What is need for travel

It's not easy getting your head around what you need to take. Deep down you know over packing is a terrible idea, but when you have no idea of what may await you it is easy to be scarred into packing for as many possibilities as you and an over-active imagination can fathom. Let's be frank, there's a lot of crap written on travel packing and a lot of scare mongering often featuring on travel sites/blogs, many of which are aimed at mid-range travellers on city or beach trips, or featured in travelogues as examples of 'I took this' or 'am taking this' whether or not it is was useful/necessary. Anyone who has travelled before will feel nothing but disdain at short, ambiguous packing lists in travel magazines, guidebooks and charlatan websites. 

Nonetheless it is not easy putting together a list of items to recommend to take. We are all different, with varying needs and destinations. However, it is amazing at just how similar needs are and that probably 95% of independent travellers (especially those with more time than money) will be be heading to the same locations and doing roughly the same things. If you are the other 5% you will know it. 

Deciding what to pack really should not be a big stress. If you departed with only your passport and ATM card (assuming there is some money in the bank) to any major hub (be it Asia, African or Latin America) you will be able to find pretty much everything you need - and what you actually 'need' is very little. Of course this is not recommended and laying your hands on the best possible items when away and possibly pressed for time is not always easy. Likewise it is always great to have more that you actually 'need' and to be able to bring some organisation, security and creature comfort with you.

So there you have it. You can relax. Or can you? You probably still have those niggling doubts and it is worth looking at why we have all become so brain-washed into thinking we need to pack as if we were having dinner with the ambassador one evening, hitting the disco after and heading into the woods to live wild the next. Well part of it is our own bizarre expectation of what the world is really like. 

Nepal, Thailand, Kenya or Guatemala may sound strange and exotic, but all (and most countries on the planet) feature big modern cities with a [okay often small] part of the population living as you do. Another core issue is that most packing lists - if they are not trying to sell you something - have yet to catch up with just how small, well travelled [in places] and globalised the world has become over the last ten years as emerging markets/countries took huge leaps forwards. 

And lastly we have good old vanity to thank. Wearing the same items of clothing a few days in a row seems strange at home, whilst travelling no one cares! Washing clothes or buying the odd new outfit is much easier than carrying around spares. Girls may feel strange without make-up or something to do their hair, but again: no one cares. If you really do get caught out and need something warmer, smarter, cooler, or to make you more beautiful, just look locally.

Packing for backpacking or backpacking?

Another big issue is the blur between backpacking travel and backpacking backpacking (as in the North American definition of self-sufficient living in the wild). The stores you will venture in and the brands you will consider will cater for both. Thus it is very easy to start considering if you really do need an ice-pick since the backpack you just bought has an attachment for one! 

So we can also blame the stores, adverts and sales persons, since they will all be dead keen to sell you said ice-pick, survival bivvi bag, portable shower, wild animal deterrent, cooking stove, Everest grade sleeping bag, anything... and to put them on a so called travel packing list. Take for example mosquito coils which appear on many lists: these (or something better) are almost always available abroad free or at a fraction of the cost compared to Western countries. Leaving aside that there are much better ways to tackle mosquitoes. 


This page may look like a very long list (comprehensive is a better word), but is well and truly meant to inspire travelling light. 
We hope you are not sick of reading already!

Packing and travelling light

You might have read that the happiest traveller will be one who can fit their bag/pack under the seat of a bus or take it as hand luggage on a flight. You may not believe this is possible, especially when first throwing a few things in a bag. However, after learning the hard way with 70-90 litre packs, every subsequent trip you always try to take less and less and still lament having too much. Then at last you manage to get everything (with a few secrets that are shared here) into a 35-45 litre pack that fits neatly under a bus seat or overhead bin and are truly a free and happy traveller who would never ever even consider taking a 'standard' backpack again to a developing country. A small portable backpack really is the difference when it comes to independent travel. The freedom it offers and hassle it removes is worth what you sacrifice in not taking ten times over. Not to mention the fact that you will be the envy of everyone you meet! Don't believe it? Sceptical? Read on for some reasons why you should, if nothing else, pack light.

The famous saying goes, everything is essential, only some things more than others. You will have no idea of what you actually need and how little you use when you are away when sitting at home. Everyone says pack light, but the vast majority of backpackers don't until they have learnt the hard way - ten reasons why you really should:

• Your bag is your life, or at least becomes it. The smaller it is the less it sticks outs and the less vulnerable you feel. The closer you can stick to it and less cumbersome it is the happier you will be. Imagine you are on a bus. Do you want your bag under the seat in front of you or in the luggage hold or roof above/below/under you?
• A large, bulky, full bag gives less room to fill with souvenirs, becomes a nightmare when using motorcycle-taxis/rickshaws and has to be checked in (often at extra cost) and waited for, when taking flights.
• The thought of wearing the same thing day in, day out may seem terrible now, but it gets easy with the right clothes, and is always preferable to unpacking your entire bag. Circumstance are different when on the road with everyone in the same boat. Nobody cares if they see the same T-shirt two days in a row! There is no need to take too many clothes as they can be easily washed and dried, normally overnight.
• You will need to walk with your pack on freely (sometimes quickly avoiding touts/traffic), sometimes right across town or from hotel to hotel and it's often hot, really hot. When you do take transport, you can swing a small bag over your front and jump in a taxi/rickshaw with ease, quickly and without having to separate yourself from it. In addition, leaving your pack in lockers can be a problem if it is huge.
• Carrying a large, heavy, bulky bag onto a bus may sound alright, but when it is packed you cannot and are therefore normally separated from it (it goes on the roof, underneath or is left at the back next to god knows what). It is normally okay there, but this can make you a little paranoid about theft as it does happen.

• When using mini-buses that stop at the side of the road - a common way of getting around in many countries - they are normally crowded and have no luggage holds, so your bag comes on with you. If crowded you'll whack everyone in the face [with bag] finding a seat and might need to buy an extra seat for a large pack. The same is true of public transport (notably metro/underground and/or tram systems) in rush hour where you find the same issue and may have to pay a surcharge a large bag.
• If your pack is full it is difficult to get to things without pulling other stuff out, so you don't use what's at the bottom, it being easier to wear what you had on yesterday or what is at the top.
• You will be uncomfortable moving from town to town (short hops) not being able to jump on and off small buses/taxis. Not to mention that a giant oversize bag does not exactly make you the most confident as you will always feel like you are sticking out.
• You will not believe what an advantage it is to be able to travel from A to C with a quick stop off to see a sight at B carrying your bag, rather than having to do it in a separate day trip, wasting time and money.
• Quite simply you'll spend a good deal of time on the road thinking, 'if I had a huge pack or one like that girl/guy we saw at xyz I could not do this' - of course you need some bulky items, but there is no need to have a 60 plus litre bag. Not unless you are camping and if so why?