One of the questions friends and family most frequently ask me is, "How/What do you pack for a trip like this?" The answer often repulses them, but you can't pack an outfit a day and a pair of shoes to go with each outfit like a lot of people would do for week's vacation. You have to be practical and learn to make a little go a long way.
My main pack isn't the typical backpack you'll find most backpackers using. I use the Rick Steves convertible carry-on pack. It's not the greatest pack for off-loading weight onto the hips, which can certainly make your back tired during long walks from train station to hostel, but I find it more functional than those typical 55-80L backpacks most outdoors stores sell. While those bags might provide that much room, a lot of that space is wasted space in small useless compartments. Or if you really fill one area, another part of the pack becomes unusable. Plus, when it comes to security, most of those packs have so many zippers and so many ways to access each compartment, it's nearly impossible to keep all the zippers locked when the pack is unattended. With Rick Steves's bag, he has a huge expandable main compartment, which can be locked with standard luggage locks. There are also other deep pockets and pouches which are large enough to store computers, souvenirs, etc. Plus, his bag could even be carry-on size if not packed to the gills. This saves time at your intended destination by not having to wait for luggage, or risk having it lost.You can find pictures of this pack on his website: ricksteves.com in his travel store section.
My day pack is Lowepro AW Photo Sport AW 200. It's a camera bag that looks like a backpack. It's large enough to contain my Nikon D700 and 2 lenses. It has a roomy backpack compartment which can store all of my camera accessories, rain gear, snacks, travel tripod, etc. It also has a compartment large enough to fit a small laptop or a 2L water bladder. More info on this bag can be found at http://www.lowepro.com/photosport.
When it comes to clothes, I generally pack 5-7 pairs of socks/underwear and try to wear brands which wick away moisture and have some sort of odor repellent. How well the odor repellent works is debatable, but any little bit helps. I usually bring 3 pairs of convertible pants which can serve as both long pants and shorts if I unzip the legs. For this trip, I also brought a pair of jeans and a nicer pair of trekking pants which can be worn for nice nights out on the town with Sara. I have about 6 hiking t-shirts/long sleeve jerseys and 3-4 long sleeve safari shirts to wear over them in cooler climates. I have rain gear, a medium weight jacket with lots of pockets, a medium weight pair of long underwear, a hat, a balaclava, gloves, a pair of hiking shoes and a pair of Keen water/hiking shoes. The clothes all go into Sea to Summit waterproof compression bags in order to maximize space. This trip I am also carrying a sleeping bag which compresses smaller than a can of coffee, a sleeping mat, and blow up pillows/seat cushions/ground mat. My toiletries bag has the essentials, but remember, there are drug stores in other countries, so you can always buy more stuff when supplies run low.
My day pack is essentially all of my camera gear and lots of Ziploc plastic bags. I want things to stay dry and those bags serve that purpose and many others. Lots of backpackers aren't nearly as hardcore about photography as I am, so their day packs probably don't contain camera filters, multiple batteries and memory cards, a travel tripod, rain cover, and cleaning supplies. I also have a Camelbak 2L water bladder that can slide into my backpack into the same spot my computer will occupy during all other travels.
Face mask and ear plugs are also a must, especially if you're a light sleeper. Hostels/hotels can be rowdy at all hours of the day and sleep is a priority in order to recharge sightseeing batteries everyday. I like to pack my days with activities so that I can maximize my time in each city. Taking off days are important but if you're not getting good sleep and you have to spend your days napping to make up for lost sleep at night, then you end up spending money to sleep instead of sightseeing. Seems wasteful to me unless your main motive for travel is to blow your money at bars/clubs and sleep all day to prepare for the next night.
When I walk around the airport or around town when trying to find my lodging, my big pack is on my back and my day pack is on my front. I bring cable locks to secure all of my gear to bed frames in the hostels or overhead racks/chairs on trains/buses so that if I fall asleep I know my bag will be there when I awaken. Thieves look for quick easy targets and if my bag is tied down, they will move on to easier prey. I also bring small locks for zippers as well. You can never be too careful.
Many other packing philosophies exist as most backpackers don't wear technical clothing like I do. Probably because of the cost and because that type of clothing isn't fashionable and trendy. I've never much cared about being fashionable while backpacking, but I can certainly understand that mindset given the ages of the majority of the backpackers. Most seem to just make do with whatever is in their closet at the time of their departure. Others will buy cheap clothes as they go and when those clothes wear out, they will throw them away and buy replacements. This probably keeps their backpacks much smaller, but my technical clothes, though an expensive up front purchase, last for years. I continue to wear many of the same articles of clothing today that I purchased for my initial backpacking trip in 2007.
Due to the cost though, throwing away my style of clothing isn't practical. This means laundry needs to be done. And while my desire to be clean and/or do laundry has been questioned through the years. let it be known, "I prefer being clean to smelly." The caveat being: I will not sacrifice sightseeing time to do laundry. The opportunity to clean clothes exists everywhere. If doing laundry is cheap and quick I will try to get it done at the hostel early in the morning before sights open, or at the end of the day when all sights have closed. Some hostels even let you drop off clothing in the morning and they will clean it and get it back to you by the end of the day. Bottom line, I don't want the process of doing laundry to impact sightseeing. If it's not cheap and quick then my clothes get washed in the shower as I wash. Since most all of my gear is quick drying, I can either wear the clothes slightly damp as a I go out and let it air dry as I travel around town or it can dry in about 2 hours while I bum around the hostel. I don't like to hang my clothes unattended because I don't trust other backpackers. So if doing laundry is cheap and convenient, I'm all for it. Otherwise, I can stand being 'first world dirty' for a few extra days until a more opportune time to do laundry arises.
At the end of the day, for me, packing for long duration travel in a variety of climates is all about packing light and packing layers. Climates can change abruptly even in the warmest locations. I could sweat profusely in Africa and wake up the next morning with frost outside my tent. I went to Hawaii this past summer, and did some early morning star gazing atop volcanoes. I was colder than I thought humanly possible for our 50th state. I think I wore every article of clothing I brought for that trip and had on about 4 pairs of pants and shirts, a jacket and 2 pairs of socks. My 2012 around the world trip had me going to tropical climates in southeast Asia, scorching dry desert temps in Africa, polar conditions in Antarctica, and everything in between. I was prepared for all of those conditions with the clothing in the 2 bags with which I left home at the start of my trip (minus the parka provided by the Antarctica cruise company).
It definitely is a different mindset when packing for a trip which could last a year vs. a 1 week summer vacation. But if it's multiple adventures over many months which you want to pack in, you have to be smart and practical about your clothes and how you pack them in.
My main pack isn't the typical backpack you'll find most backpackers using. I use the Rick Steves convertible carry-on pack. It's not the greatest pack for off-loading weight onto the hips, which can certainly make your back tired during long walks from train station to hostel, but I find it more functional than those typical 55-80L backpacks most outdoors stores sell. While those bags might provide that much room, a lot of that space is wasted space in small useless compartments. Or if you really fill one area, another part of the pack becomes unusable. Plus, when it comes to security, most of those packs have so many zippers and so many ways to access each compartment, it's nearly impossible to keep all the zippers locked when the pack is unattended. With Rick Steves's bag, he has a huge expandable main compartment, which can be locked with standard luggage locks. There are also other deep pockets and pouches which are large enough to store computers, souvenirs, etc. Plus, his bag could even be carry-on size if not packed to the gills. This saves time at your intended destination by not having to wait for luggage, or risk having it lost.You can find pictures of this pack on his website: ricksteves.com in his travel store section.
My day pack is Lowepro AW Photo Sport AW 200. It's a camera bag that looks like a backpack. It's large enough to contain my Nikon D700 and 2 lenses. It has a roomy backpack compartment which can store all of my camera accessories, rain gear, snacks, travel tripod, etc. It also has a compartment large enough to fit a small laptop or a 2L water bladder. More info on this bag can be found at http://www.lowepro.com/photosport.
When it comes to clothes, I generally pack 5-7 pairs of socks/underwear and try to wear brands which wick away moisture and have some sort of odor repellent. How well the odor repellent works is debatable, but any little bit helps. I usually bring 3 pairs of convertible pants which can serve as both long pants and shorts if I unzip the legs. For this trip, I also brought a pair of jeans and a nicer pair of trekking pants which can be worn for nice nights out on the town with Sara. I have about 6 hiking t-shirts/long sleeve jerseys and 3-4 long sleeve safari shirts to wear over them in cooler climates. I have rain gear, a medium weight jacket with lots of pockets, a medium weight pair of long underwear, a hat, a balaclava, gloves, a pair of hiking shoes and a pair of Keen water/hiking shoes. The clothes all go into Sea to Summit waterproof compression bags in order to maximize space. This trip I am also carrying a sleeping bag which compresses smaller than a can of coffee, a sleeping mat, and blow up pillows/seat cushions/ground mat. My toiletries bag has the essentials, but remember, there are drug stores in other countries, so you can always buy more stuff when supplies run low.
My day pack is essentially all of my camera gear and lots of Ziploc plastic bags. I want things to stay dry and those bags serve that purpose and many others. Lots of backpackers aren't nearly as hardcore about photography as I am, so their day packs probably don't contain camera filters, multiple batteries and memory cards, a travel tripod, rain cover, and cleaning supplies. I also have a Camelbak 2L water bladder that can slide into my backpack into the same spot my computer will occupy during all other travels.
Face mask and ear plugs are also a must, especially if you're a light sleeper. Hostels/hotels can be rowdy at all hours of the day and sleep is a priority in order to recharge sightseeing batteries everyday. I like to pack my days with activities so that I can maximize my time in each city. Taking off days are important but if you're not getting good sleep and you have to spend your days napping to make up for lost sleep at night, then you end up spending money to sleep instead of sightseeing. Seems wasteful to me unless your main motive for travel is to blow your money at bars/clubs and sleep all day to prepare for the next night.
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| Fear not. Those aren't my sheets from home. Pink stripey duvets aren't really my thing. That Helsinki apartment bed does contain just about everything I packed for an entire year. |
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| The Rick Steves bag is lower left and my day pack is far right. The two circular packs in the back middle/left contain all of my clothes for the year. My sleeping back is in the dark blue sack middle right. It is next to various pillows and cushions, all in their condensed state. |
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| My 2 bags for the year |
When I walk around the airport or around town when trying to find my lodging, my big pack is on my back and my day pack is on my front. I bring cable locks to secure all of my gear to bed frames in the hostels or overhead racks/chairs on trains/buses so that if I fall asleep I know my bag will be there when I awaken. Thieves look for quick easy targets and if my bag is tied down, they will move on to easier prey. I also bring small locks for zippers as well. You can never be too careful.
Many other packing philosophies exist as most backpackers don't wear technical clothing like I do. Probably because of the cost and because that type of clothing isn't fashionable and trendy. I've never much cared about being fashionable while backpacking, but I can certainly understand that mindset given the ages of the majority of the backpackers. Most seem to just make do with whatever is in their closet at the time of their departure. Others will buy cheap clothes as they go and when those clothes wear out, they will throw them away and buy replacements. This probably keeps their backpacks much smaller, but my technical clothes, though an expensive up front purchase, last for years. I continue to wear many of the same articles of clothing today that I purchased for my initial backpacking trip in 2007.
Due to the cost though, throwing away my style of clothing isn't practical. This means laundry needs to be done. And while my desire to be clean and/or do laundry has been questioned through the years. let it be known, "I prefer being clean to smelly." The caveat being: I will not sacrifice sightseeing time to do laundry. The opportunity to clean clothes exists everywhere. If doing laundry is cheap and quick I will try to get it done at the hostel early in the morning before sights open, or at the end of the day when all sights have closed. Some hostels even let you drop off clothing in the morning and they will clean it and get it back to you by the end of the day. Bottom line, I don't want the process of doing laundry to impact sightseeing. If it's not cheap and quick then my clothes get washed in the shower as I wash. Since most all of my gear is quick drying, I can either wear the clothes slightly damp as a I go out and let it air dry as I travel around town or it can dry in about 2 hours while I bum around the hostel. I don't like to hang my clothes unattended because I don't trust other backpackers. So if doing laundry is cheap and convenient, I'm all for it. Otherwise, I can stand being 'first world dirty' for a few extra days until a more opportune time to do laundry arises.
At the end of the day, for me, packing for long duration travel in a variety of climates is all about packing light and packing layers. Climates can change abruptly even in the warmest locations. I could sweat profusely in Africa and wake up the next morning with frost outside my tent. I went to Hawaii this past summer, and did some early morning star gazing atop volcanoes. I was colder than I thought humanly possible for our 50th state. I think I wore every article of clothing I brought for that trip and had on about 4 pairs of pants and shirts, a jacket and 2 pairs of socks. My 2012 around the world trip had me going to tropical climates in southeast Asia, scorching dry desert temps in Africa, polar conditions in Antarctica, and everything in between. I was prepared for all of those conditions with the clothing in the 2 bags with which I left home at the start of my trip (minus the parka provided by the Antarctica cruise company).
It definitely is a different mindset when packing for a trip which could last a year vs. a 1 week summer vacation. But if it's multiple adventures over many months which you want to pack in, you have to be smart and practical about your clothes and how you pack them in.
Very interesting. Can't believe the size of the compressed bags of clothes and the size of the sleeping bag! I have learned to pack less on my trips but haven't gotten to your level of packing yet.
ReplyDeleteHappy Travels,
Mom G