SiMonica’s Voyage

If you’re reading this because you need advice on what to pack for your traveling adventure, pick up a piece of paper and a pen to write down the things that you’ll need from this long-winded description.

Before delving into this fascinating subject, let me preface that every trip will require different things. Some of the items that we packed were taken because they’re hard to come by or non-existent in some of the the countries that we were planning on visiting. But, we also read a fair amount of online forums and “The Rough Guide to Your First Time Around the World” (which is an excellent source of information).

The first question that you need to ask yourself is what kind of luggage to take. Long term travel with frequent relocations does not bode well for traveling with a suitcase, even it has wonderful wheels and an ergonomic grip. Thus, a backpack is the solution. Now, it depends on what your primary objective will be on the travel. If you’re planning on going trekking/hiking/tramping/bushwalking, then a top-loading external-frame hiking backpack will be a good solution. If your objective is more sedate, then a front-loading internal-frame backpack will be optimal. We belonged to the latter category of travelers, and thus went for the front-loading backpacks. The beauty of these is that the whole front flap of the backpack unzips and you don’t have to dig through the whole bag to get to the items that are toward the bottom of the bag. Also, traveling for a long time doesn’t mean that you need to take a lot of clothes or stuff (though after reading this description you might think that we took too much, but there are two of us). We were recommended to get 65 liter capacity backpacks, which is the combined capacity of the large main bag and the complimentary smaller day pack.

I went with the Eagle Creek 65L Voyager backpack. The large pack has a single compartment, an internal mesh pocket, which is good for storing important documents, and an external pocket for unimportant miscellany. There’s a strap to tighten the inside contents and a zipper has holes to put a lock on. My day pack is slightly larger than Monica’s and has two mesh side pockets which is very handy for a water bottle or wet swimsuits and such. The day pack also has a front pocket, a main compartment, and a rear pocket that is located under the straps. The main compartment also zippers with holes for locks, which has been useful.

Monica got a 70L REI backpack with a special “women’s” cut. In retrospect, Eagle Creek makes better and more durable backpacks, though some features in Monica’s backpack are better. Durability is the key though, and Eagle Creeks’ luggage is more durable. Monica’s large pack has a bottom compartment, like in some hiking backpacks, and a top compartment. The compartment division is very handy. He day pack is smaller than mine and has a front pocket, a small side pocket, and a main compartment. The back support on her day-pack is sturdier, which makes it easier to pack and carry around for long periods of time. The difference in our day packs is good, since often we don’t need to take that much stuff with us during our day-outings, so we take hers. Other than being sturdy, a pack should have slight water resistance and very strong zippers.

Aside from the luggage we also brought a super-compact over-the-shoulder tote bag, for walking around cities or when you don’t feel like taking the day-pack. I think it’s sometimes safer to carry a bag under your arm rather than on your back, especially in some places where pickpocketing is a known problem. We also broke down and bought an Indian canvas tote bag in Udaipur (slightly larger and not as collapsible). It has a colorful print on it of an elephant with an inscription underneath stating “Elephant my friend” in Hindi.

Also, while we’re on the topic of luggage, Eagle Creek makes wonderful travel pouches which come in different colors made of strong mesh. These have proven to be good to separate different groups of items in the backpack, and they’re better than plastic bags. For example, I have a few in my backpack, one for underwear and socks, another for medicines, and a third for electronic gadget adapters and chapters. It’s like having drawers in your bag. Plus they come in different colors. The only thing that they’re not good for is for shoes. Those go in plastic bags.

Lastly, while Europe is slightly safer to travel than some parts of Asia, it is a good idea to purchase small luggage locks for the main compartments of your backpacks. I think combination locks are better, since you don’t have to worry about keys then. We found that having the same combination for all the locks works well, so that the locks are interchangeable and you don’t have to memorize more numbers than is necessary. Eagle Creek makes these little luggage locks as well. We also purchased a combination lock with a retractable cable (roughly 3 feet long in total). This is useful when leaving your backpack in a hostel with no locks or in the luggage storage rooms of certain lodgings. You never know, your bag might be so beautiful that someone might decide to take it with them despite the little zipper lock that’s on it. Also, some hostels provide lockers for your luggage in the rooms, so it helps to have a padlock (also with a combination) for these occasions.

Footwear: Now that we’re done with the luggage, we’ll move on to the feet. Since we were trying to avoid winter weather on our travels and weren’t planning on any serious long-term trekking, we each bought a pair of durable hiking sneakers (Monica – Vasques, and I – Merrells), a pair of closed-toe rubber-soled Keen sandals, and a pair of thong flip-flops. The sandals have to be very comfortable, since you spend most of your time in them. Thus, Berkenstocks were out of the questions, since they’re not good when they get wet and have poor traction. We chose the closed toed sandals because we didn’t want to gather all the crap that we expected to trudge through in India. The closed-toed sandals were a good idea , not only in India, but else where as well, since they protect your toes and you can also swim in them if the underwater surface is not smooth. The open-toed alternative that we considered were called Chacko’s and are a little heavier, by people say they’re also very comfortable and sturdy. Both cost about $100. Also, due to the fact that the sole of the Keen’s are rubber and that my feet tend to sweat, we had to purchase anti-foot sweat smelling powder back at our first stop in Ireland. Unfortunately, the Keen’s are not very stylish, but are very comfortable.

The sneakers that we bought are stylish enough and have good traction for the hiking that we’ve done so far. Their sole shouldn’t be as flexible as on running shoes. They’ve been good to wear when its been too cold for the sandals.

The thong flip-flops (called “thongs” in Australia, and “jandals” in New Zealand), are for short walks and for public or widely used or unsanitary shower facilities. Sometimes you won’t want to step on that floor with your bare feet. In this case, the simplest and cheapest fully rubber flip-flops are better than the ones that have some cloth straps since they’ll dry faster. I’ve been using the fully rubber flip-flops, but they’re no good for long walks, while Monica has had fancy ones with cloth straps, which are very comfortable but take some time to dry. She just borrows mine.

All this footwear takes up roughly 20% of the space in our big backpacks. Frankly, large hiking boots only make sense if you hike a lot, since they’re very heavy and bulky. People that we’ve met with proper hiking shoes have had to either always wear them for lack of space in their backpacks, or had them dangling from their backpacks. Fancy shoes with heels for women can be bought along the way for when they’re needed and discarded or sent home later. Unless it’s medicine, it doesn’t make sense to bring anything that you don’t use regularly.

Clothes: We’ll start with my clothes first since I intimately know what is in my backpack. Since we didn’t pack for cold weather, and unless you’re going to a cold climate right away, it’s easier to purchase the warm clothes once you need them rather than carry them with you until it gets cold. Thus in my bag I have one fleece, slightly windproof. The fleece takes up the most space of any of my clothing items. Also, I have a water-resistant windbreaker with a hood. It’s better for the windbreaker to be waterproof and not breathable than water-resistant and breathable. Mine is the latter and thus I get wet underneath it after being exposed to steady rain, while Monica’s Patagonia brand is waterproof and thus better. Don’t get the REI E1 windbreaker – it’s not waterproof as advertised. One button-up long sleeve shirt by North Face. Three t-shirts. All of them are wick-away and thus dry faster than normal cotton t-shirts. It is handy to have fast-drying clothes because mostly you’ll be doing the laundry yourself and drying it out on your handy dandy clothes line (more on that later), out in the sun, or if you’re unlucky, in your room. One pair of shorts with 4 visible and 3 invisible zipper pockets. (Invisible or hard to reach pockets are pretty great for giving you a sense of security of your wallet and other important possessions.) One pair of lightweight synthetic linen pants that look sort of formal. One pair of convertible cargo pants (lightweight and fast-drying) which are convertible into shorts. They look mediocre but are good for changing weather. I also purchased a long-sleeve cotton t-shirt in India and picked up a button-up shirt in Australia at the student co-op where we stayed in Sydney. Two pairs of lightweight fast-drying socks and one pair of thicker socks (good for hiking). One pair of synthetic long underwear (a.k.a. long-johns) from Patagonia. Two pairs of boxer briefs by ExOfficio. Although, these underwear cost a ridiculous $25 each, their superb comfort and breathability are worth every penny. Two pairs of cotton boxer briefs (not as wonderful, especially for long walks) and one pair of generic boxers. That’s all for my clothes. Monica’s will be later.

Electronics: When you take electronics, make sure take the chargers as well. This sounds obvious, but is a good reminder anyway. Most chargers accept a range of electrical input from 100-250 volts. This means that you only will need an electrical plug adapter and not a converter to charge your gadgets in other countries where the wall sockets are different. So, as a first step, check that all of your chargers have the aforementioned range written on them. If they don’t have it written this probably means that they are only for that specific country’s voltage. Get a different charger in this case or a different gadget. An adapter simply allows you to plug your plug into a different plug, while a converter actually converts the electric current. Converters tend to be heavy, while adapters have become quite small. So, we brought along the wonder of wonders. It is called the Universal Plug Adapter and is manufactured by American Power Company (APC). It is very small, very light, and you can configure it to fit any socket in the world, and it cost only $20. I’ve only been able to find it online. It’s quite an ingenious little engineering contraption. It must be a guy thing to get excited about this. We came across a Swiss adapter which was also universal. It was well designed but about 4 times heavier. In terms of electronic devices we brought a 30 gigabyte iPod (with video and photos), which was a wonderful present from some of our friends from our wedding (Motya, Anya, Alyona, and Yura). What were we thinking going traveling for a long time without music or pictures of our families and friends? The iPod also came pre-loaded with a lot of music and photos, which was great. The iPod came with a wall charger and a cord. If you have a video/photo iPod, you can actually use it to store photos from your digital camera by transferring them directly from your card in the camera to the iPod via the “photo import” option. However, you’ll need to buy a USB-to-USB connector to do this and you’ll need to travel with a card reader as well. We only learned of this while in Turkey, so couldn’t do it, and also it would mean putting all your photos on one device and hoping it doesn’t suddenly decide to reset itself and accidentally erase all your music and photos. We brought a camera as well – a Canon Digital Rebel EXT SLR with a 2 gigabyte memory card. We also brought a card reader for the card and a cord to plug into a USB jack to transfer the photos onto a computer (often, internet cafes do provide card readers). When we fill up about half of the camera memory card, we plug this card reader into the computer and burn two copies of CDs of photos. We carry one CD with us and send the other one home. Though some internet cafes burn the CDs for you, I wouldn’t trust them and would rather do it myself. However, they’re unlikely to sympathize with you if they suddenly delete them all while they’re doing it. If this happens in your own hands, you can at least blame yourself. So, learn to use Nero CD burning software that is standard these days. Or whatever other software that becomes popular in the future. We never fill up our memory card because that increases the chances of losing more photos. However, we do have a large card (might be worth the investment). I also brought a small digital voice recorder with 128 megabytes of memory to record sounds that we hear. It seemed like a silly idea at first, at least to Monica, but I’ve been able to get some great stuff (like our camel drivers in India who sang desert folk songs to us). When the space runs out on the recorder, I also burn these sounds to the photo CDs. The voice recorder typically charges through a computer USB port, but due to a lack of a computer on this trip (a good thing in general), I purchased a USB to electrical socket converter/charger and brought it along. Lastly, we brought a mobile phone with a SIM card and used it only in Italy so far. It was graciously lent to us by my sister Mayka. It came, of course, with a charger. If we wanted to, we could just by different SIM cards in different countries and use the phone, but we haven’t found many places to call, except for home, and that’s cheaper with a calling card. Also, we bought a beard trimmer in Istanbul. It lasted for 4 months and was used to shave Monica’s head, my head, and trim my beard. It was quite cheap, so we weren’t surprised that it broke, though it was handy. We’ll probably have to buy a new one, or just go to a barber.

All of these chargers and wires were placed in a black mesh bag, with wires in a smaller mesh bag within the larger one. The mesh bag makes it easy to see what you’re getting, and separating the cords keeps them from tangling. We also brought a roll of black electrical tape. We covered all the insignia on our camera with the tape in order for the white lettering on the black background to be covered from inquisitive eyes. We’ve noticed that our camera doesn’t get as much attention as other SLR cameras.

Medical supplies: these essentials take up about a quarter of my large backpack and comprise a mini pharmacy in its own right. First off, we were given a Hiking First Aid kit by our friends (Caitlin, Caroline, and Neil) for our engagement. It was also a very thoughtful present. It contains everything from minor sprain elastics to surgical tools and a little book on when to do what. It even has some syringes. We packed it also with some Thera-Flu (against the flu or the onset thereof), extra bandages, and about 40 packets of Emergen-C (a powdered substance to be dissolved in water that provides needed vitamins and rehydrates in cases of diarrhea or dehydration), which is very helpful in countries such as India, where the likelihood of an upset stomach is high despite your utmost precautions. In a different mesh bag, we have 90 pills of anti-malarial medication called Malarone, a full packet of laxatives, anti-constipation, motion-sickness pills, Z-pac (from severe upper respiratory infections), Cipro (from serious stomach flus), Ambien (sleeping pills that have not been used), Exsema cream, Lamosil cream from Athlete’s foot, lubricant, condoms, and a zip-lock bag of multi-vitamins for men and a separate one for women, shaving cream, safety razor, allergy medicine (such as Alevert), feminine sanitary pads, nasal strips, cough drops, and Immodium. One of the most important things to take is earplugs, because you’ll often want to sleep when others don’t. The soft foamy ones are good, and we brought a packet of 10 and have used them regularly. Also, bring a comfortable and soft face-mask. This is great for hostels when the lights are still on and you’re trying to sleep. We took all of the medicines out of their little cardboard boxes to save space. Before you do that, read the directions carefully and write them either on the remaining containers or somewhere else where you won’t lose it.

In a green mesh bag, I have a 4 ounce bottle of “Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap.” This is biodegradable, highly concentrated, soap which can be used for doing laundry, wahing your hair, your face, and even doing the dishes. It has a hundred uses. It use it for doing the laundry. Only a few drops are needed for a few liters of water. It lasted us half a year. Next, we brought a 4 ounce bottle of baby powder, a small packet of cotton swabs (so far unused), petroleum jelly, Scholl’s Foot & Shoes powder for stinky feet and shoes, 1 ounce tube of cortizone cream from itches, REI Jungle Juice 100 Insect Repellent with 98% DEET content (so far unused), 2 ounce tube of 34% DEET insect repellent (useful) Airborne tablets (useless), and a small jar of Tiger Balm (so far unused).

We also took copies of all our important passport pages, driver’s licences, credit and bank cards, and kept copies for ourselves and also sent copies to members of our families to keep on file in case of emergency. We took a money belt each, and have only used them 3 or 4 times because no one has figured out a way to make them comfortable. We prefer to lock up our documents in our rooms rather than carrying them around with us everywhere we venture. Lastly, since we were planning on traveling to areas with mosquitoes and/or malaria, we took a lightweight mosquito net for a double bed. It has been useful in preventing being bitten by mosquitoes at night. We also have a set of hard plastic utensils from REI, two extra pad locks for lockers in hostels, small fast drying and super-absorbent towels from REI (get the larger size), a silk sleeping bag liner sheet, 2 wooden shot glasses from Finland courtesy of Monica’s parents, and a 600ml titanium cup that has been useful for hiking and other things. That is all for the contents of my large backpack.

My small backpack has earphones (2 pairs) and a splitter so both Monica and I can listen at once, with individual volume controls. The splitter was another wonderful present from the group that got us the iPod. Soft material face mask for sleeping has been very useful, courtesy of Nanda. Earplugs – a pair for each of us is always readily available. Neosporin and a few band-aids. You never know when you might need it. In India, we carried mosquito repellent with us, since they came out as soon as the sun set. These items are in the front pocket which has a zipper but is not lockable. The main compartment tends to have the camera, iPod, passports (in a ziplock bag), wallet, guidebook, (we used to both carry small blankets in India for overnight train rides and such, but disposed of them in the Southern hemisphere, and we used to have a large canvas bag which we sent home), and a book for pleasure reading. The side pocket has a sturdy reusable 1.5 liter water bottle made of some light metal, which we bought in Milan after losing our Nalgene in the Dublin Airport. The 1.5 liter size is actually quite a good idea since that’s the size of the large European water bottles that they sell in stores. However, after traveling to India, I’d say that filling up your water bottle with tap water in Europe is the cheapest solution. However, some prefer to go with the purchased water. We were absolutely overjoyed to be able to drink tap water when we reached Australia after India. Plus, you end to save money when you buy larger bottles and you don’t have to refill them as often when you’re out and about during the day. So, be it a Nalgene or our Quecha, it’s a good idea to have a sturdy reusable water bottle. The middle pocket can be locked, which is why I keep most of the valuables there. Lastly, the rear pocket has a little flashlight (though an LED headlamp is more comfortable to use to read in the dark of a hostel room and doesn’t use much energy), and a six tool Swiss Army knife with a cork screw (very useful) and a bottle opener. I initially thought that we wouldn’t need it, but when you buy a salami and you need to cut it, you’ll need this wonderful tool. Al cleverly attached a big red string to the knife, so it’s much easier to locate in the bag. Lastly, I have a bandanna to cover my head and sunglasses. We also carry sunscreen lotion. It seems that SPF 30 provides good protection for our skin. I also have a toothbrush in a sturdy case and the toothpaste. We carry a lens cleaning kit as well.

Monica’s large backpack contains the following items: hiking sneakers, flip-flops, one pair of thick warm socks, two pairs of thin socks, five pairs of underwear, two bras, one sports bra, one pair of pyjamas, three tank tops, three t-shirts, one long-sleeve button down shirt, long underwear shirt, two long sleeve shirts, two skirts, two pairs of light pants, fleece jacket, rain-jacket, light scarf, camping cup, bandanna, hat, soap dish with soap, shampoo and shower gel, eye contact solution, contacts for one year, birth control for one year, clothes line (strong with clips from REI, essential). A toiletry bag containing toothbrush, nail clippers, tweezers, dental floss, lip shimmer stick, porous stone form Mt. Etna (volcanic), spare glasses, hair ties, birth control, q-tips, deodorant, perfume, lipgloss, haircomb, nasal spray, and emery board. Copies of papers, journal, address book, travel pillow case (useless), silk sleeping sheet (useful), headlamp, ziplock bags of large, medium, and small sizes. The ziplock bags should be sturdy. Also, large garbage bags to put over our backpacks in cases of rain.

Monica’s small backpack has her wallet and the small towel, pens, strong plastic utensils, sarong for the beach, Swiss Army knife, the felt ball (we switch on who carries it depending on space), a book, calendar, Advil, sunglasses, and lip balm.

We both brought journals and I also bought a leather bound sketch book for Monica as a honeymoon present in Venice. After my Palm Pilot broke in Rome, I purchased a small and simple notebook with sturdy covers, where we now record travel tips and other travel planning stuff, contact info for people we meet and other miscellaneous information, such as book recommendations, books we’ve read, cities visited, the bodies of water where we’ve swum, the cities where we took trams, and business ideas, among other things. Aside from the miscellany, a central place to record travel tips and contact info is useful.

We also purchased travel health insurance from World Nomads because we can file claims online and renew the plan online as well. We’ve had to use them once so far to get back some money for the pulling of my wisdom tooth in Istanbul, and they were quick to send us the refund after we submitted the originals of the documentation for the procedure. If you’re eligible for an ISIC card (under 26 y.o.) then the card comes with a little-known insurance policy which is pretty good. We haven’t had to use that one, but Monica’s friend who did had good things to say. It’s free if you have an ISIC card, so check it out on their website.

This is all the packing advice that I have for now. It seems pretty exhaustive and is probably not well organized. But hopefully it’s informative.

If you’re beginning your travels from the US, REI is a good place to purchase most of the things on this list. We were fortunate enough to get a bunch of gift certificates to REI for our wedding, which made matters much better. All in all, between the two of us, we spent about $2000 on all of this. We probably could have spent less, in retrospect.

P.S. A watch with an alarm has been very useful.  The other beauty of this watch is that it can display 2 time zones, so one states the one that we are in currently and the other shows the time at home.  This makes it easier to know when to call.