Going on a huge trip for the first time is a bit intimidating. Even after getting all the visas, booking tickets, and coming up with a basic itinerary, the challenge of what to bring looms.
Every travel blog says the same thing: travel as light as possible. The advice I've always heard is as follows:
Take everything you think you'll need. Go through each item. If you absolutely cannot survive without that item, keep it...if not, discard it. Then, look at the pile of kept items. Cut it in half, and take one of the halves.
Seems pretty extreme! I know from my previous travels, however, that this rings absolutely true. I've never been on a trip where I regretted bringing too little. The opposite, however, has plagued me time and time again! I usually try to keep everything in a single carry-on and am shooting for that goal this time as well.
There is always the little devil on the shoulder, however, tempting me to do evil. In software we struggle against feature creep; for the traveler, "luggage creep" can be just as deadly! Should I take my laptop? What about my SLR? And how many pairs of clothes do I really need? What about a tent?
Since I'm doing an RTW for 6 months or so, I'm allowing myself a bit more leeway with regards to luggage. I may regret this later, but I've decided to bring my bulky SLR (well, for now anyway...by Tuesday morning I may have changed my tune). The laptop I'm leaving at home. I'm taking a tent: a High Peak Enduro. It's slightly heavier than the average tent, but fairly compact. I know I'll be using it at least once. If I can't stand it, I shouldn't have a problem selling it or otherwise getting rid of it overseas.
I'm being fairly sparse on clothes. If I find I don't have enough, the combination of an ATM card and secondhand shop should solve my problem.
The pack I'm taking is a Kelty Redwing 3100.
After reviewing packs on the Internet and trying a few on in-store, this seemed like the best choice. I had a few requirements for the pack.
- It has to be durable. I'll be putting some pretty heavy strain on this thing for a few months, and the worst thing that could happen would be a blown seam.
- I need to be able to carry it on to an airplane. Absolutely nothing is worse than that sinking feeling that comes when the baggage exchange is empty and your pack is nowhere to be found.
- It needs to be large enough to hold my clothes, sleeping bag, and carry a tent.
- It'd be nice if it didn't break the bank
I was able to snag this one from eBags for $70 and free shipping! Considering that some of the Osprey bags can run over $250, I consider this a very sweet deal.
This is what I'm thinking for my packing list:
- Sleeping bag
- Tent + poles
- Camera
- 2 prs long pants (wear 1, 1 in pack)
- 4 prs socks
- 4 prs boxers
- 3 t-shirts (wear 1, 2 in pack)
- 2 long-sleeve
- Light jacket
- Swimsuit
- Kindle
- Toiletries (toothpaste, razor, deodorant to be bought overseas)
- Documents (visas, passports, bank statements, travel insurance, etc.)
- "Packable" daypack
- Water bottle
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading my blog! I'll be attempting to update as much as possible and post photos here. If you have any tips, anything you wish me to write about, or just want to troll, feel free to leave a comment.
