylon shell with a light synthetic liner
rain jacket: Marmot Precip or similar with no liner that adds unnecessary bulk.
puff jacket: High quality (700+) down. Stores in own pocket, small and warm.
hat
bandana
touque (Canadian for wool cap), wool gloves for those cold climates.
silicon bags 4 small for dividing up clothes. 1 medium for dirty clothes bag.
HYGIENE
razor and spare blades (store in separate plastic bag as rust easily),
shave cream: gel best
toothbrush with holder, toothpaste, floss. Ultrasonic brush great for gum health – the Philips Sonicare comes in a case so can recharged with a USB port.
hair brush
soap box, bar soap
shampoo, conditioner. In small strong plastic bottles.
nail scissor, sharp scissor, mirror, tweezers, nail clipper, hair ties
Drysol: The only antiperspirant to use. Completely prevents BO. Use once per week. Deodorant not necessary. Shower less often. Clothes never smell so can wear them for several days.
sunscreen: Ombrelle Sport 30, alcohol base so not greasy.
lip moisturizer with sunscreen
microfiber towel
microplanar grater: Wearing flip-flops results in thick callus that develop painful cracks. I used to use a pumice stone to control but since have found a one of these. They are commonly sold as zesters. Incredibly efficient.
FIRST AID
ibuprofen. The best simple pain reliever. I call it Vitamin I.
cortisone cream, anitfungal cream
drugs: antibiotics, antimalarials
bandaids, kling, steri strips
blister care: moleskin or duct tape
ACCESSORIES
headlight: Petzyl Zipca smallest, spare batteries
compass: very useful to find your way around and orientate yourself to a map esp. at night, the smog of Chinas, or places where you cannot see the sun to orient yourself.
knife: Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife.
alarm clock
watch
utensils: bowl, cup, knife, spoon, chopsticks: Useful in countries where breakfast not supplied. Essential if you are a coffee addict.
water bottle: can usually be left at home. End up buying bottled water most places.
Steripen water purifier: rarely use as end up buying water most places. Buy one with rechargeable batteries or one that takes AA batteries.
earplugs, eye cover. Essential for noisy dorm rooms with snorers. Consider custom ear plugs that really work. Try Moldex 6604 Sparkplugs Earplugs, the official earplugs of Nascar.
sunglasses with strap, case and cleaning cloth.
Ziplock plastic bags: at least 10 sandwich size bags, 2-3 medium. Great for holding all sorts of things
medium silicon bag for dirty clothes.
electrical adaptors appropriate for countries traveling in. Universal one with USB adapter best as covers everywhere. As now using a Mac Air 11″, I am using the Apple charging set – larger but much more functional.
smart phone: usually very useful to book all sorts of things but generally, I don’t have one and use Skype to call land lines. A smart phone would be invaluable at times especially to use Google Maps, Google Translate, camera, the many travel apps out there and as a phone!
camera: I normally don’t travel with one. Camera phone or compact digital all that is necessary for most everyone.
computer: essential if writing blog. Pays for itself by avoiding Internet cafes. MacBook Air 11″. Graphite case. Mouse. DVD player.
wireless headphone
snorkel and mask, flippers: especially when traveling in tropical countries like SE Asia and Caribbean and plan on using a great deal
PAPER
passport with visas and vaccination certificates. Consider carrying it in a protective waterproof “case”. If wet, the electronic strip can become damaged or your front page photo may be make you unrecognizable.
wallet: small with debit card, credit card, wallet card.
spare debit and credit cards: not unusual to lose or get card locked. Two extra of each essential for that long trip.
driver license and International Drivers License. Necessary to rent a car. Second picture ID. Can be left as security instead of passport. Necessary for your travel medical insurance if you are injured in an accident.
$100-200 US. Emergency money that can be used anywhere. .
Lonely Planet or favourite guide book. Download most editions for free at www.gen.lib.rus.ec. I prefer the paper editions for ease of use.
maps: I tend to rely on the maps in my Lonely Planet, but local maps are sometimes useful. I also have a large collection of National Geographic maps. I bring the ones for the area(s) I will be travelling in.
notebook
pens: ballpoint, highlighter, colored for drawing route on maps
zippered plastic pouch: for carrying all the paper you accumulate: itineraries, maps, looseleaf paper for notes and plans
day timer: small
3 copies – credit card, debit card, drivers license, itineraries, wallet card, passport. Better yet, scan cards and email to yourself
business cards: Great for businesses that travel or anyone tired of writing out their personal contact information all the time. Moo Cards www.moo.com/uk allow you to upload your own photos (up to 50 of them per order) to the front of your card, as well as a headshot on the back. Good quality and durable, but expensive: for 50 – 13.19 pounds or 19.36US$, not cheaper for larger quanities.
Amazon Kindle: My most valuable travel possession (I have left to the last as I have written more about it).
You may be fixed on paper books, but for travel, not carrying around a bunch of books makes life on the road so much easier. And you have access to any book ever written – read what most interests you rather than relying on what you find in your last hostel where many books are in a language you don’t understand. You can still support your local book store at home.
I am a prolific reader and travel gives you so much time to read – on planes, trains, and in waiting rooms, on the beach, and evenings in guesthouses without much to do. I also buy two magazine subscriptions (Time and Atlantic). Newspapers are also available.
A Kindle handles PDFs as well and can even be used for email. I can read more than one book at a time.
Choosing a Kindle. There are several different models of Kindles (and quite a few non-kindle e-readers out there that are probably great but I don’t have the expertise to review them). My personal pick is the Paperwhite for one major reason: the frontlight, an internal white light with adjustable brightness. Read on dimly lit buses, planes, trains and in dark hostel rooms. Front-lit screens are easier on the eyes with prolonged reading. The Kindle Fire has a backlit screen which can cause eyestrain the same way as an ipad or computer monitor.
Other Kindle Tips. Definitely buy a cover: it protects it against damage (I am now on Kindle #7, I have fractured so many screens when I didn’t use the cover) and acts as a bit of camouflage against would be thieves. If your Kindle becomes unusable because of damage, you can get a new one by courier in about 5 days anywhere. As long as it is less than one year old, new ones are free. The battery life of Kindles is insane- recharge every week or two.
How to Read Kindle Books for Free. Kindle books can be pricey, especially as they are intangible. 1. Check Amazon for their Daily Deals. 2. Your local library may have a Kindle lending library. 3. Amazon’s Family Library allows sharing your Kindle books between two adults and up to four children. Choose anyone with similar tastes to your own. 4. Become an Amazon Prime member to “borrow” one free book a month from the Kindle Lending Library. The selection is not very good, but once in awhile there is something interesting. 5. Many classic books considered to be public domain are available for free. Amazon rotates their offerings and Project Guttenberg has over 50,000 public domain books. 6. The Internet Archive has the amazing Harvard Classics: https//archive.org/details/harvardclassics
TRAVEL ESSENTIALS – that you often forget about
Duct tape – Use for repairing anything, for blister prevention and treatment. Wrap a few meters around a pen. Adventure Medical Kits makes miniature duct tape rolls that are lightweight with no center cardboard, so they are easy to carry in any bag.
Multi tool – A Leatherman can be invaluable.
Toilet paper – often not available in third-world bathrooms
Sleeping bag liner – comfortable, keeps sleeping bag clean, protects from bedbugs, adds a few degrees of warmth
Carabiners – use to hang stuff from your pack including your boots or daypack
Parachute cord – small diameter cord to hang clothes, strap things to the outside of your pack, tie your bag to the roof of your bus, tie stuff together and practice your knots.
Safety pins – fix holes, hang wet clothes and towels, give yourself a body piercing.
Zip ties – makeshift padlocks for your pack, new handles on zippers
Plastic and zip-lock bags – useful for a million things
Earplugs, eye cover and inflatable neck pillow – for those light sleepers and sleeping on planes, trains and buses.
Sew kit – will always be necessary at some point in your trip
Headlight – read maps at night, read in bed and not disturb your dorm mates, navigate dark trails
HOW TO PACK LIGHT
Packing small is essential. What you bring involves personal decisions. Everyone has their own ideas of comfort and style. In the end, there is never a definitive packing list. Everyone has different needs. My list suits my needs. It might not suit yours.
But by following a few simple field-tested tenets of travelling small, you can shed size and weight. Save your spine and your sanity.
You don’t need that. Or that. Or that either. Repeat this to yourself constantly as you pack. The unknown of travelling makes us want to surround ourselves with familiar items. You really don’t need a lot when you travel. You never need as much as you think. Take only the essentials and buy additions. It’s not that hard to find anything overseas.
The value of each item increases exponentially with each function. A down puff jacket and a small backpacking pillow case make bus and plane travel more comfortable. Forget the large neck pillow unless the inflatable kind. Fill your pack with as much as you can with moderate shoving. Leave behind the rest. Tough decisions on your living-room floor will pay big dividends on the road. You carry less weight making you more mobile.
Backpack. With a small pack, you won’t be tempted to overpack. We subconsciously like to fill empty space so if you have a big bag, you’re more likely to overpack just so you don’t waste space. The law of travel physics: the contents of your bag expand to fill the available space. Start with a bag that is just big enough for all your essentials and does not allow for buying any but the smallest souvenirs.I love my Deuter Futura 50+10 pack. It has a comfortable suspension system great for trekking. The pack itself doesn’t weigh much. I have room for my hiking shoes and compact down sleeping bag. Its weight when full is reasonable. However it is too large to be carry-on luggage on a plane. Storage on luggage racks is easier. And if small enough, it can even be a carry-on on airplanes – but this would require a 40 liter pack or smaller which I think is too small for my travel.
Pack cover. For rain and to protect your pack on those filthy cargo holds on buses in India and SE Asia
Travel Cells. To make a large compartment functional, I use silicon nylon bags to separate out categories of clothes – one for each of socks, underwear, tops and pants and a large one for dirty clothes. Very light and indestructible.
Drysol antiperspirant. This potent antiperspirant is applied once per week or less and you never get body odor and your clothes never smell. You can wear the same shirt for a week! This reduces the number of clothing items and saves the need to do laundry frequently. I have been using it for 25 years safely.
WAYS TO SAVE WEIGHT.
Clothes. Choose light, flowing, quick-dry cotton-poly blends in matching colors that handle wrinkles well.
Try to be dense. Buy clothes that can be compressed. Folded and rolled: smaller still. If your clothes take up more than one-third of your bag, you are probably taking too much. Laundry is cheap and available everywhere.
Puff Jacket. With high quality down, these stuff into the pocket.
Lightweight Rain/Wind Resistant Jacket. With no liner can be compressed to take up hardly any room. Part of any layering system
Convertible pants/shorts. Zip off legs.
Shoes. All you need are a pair of flip-flops and good hiking low-cut hiking shoes. No high heels, flats, dress shoes or hiking boots.
Micro-fibre towel.
Silk Liner. Use as sheet, keep sleeping bag clean, adds few degrees of warmth, use it alone on hot nights, protect from mosquitoes and bedbugs, cleaner than some bedding in those cheap places, stuffs down to nothing
Sarong. It’s a changing room, it’s a blanket, it’s a privacy wall, it’s a towel, it’s a bag, it’s a sunshade, cover your shoulders or legs if you are visiting temples, a blanket to keep warm on the bus, a rug for the floor to sit on, padding for fragile items – it’s quite possibly the most versatile piece of cloth in your bag. Oh, it’s also a skirt.,,, and much more.
Fold-Up Backpack/Shoulder Bag. These little packs with no padding fit into their own pocket, use as daypack and to carry all everything you need in over air-conditioned buses.
Most modern electronics (like phones and cameras) switch voltage automatically when you plug them in. Leave voltage-specific devices and the heavy converter at home. A three-way splitter plugged into a multi-country adapter should be enough to keep all your devices charged.
Camera. Forget the big SLR camera with the extra lens. Most people don’t know how to use all the functions, don’t take really good pictures anyway and rarely print large pictures that require that big sensor. Look at things for visual memory and free up all that time deleting and sorting pictures. A phone camera is all most people really need.
Computer. If you must have a computer, consider a pad and add on keyboard or buy tiny computers like the Mac Air 11 inch.
If you must have something to play with, think of a Frisbee or hacky sack.
For women leave most of those cosmetics at home and go natural. To my eye, that is more attractive. Get a practical hair style that doesn’t need a blow dryer.
SECRETS of ULTRALIGHT BACKPACKING.
How to get everything into a 32 litre pack.
1. Do your own laundry. The only way to travel light is to wash your clothes frequently.
a. Carry only 2 or 3 of everything: 2 tops, underwear, socks: wear one and wash one.
b. Need a universal drain stopper, detergent and an elastic clothes line. Using the sink in your accommodation, use a small amount of soap, soak for a few moments, scrub, rinse, wring out thoroughly, wrap clothes in a towel to remove as much water as possible and hang to dry. The right clothes will dry in a few hours.
2. Drysol. A potent antiperspirant applied once per week, prevents any underarm sweating and completely prevents body odour. Clothes don’t smell and thus don’t have to be washed often.
3. Merino wool shirts, underwear and socks: quick drying, thin, non-itchy, breaths well, warm for the cold, cool in heat, and odour resistant (merino wool is naturally anti-microbial whereas polyester clothing absorbs odours). Wear the same clothes for several days without needing to wash them. Icebreaker (made in New Zealand) makes the best merino wool garments but they are expensive. Smartwool is also good. Merino products are best not dried in a dryer.
4. List
Here is a sample minimalist clothing list: Leave stylish clothes at home – nobody cares if you look cute.
• 2-3 Icebreaker merino wool short-sleeved tops,
• 3 pairs Icebreaker merino underwear or ExOfficio polyester underwear
• 3 pairs merino socks
• 1 pair merino long underwear
• 1 Smartwool long sleeved shirt
• 2 pair convertible (zip-off legs), nylon long pants
• puff 800 fill down jacket
• nylon rain shell
• shoes: 1 pair good hiking shoes, 1 pair flip-flops
• touque, wool gloves.
• swimsuit
Other keys to light backpacking:
• Deuter Futura 32-38 litre pack. Lots of pockets, built in rain cover, air comfort system keeps pack away from back
• daypack with no padding
• basic toiletries: brush, tooth brush, toothpaste, razor, nail clippers.
• silk sleep sheet
• minimal first aid kit: bandaids, Steri strips, duct tape, ibuprofen.
• medium microfiber towel, small shampoo, soap
• electronics: Mac Air 11 inch, universal adapter, charging cords, smartphone (i phone best as syncs with computer), external battery pack.
• Kindle Paperwhite
• Petzyl Zipka headlight
• earplugs, eye cover, inflatable neck pillow
• bowl, cup, utensils
• Miscellaneous: plastic bags, duct tape, sew kit
TECH GADGETS
These work great, are inexpensive, robust, reliable and make travel a better experience in some way.
1. Smartphone. A perfectly usable unlocked smartphone costs less than $250, and a pretty damn good one for under $400. An unlocked smartphone has many uses:
a. Maps. Navigate anywhere especially off the maps in your guide book or tourist map
b. Camera. The one in most phones is good enough for most snapshot travel photography.
c. Podcasts and playlists make long travel days pass more quickly, while still leaving my eyes free to gaze out the window.
d. Apps. Tripit has replaced a binder with my itinerary, I use Skype, Whatsapp or email rather than hunting out a payphone or Internet cafe, and ebooks and Pocket instead of paper guidebooks.
e. Phone
2. Portable Battery. Battery life on smartphones is often poor. Long travel days can leave your phone and other gadgets gasping for power. Use the 7800mAh Mazzo Powerdrive, which lets you charge your phone a couple of times and your Kindle or GoPro too. No more rationing screen time and keeping the phone in flight mode just to nurse it through the day.
3. Charging Cables. With many different gadgets, the cable situation gets to be a mess – different plugs, standard USB cables and an Apple 30 pin version, dedicated chargers. Start again: get rid of all non-home country plugs and replace with a North American version, a few good quality USB cables, buy a universal charger.
4. Micro-USB Cables. One of each type with a spare and high-quality versions of different lengths. One a few inches long can be used for charging your phone from a laptop, or that portable battery in your pocket. The rest are longer than average, so they can reach comfortably from a power socket halfway up a wall, or behind the bed. Have a spare of every kind of USB cable, and the right length for the job.
5. Travel-Sized Power Strip. Allow the need for one plug adapter with as much cable length as you can manage. Belkin’s Mini Surge Protector is tiny so doesn’t take up much room.
6. International Multi-USB Charger. Get one with four sockets to charge all your gear. Light and compact, use the clip-on plug attachments for most countries in the world. The combined output of the charger is 4.8amps so it would not charge 4 tablets at once.
7. Travel Adapters. Used by millions of people around the world as a global plug standard is an impossibility, finding a perfect one is difficult: loose connections, low power USB ports and most are expensive. This is more about finding one with the fewest flaws than anything else.
If you want to spend a little as possible on something that works acceptably well most of the time and lasts the distance, get the Insten. If you don’t mind paying more for a smaller, lighter and somewhat better version, get the Flight 001. Ceptics also makes one. I use the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.
8. Alfa WiFi Extender. Fast downloads, reliable connections and crystal-clear video calling are difficult to find in most of the world. Hotel rooms are just far enough from the wireless router to ensure a shitty connection.
The Alfa AWUS036H doesn’t look like much, but is seriously great. Turn an unusable WiFi connection into one that’s strong and solid. Only the newer models support the latest Mac versions. Plug into any USB socket, the light on the Alfa flashes for a few seconds and a second wireless network card shows up in the Network and Sharing list. Call it whatever you like to distinguish it from the inbuilt one (WiFi card), but it’s not too hard to figure out which one is which — the one with the much stronger signal. Use the mini-USB cable that came with it, or an equally high-quality one, others may not work.
A better connection for my laptop is great, but the Alfa doesn’t help get my other devices connected — you can’t plug it into a tablet or phone. For that, combine the range extender with a piece of software called Connectify Hotspot (Windows-only) and turn any wired or WiFi connection into a hotspot for other devices to connect to. The paid versions offer more options, but even the free one will get the job done.
You can even share your VPN connection, using three different bits of technology to turn an unusable, insecure network into a reliable, secure way to get online with all your devices.
If you work from the road or otherwise need to be connected on the move, this cheap plastic range extender does exactly what it’s supposed to, reliably and well, for very little money. Don’t travel without it.
9. Macbook Air 11″ notebook. If doing freelance work and photography, you might need to upgrade your computer to something with more processing power (and a screen that’s a little larger too). Or if you simply want the best, smallest computer, I the Air because it is lightweight and fast. And use Time Machine to back up on the road. It Syncs with your iPhone.
10. Kenu’s Highline. For those with an iPhone, use this bungee cord to attach it to your daypack or purse so you don’t ever drop it on the ground again. It’s got a tough safety lock that firmly grips the phone and a Kevlar cord. Their new Highline case for the 5S fixes the problem created by the smaller new charger by housing their Kevlar cord along with the case.). Prevents phone theft too.
11. Western Digital 500GB My Passport Drive. 500GB drives are very small nowadays, and use it to back up your photos as you go. Also use cloud storage like Mozy.com to back them up into the cloud, just in case.
12. Calibre as your library manager on your laptop.
13. Boingo Membership. Wifi is not always free in airports and hotspots around the world. Boingo affords access to the many membership hotspots in bigger cities like London when used with their free iPhone app, good for when you don’t have a local SIM and need email to coordinate meetings. Great for long layovers. Expensive for budget travelers, but for those who roam and need constant access when working, it is a good option. 600,000 hot spots around the world.
14. USB Octopus. For those of you with a serious amount of USB charging required, it has 7 USB ports in one tiny gadget.
15. X-Mini II speaker. Less practical but very fun to have on the road is this tiny podlike speaker. It fits in a felt bag and gives off far more sound than their size would indicate.
16. Poweradd solar-powered bar. For warmer, sunnier climates opt for this for battery-charger.
17. GPS. GPS is amazing. GPS in your smartphone or tablet will work even when you don’t have a local SIM card and aren’t online. Tablets that are WiFi-only, such as the WiFi-only iPad/iPad mini, usually don’t have GPS built in.
Use GPS combined with a simple but powerful app, called Pocket Earth, to navigate your entire trip. It is especially helpful in cities when we’re looking for our guesthouse, sights, or recommended restaurants. With Pocket Earth you can access OpenStreetMaps, make them offline, and navigate your way around cities, look at Wikivoyage and Wikipedia entries, search for the nearest post office/bankmachine/restaurant/guesthouse, all while wandering the streets offline. You can add locations to the map, so you can put your hostel on it, wander or cycle the streets at random, and always be able to find your way back home.
And best of all, when you’re on a bus, train, or longboat down the Mekong, your GPS will tell you exactly where you are, where your destination is, and how far you have to go. You never have to rely on the driver to alert you when it’s your stop.
Also, it only costs $3 and the maps are free. Total bargain, considering the number of times it will save you from the complete misery of being hopelessly lost. If you are using an Apple device, get Pocket Earth, learn how to use it, and thank me later.
BICYCLES
The best way to get to know a city is to go for a ride. On a bike, it only takes a few minutes to get out of the tourist centre and be amongst people who are extremely excited to see foreigners in their neighborhood. Do this every time you leave a town, but backpackers rarely get to see real life on the outskirts. You don’t need to go on a long ride, just rent a bike in any city you happen to be visiting and head towards the outskirts. Don’t ride the tourist trail, just pick a road and follow it, and don’t be afraid of mysterious side streets.
LAUNDRY
One of the best ways to travel lightly is to wash your clothes while on the road. How you get your clothes washed depends your length of stay in one place, the type of clothing you pack, your budget, your type of trip, and the time of year. Plan your wardrobe to put everything in a single load (different fabrics, water temperature).
Of these choices, the first (washing by hand) is probably the easiest. It doesn’t take up an hour or two while you wait for machines to get done, doesn’t require you to find a laundromat nearby, and doesn’t cost the large fees hotels typically charge. Let’s look at these options in a bit more detail.
1. Washer/Dryer in Your Hotel – cheaper than laundry services but often busy. Bring Purex Laundry Sheets.
2. Hotel’s Laundry Service. Convenient but expensive, good for suits that need to be pressed.
3. Neighborhood Laundramat.
4. Dry Cleaner.
5. Washing by Hand. Most convenient and cheapest. Pack clothing made of thinner, moisture wicking fabric that dries fast. Go commando. Pack a small amount of laundry detergent and wash in the hotel sink and a clothes line or parachute cord to hang. Wring out the water by folding the garment over the faucet as an anchor, then lay it out on a bathtowel and roll the combination up and wring it out again (step on the bottom to use both hands) to get the garment as dry as with the spin cycle of a washing machine.
At the airport. Once you’ve got your pack list dialed down to the essentials, you might find there are one or two items that just won’t fit. If necessary, exploit the airline industry’s three biggest luggage loopholes:
1. Wearing is not carrying. Stuff your pockets. Don your jacket. Wear your hiking boots and pack your sandals.
2. ‘Carry on plus one personal item’ should be music to your ears. Consider a small shoulder bag, a camera bag, or smaller backpack for those items you are taking as gifts, and those you will be bringing home as souvenirs.
3. Duty-free doesn’t count. If you can’t fit it in your bag, many airlines let you carry it on without penalty.
TRAVEL GEAR FOR ADVENTUROUS WOMEN
1. A Pull-Over Skirt. For cyclists, a Gore bike skirt with the shorts/padding removed (too thick, bulky, hot and rubs in the wrong places), is light, packs up tiny and dries almost instantly. Pull it over your bike shorts if you feel like you’re ass is getting a little too much attention in your lycra or over full-length leggings for a cool day in the city, or wear it alone as a skirt on hot off-biking days. In Southeast Asia, especially the more conservative Muslim areas, wear it almost every day. One a little less sporty, so it could be used on dressier occasions, a little longer to give a touch more modesty, and with pockets to carry a few essentials while wearing it would be better. Design one yourself?
2. Whiz Freedom, She Wee. Ladies are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to on-the-road peeing. This is especially true in Asia, where finding a roadside without gangs of locals all wanting to stare at the foreigners on bikes is next to impossible, and public toilets are rare. It opens up all kinds of peeing possibilities you never had before. The Whiz Freedom or She Wee are two of a handful of stand-up peeing devices on the market for women. It’s a little plastic funnel (made of moisture-repelling, antibacterial material). Use on roadsides, behind trees, in the ditch, and if necessary right out in the open. Paired with the skirt above, you can pee almost anywhere without revealing any flesh at all! It also comes in handy when you’re confronted with the disastrously dirty public facilities around the world, or if you just can’t face using yet another squatter.
Make sure you try it out before you leave home. It takes a little practice to learn to pee standing up without getting wet.
3. Menstrual Cup + Reusable Pads. Period time is especially tricky for cyclists, but a universal problem for female travellers. Disposable pads are inconvenient and uncomfortable when you’re on a bus or motorbike, and downright impossible when you’re cycling. It’s pretty tough to rely on tampons when you can’t rely on getting to a toilet the minute you need one.
A menstrual cup is another little silicon device never go travelling without. It’s also a device you need to practice with before you leave home. But once you get the hang of it, it’s a lifesaver. Because they’re made with medical grade silicon, they can be left in longer than a tampon, and it can be used just before you are due to get your period, in case you’re on a long bus ride and worried about timing.
There are no leaks. You don’t often need to empty it in the middle of the day. It’s always there when you need it, so you’ll never be caught without supplies in some village where you don’t speak the language and there’s no drugstore for miles around. And most importantly, it eliminates the garbage from your monthly cycle.
Two brands are the Lunette recommended for shorter torsos, and the Diva Cup. For cleaning, use baby wipes.
Also carry a few reusable pads. They are nice to have for off-bike days, evenings, and night-time, when you might not want to fuss with a cup.
4. Go Gear Travel Tube & Snapware Soap Dish. What make-up and toiletries are you using regularly at home right now? Shampoo, conditioner, soap, cleanser, mascara, lipstick and all other kinds of powders, lotions, and beautifying agents. That just ain’t gonna cut it on the road. Instead, you need just two things. A bar of natural soap and a bottle of grape seed oil.
Anything that needs to be washed – hair, body, clothes, water bottles, dishes – can be washed with your soap. To carry it, don’t buy a special over-priced travel soap dish. Instead, get a soap-sized food container, with a leak-proof lid. Snapware makes a good one.
Grape seed oil covers all of your moisturizing needs, from cracked dry feet to chalky elbows and sun-scorched lips. If you’re really dry, you could use coconut oil instead, but it’s usually more expensive. Even so, it’s still far cheaper and far less chemically than any brand-name moisturizer on the market.
Put the oil in the 3oz Go Gear Travel Tube. You just need a few drops at a time, so a 3oz of grape seed oil lasts about 3 or 4 months. Purchase in Europe not likely in Asia.
5. Foldable Flat Shoes. Dress up even the most casual of outfits. The most comfortable are Tieks, since they’re padded and made of leather so they stretch. Quite expensive but stupidly comfortable. Other less expensive options are Sidekicks or Dr. Scholl’s ‘fast flats’ (more comfortable, and slightly more padded, but still unwearable for more than an hour or two).
EXERCISE ESSENTIALS for WOMEN TRAVLLERS
Versatile workout wear is essential so that you can pack less and get more out of each item. Consider your travel plans when packing extra workout gear, as you may not need much other than a pair of running shoes and a water bottle. If you feel an absolute need to bring some equipment, it’s important to consider how much it weighs, how much space it takes up and, most importantly, how often you’ll use it.
Sometimes the best workout equipment you’ll find is in a public park. Climb stairs or run with your own two feet. However, these items are perfect for travel and will give you that boost of inspiration to wake up and get your heart rate up!
1. Versatile Pants. Pack yoga pants that can be worn both as leggings for everyday wear or for more active days.
2. Strappy Sports Bra. Pack a sports bra that can “jazz up” an outfit. The strappy bra from Lululemon is perfect under tanks and t-shirts.
3. Versatile Tops. Pack tops that either have built in bras or ones that are stylish enough to wear anywhere.
4. Light Shoes. Nike Free trainers are perfect for travel because they’re lightweight and can be worn while exploring or exercising.
5. Fitbit. Fitbit is perfect for travel and exercise as it wirelessly tracks steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes.
6. Vapur. The re-useable bottle by Vapur conveniently rolls up when empty so you can store it or clip it away.
7. Flipbelt. Skip the money belt and get a Flipbelt. It easily holds items like your phone and money discreetly while you exercise or explore.
8. Travel Yoga Mat. For those passionate about their yoga practice, the Manduka eKO mat is super light and folds to fit any space.
9. Cable Jump Rope. Taking up virtually no space at all and weighing hardly anything, a cable jump rope is the perfect travel-companion for some cardio on-the-go.
