Pssst. Over here. Come a little closer, for I have a terrible secret to admit.
I was once one of them. Sometimes I even still am. If you’ve spent time in a train station in Europe, or various tourist destinations around the globe, you’ll know who I’m talking about.
Remember the girl who was struggling gamely to lift a pack bigger than she was? That guy swearing and cursing as he hauled a massive suitcase up another flight of stairs?
They were fully paid up members of the ‘kitchen sink’ club — the people who just don’t know when to stop putting things in their luggage. Everything but the kitchen sink goes in.
I’ve been as guilty of this as anybody else, but I only realised it after purchasing a new backpack recently. My old pack had finally given up the ghost after a decade of being dragged around the world, and as I laid my shiny new one on the bed to fill it up with the ‘essentials’ it suddenly occurred to me how just how much I was putting in.
That third pair of trousers. Half a dozen travel guides and other books. A toiletries bag so full, I had to start putting things in plastic bags. Here was me, supposedly an experienced traveller, fighting with the zips on my backpack. Every item had a perfectly good justification for why it was included, but unless I also planned to pack a donkey to carry it all for me, I just couldn’t take it all. And yet I still tried.
So now it’s decided. For my next trip, I’m travelling light. Very light. Carry-on only kind of light. Although I haven’t quite decided where I’m going as yet, I do know it’ll be warm. So on that basis, here’s what I’m going to be taking:
- A few pairs of active underwear and merino wool socks (they’re small and light, and everyone notices when they need a wash…)
- Three quick-dry t-shirts, one short sleeved shirt (and a long sleeved t-shirt if I’m going somewhere where mosquitos and other bugs are an issue. Malaria, dengue fever etc aren’t fun.)
- Two pairs of shorts, and some board shorts for swimming.
- One pair of good walking shoes that are dressy enough for a night out, and a pair of flip-flops for dodgy hostel showers and avoiding third degree burns to my feet on the beach.
- A pair of trousers, most likely jeans. They’re heavy, bulky and hard to dry, but I’ve never found anything as versatile.
- Laptop (have to keep this site up to date somehow!), travel adapter, unlocked smartphone, noise-isolating earphones, and chargers.
- A Kindle Paperwhite for reading.
- Shower gel (doubles as shampoo and soap), roll-on deoderant, razor, and a few other small (small!!) bits and pieces.
- A basic first aid kit, the smaller the better.
- A good quality, lightweight jacket that’s wind and rainproof, but breathable (just because it’s raining doesn’t mean it’s cold).
- A long-sleeved merino wool top, for air-conditioned buses and unexpected cold snaps.
- And my favourite carry-on backpack to put it all in.
There are a few other little things I’d throw in if there was room, but I think the above is pretty much my minimum requirements.
Given pretty much anything can be bought at your destination, even in some of the most remote parts of the world, and packing for six months is really no different to packing for a week, I’m trying for the ‘less is more’ approach.
I’m sure not everyone’s needs will be the same as mine, so I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the list above. Still too much? Too little? What have I forgotten, and what can I live without?