Every person packs differently, both in what they bring and how
they pack it. So there's no magical perfect list out there - you
will discover what's best for you through trial and error. But,
still, I love reading other people's packing lists! So, here's
mine.
Note: no matter how much you plan, you are going to forget
something you need -- that's just how it is. Do not panic when you
realize this has happened. Do NOT let it ruin the vibe of your
trip. Remember that, in the vast majority of places you go, even
most developing countries, you can buy what you absolutely
need. And your detour to get that item is just part of the
journey.
Some general packing tips:
Buy tough, boring-looking luggage. Go for
durability, toughness, and ease-to-carry/roll around/carry, not
fashion/looks, because your luggage is going to take a beating,
and needs to be able to withstand such. Also, the more expensive
it looks, the more likely it, or its contents, will get stolen.
I have a small, tough, soft-sided bag with a tough internal
frame that will fit under the seat in front of me, no matter
the size of the plane, and that has an extendable handle and
wheels, so I can roll it through airports. I can pack
everything I need for a four day business trip into it,
including a small laptop, without an additional small bag or
purse (I can pack those in the bag too). Some flights let you
take only one bag, and they mean it - they will count a wallet
around your neck, worn like a necklace, as your second bag and
charge you for it. One key to always getting this piece of my
luggage on a carry-only flight: always carrying it on with
it's short handle, like a huge briefcase - if I try to roll it
on, especially on a small plane, the flight attendant will say
it's too big - but if I carry it on, and then put it under the
seat in front of me, they never say a word.
For more than four days, and if you are allowed to take a
piece that goes into the overhead bin rather than the seat in
front of you (not all plane tickets allow that), I recommend a
soft-sided, wheeled backpack. A soft-sided, wheeled backpack
that is slightly bigger than the area underneath the seat in
front of you allows you to pull the bag most of the time and
carry it on your back as needed (I can't do this anymore,
hence why I went with a non-backpack option). Make sure it's
durable, for the times you will walking on very unforgiving
sidewalks and up and down stairs. Make sure it is small enough
to fit in the overhead bin of a large aircraft, even if your
bag is stuffed to the gills. Make sure it has a pocket where
you will put all the stuff you have to take out at security
and put into a tray to run through the x-ray. On a small
aircraft, you will be required to check it at the
gate, but it goes directly on the plane and you get it back at
your destination as you deplane.
On full flights, if you are one of the last people on the
plane, there will be no room in the overhead compartments by
the time you board; in such circumstances, if you have just
one bag that fits in the seat in front of you, you won't have
to check your bag (so long as this is the only bag you are
carrying on). If you can learn to pack for an entire weekend
using just this bag (and your purse will need to fit into this
bag when you check in at the airport), you guarantee that you
can always carry your bag on a flight instead of
checking it. And if you have a second, checked bag, you have a
back-up in case that bag is late at your arrival (very likely
if you have to transfer from one flight to another).
Make sure you only take the number of bags (luggage) on your
trip that you can carry by yourself for at least five full
blocks, even a quarter of a mile, unless you are going to
always take a cab everywhere. I believe that you absolutely
should NOT bring more bags or larger bags than you yourself
can carry up and down 15 steps and at least five blocks entirely
by yourself. You cannot transfer from one train or bus
to another by yourself easily if you are struggling with bags
-- and it also makes you a prime target for thieves. You
cannot count on someone helping you in the airport or a train
station as you struggle with your bags, especially in Europe
(that's just the culture there). And if you get on a train and
have more bags or bigger bags than you can handle, especially
in Western Europe, other passengers will NOT be nice to you.
I am really strict with myself about bag numbers: no matter
the trip, unless I'm going somewhere for more than two months,
I take only TWO pieces of luggage. Ideally, I want one that
goes in the overhead and one in the seat in front of me, but
sometimes, one of those bags has to be checked. Even if I
check a bag, I still limit myself to TWO bags ONLY, unless
I'll be somewhere for more than two months. For two months in
Ukraine, I took TWO bags - one huge one I checked, and one
went in the overhead compartment - that's it. I also have a
small bag I put into one of the bags, so after arrival, I have
a small bag for my wallet, laptop, etc. to carry around.
Remember to budget space in your luggage for things you want
to buy at your destination and bring back -- clothes, ceramics,
kitsch...
I tie some multi-colored yarn around the handles of any
luggage I'm going to check, or put on a strange, unique tag that
isn't the same color as the bag, so they are easier to spot on a
luggage conveyor belt and so that I lesson the chance someone
accidentally takes my bag (it's never happened to me, but I DID
take someone else's bag once). However, this needs to be very
tight, not loose.
Your checked AND carry-on luggage needs to have a name tag on
the outside, and identification inside -- it's best if the
inside i.d. is in more than one pocket of your luggage. Include
your name, email address, phone number and physical address,
both where you are coming from and where you are going to. If
you will be traveling to more than one location, leave a copy of
your trip itinerary inside your luggage so you can be located
more easily.
You may not lock your bags for going through
an airport or flying. Airport security will not allow locked
bags of any kind, whether its checked bags or carry-ons. If you
do lock your bags, your locks WILL be broken. That said, do pack
some little locks, and use them to lock your bags AFTER you
leave the airport. I have a lock for my day pack that I use when
I'm out and about, which, I hope, discourages pickpockets.
Don't take electronics, jewelry or other valuables while
traveling that you would be heartbroken to lose, or that are
easily broken. If you are traveling by plane, then keep any of
these items, along with documents, medicine (with copies of
prescriptions) or any essentials, in your carry-on bag.
Speaking of medicine, keep in mind when you pack that some
things are easy to get in most other countries, like aspirin or
antacids, but other things aren't, like prescription treatments
for a yeast infection or any asthma medications/inhalers. Take a
doctor's note affirming you have a prescription for such
medication.
If you are going on a plane or train where your bags may not
be under your control the entire time, and you are traveling
with someone, divide your clothes between each other's bags.
Then, if one bag is lost, you'll still have things to wear.
You know how in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
how the most important thing you are supposed to have when
traveling around space is a camping
towel? That's actually not fiction.
Always take a towel. Not a big beach towel, but not a little
hand towel, either. And it shouldn't be one you would freak out
over losing or leaving behind. You will be stunned at how often
you need to use such on a trip -- because the hotel's towels are
unusable, because you don't have a pillow, because you need to
clean up something... I think camping
towels are the best, but
any thin towel a bit bigger than a hand towel will do.
Take a sink stopper if there is even the remote chance you
will need to rinse something out in a sink or even wash
something outright or maybe take a bath. The best sink stopper
is the kind that's just a flat piece of thick plastic, because
it fits any kind of drain. Even most luxury hotels often have
sinks that don't hold water well.
Bring a door stop. When you take it out from under the door
to go out that door for the evening or for work or whatever, put
it in your purse or somewhere such that you absolutely will not
forget it when you pack and leave.
Take a small smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector. I
started doing this when, in the same month, I read about a group
of hostel guests all dying from CO poisoning and heard about a
United Nations Volunteer dying in his room in the country where
he was deployed from the same - both because of heaters in their
rooms.
Take a "wax," also known as a sarong or sarong. A wax is a
large piece of colorful but durable cloth that is often worn by
women in developing countries as a wrap-around skirt or very
large shawl. You can do the same, or use it for a top sheet when
your sleeping bag or the European-style comforter is too much on
a warm night, as a head cover (often needed to tour a mosque or
Eastern Orthodox Christian church), extra covering in
conservative countries, a picnic blanket... You can buy them at
any hippy/dippy store, any import store, and the like. They pack
very, very small -- I can easily fit one into a fanny pack WITH
other stuff. If you are a size 12 (USA) or a or less, you can
use a wax as a skirt as well, even over pants. Wash such once at
home in cold water before your trip, to see if it shrinks (you
don't want to take one that shrinks!).
Remember: dark colors hide dirt and stains better. Hence why
you will rarely see me in anything white while traveling. And
you may plan on wearing a shirt or skirt or paints more than
one day on a trip, without cleaning it, but be prepared for
that article of clothing to get dirty the very first hour you
wear it while traveling. You can wear the same dark gray skirt
with a different shirt every day and people probably won't
notice - and, really, if you are on a trip for fun, who cares
if anyone notices?
Take a multi-functional headband, one of those long, seamless
tubular things you can wear in different ways (a headband, a
bandana, a beanie, a pirate-style cap, a neck scarf, neck
gaiter, etc.). You can get them at most hiking stores and any
motorcycle shop. It's great for bad hair days, when your neck
gets cold, or when you are in a very religiously-conservative
country where your head covering must cover all of your hair
(put on the headband so that it covers your hair, particularly
in the front, then put your wax over your head as a head scarf -
voila, you're culturally sensitive!). Wear it around your neck
whenever you go out or anytime you get on a plane, if you have
forgotten a mask during the pandemic, just pull it up around
your mouth and nose.
Speaking of masks: in this era of
global pandemics and forest fires, you need to bring a
mask, one that has a nose piece that you can adjust to fit
snugly over your nose and that fits relatively snugly against
your cheek and around your chin. I use the Outdoor
Research Face Mask. It comes with a removable inner
filter, I can wash it, it's black (doesn't show dirt), and it
folds well. This, plus my headband around my neck and face/neck
gaiter, provides me with the protection I want and keeps others
safe from me and whatever I'm breathing. A lot of travelers got
stuck abroad without masks when the novel coronavirus broke out
(including
me) - don't let it happen to you! Plus, you may find
yourself wanting to wear it in cities with poor air quality or
on mass transit.
As for clothes, go for durability and practicality. If you
are going for a clubbing weekend in Madrid, fine, take your
silly skimpy outfits and painful shoes. But if you are
interested in sight-seeing, walking and covering large areas in
one day, go for comfort. I think loose-fitting clothes are best.
And in countries outside the West, go for shirts or jackets that
provide plenty of butt-cover (that extend down below your waste,
but aren't at all tight). Modest dress (your legs, arms and
chest up to your collarbone covered -- added bonus if you can
cover your head) gets you into religious sites (and I don't just
mean mosques -- I have watched girls in shorts turned away from
historic Roman Catholic churches in Europe). I love REI's stuff
- they even having dresses and skirts for hiking.
For shoes, I limit myself to just two pair of shoes,
including the pair I'm wearing. For a social trip, one pair is
usually my Teva sandals, and I'm usually wearing those through
the airport, because they are easy to take off for security and
on the plane. If it's not a business trip, then the others are
my trail running shoes - I find these are best for any situation
the world can throw at me and are fantastic for long periods of
walking. If it is a business trip, then I wear something that's
slip on, no heels, and looks really nice with a skirt or dress
pants, and I take something with low heels that I won't walk in
much.
If you are at all worried about the quality of the
cleanliness of the showers you are be using, buy the cheapest,
thinnest plastic flip-flops you can find, to wear in the shower.
If you are going to be traveling by plane or train and will
want to nap or sleep while traveling, I think three things are
absolutely essential: a neck pillow (I have tried the inflatable
kind, but I always get a hole after just two or so uses), an eye
mask and ear plugs. And those last two come in handy if you find
yourself trying to sleep in a noisy city, or if a light is
shining into your room (happens frequently when I travel). But
remember -- some travel situations, for safety's sake, may
require you to stay awake (I never sleep alone on a train) or
may require you to be aware if someone were trying to get into
your room at night. I never wear earplugs while camping, and if
I want to wear them in a hotel room, I put a chair in front of
the door, along with my doorstop.
If it's going to be a long trip and your luggage is going to
go through more than just one airport or you are going to have
to schlep it around a lot, consider taking duct tape in your
carry on, as you may need it for quickie luggage repair until
you can buy a replacement bag. A way to save room is to take
just some duct tape, not on a roll but wrapped around a pencil.
I believe in guidebooks, especially Lonely Planet. I almost
always have one with me while traveling, even within the USA.
It's not dogma, but it will, at the very least, tell me where I
am, what I'm near, what might not worth be seeing and what I
really shouldn't miss. I also, or otherwise, have a very
detailed map of the major city/ies I'm visiting, and if I'm in a
non-English-speaking country, I sometimes have a pocket phrase
book with me (sometimes, I just point to the phrase in the book
for what I want, showing it to the waitress or train worker or
whomever). Yes, you can find a lot of that on the Internet --
providing you can find Internet access. If you don't have these
beforehand, pick them up when you go through an airport, bus
terminal or tourist office. Sometimes, I make my own guidebook:
I print out the info and guides I want and I put them in a
clear, relatively water-proof sleeve, and I use the back to take
notes.
I always take a bottle of water and a snack bar in my carry
on, and with me as I tour somewhere (a museum, a historic site,
whatever). And I've always, at some point, been grateful
to have such.
If you intend to buy things to bring back, either leave room
in your bags before you leave, or, pack an extra bag. I have two
options: a duffel bag that reduces down to half the size of a
notebook computer, and that, expanded, full of stuff, I can
check as my second bag on my flight home; and an entirely-cloth
backpack, with no frame, that, empty, I can pack in my fanny
pack with everything else and, full, I use as my second carry
on.
Airline Security: Security practices can change
suddenly, even from the time you leave your front door to the
time you arrive at the airport. When a sudden clamp down occurs,
an airport can decide that NO hand luggage/carry-ons (I mean it
-- none, and that includes a woman's purse, an unopened
bottle of water you bought at the airport, an iPod, a cell
phone, a laptop, even a book). So make sure your hand luggage
could survive if it had to be checked, because there's always a
slight possibility that it might have to be. And if you
find out about such a sudden clamp down well before your flight,
consider paying the penalty fee and moving your flight to a
later day when the sudden, stricter restrictions will be eased
back (usually).
If I am going to a developing country with extreme poverty, I
sometimes take an extra checked bag, in luggage I don''t mind
leaving in the country, and fill it with books, cloth shopping
bags and CLEAN, pressed, and not torn clothes to leave in the
country. I did this when I went to Kabul - I left the books at a
coffee shop frequented by foreigners, and the other things I
gave to one of the cleaning ladies at my guest house I had
established a friendship with (but, honestly, I could have put
the opened suitcase outside on the sidewalk, with everything
neatly presented, and left it there - it would have been gone
within an hour). Don't just arrive with this stuff in a country
you've never been to and expect people to appreciate it or even
want it - do your homework about the country and their access to
clothes and books, find an NGO that would want these items
BEFORE you leave, if at all possible, and contact them about how
you will get these things to them.
A Note About Backpacking
While camping light is important, packing what YOU need, the way
YOU want to, is also important. And don't worry about having the
latest gear. This is an excerpt from an
article from Backpacker Magazine, by a guy that still uses
an external frame backpack, and I completely agree (it's about
backpacking in the wilderness, rather than in urban settings):
A high percentage of people I pass on the trail pack like I
do—with some creature comforts—especially if they are taking
children into the woods. Maybe you can argue that they ought to
carry less, but, as a person accurately described as old-school,
I argue that hikers ought to carry exactly what they want, and,
if that means more gear, then external-frame packs are the best
option. They distribute weight better, are easier to pack, have
plenty of side pockets, myriad places to tie loose items, and
they have far better ventilation. Plus, there is the retro-cool
factor—like driving a Camaro you’ve wanted since high school...
I flat-out prefer external-frame packs. I hope that, once the
gram consciousness that now almost theocratically defines the
backcountry loosens up a bit, more people will realize that
external-frame packs are worth their weight in reading material
and vodka.
A good twitter account to follow on the subject of packing for
travel abroad: DepartSmartOrg.
_______________________________________________
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Where I've
been
A list of all of the states in the USA and all of the
countries I have lived in or traveled in, the farthest North
I've been by land, the nearest I've been to the equator,
various other stats.
This includes all of the places I have traveled to and through
via motorcycle.
Disclaimer: Any activity incurs risk. The
author assumes no responsibility for the use of information
contained within this document.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or
implied warranty.
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charge if the information is kept intact and is
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Cravens
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The art work and material on this site was created
and is copyrighted 1996-2024
by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to
another web site).
The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely
those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.
?
That's actually not fiction.
Always take a towel. Not a big beach towel, but not a little
hand towel, either. And it shouldn't be one you would freak out
over losing or leaving behind. You will be stunned at how often
you need to use such on a trip -- because the hotel's towels are
unusable, because you don't have a pillow, because you need to
clean up something... I think camping
towels
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