Packing Tips & Backpacks
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When it comes to deciding on luggage for a trip, especially if this trip may involve a fair bit of time where you're schlepping your stuff around, remember a few things:
- Luggage is heavy, and you're here to travel, not lift weights every time you go to a new town.
- If you're not using it, it's just dead weight.
- Usually you can buy it where you're going, so you don't have to take it with you.
- For prescription drugs, bring along a copy of the prescription, and the medicine itself in the original container.
- Keeping the luggage light, will keep you more light-hearted as you go.
Packing's a tough one, and we're not going to try to tell you how much is too much or exactly what you should take. You'll ultimately know that better than we can. Personally we subscribe to the "pack it up, unpack and cut by half, then repeat" rule of packing; oftentimes we have our best friend come over to further help the elimination process. You'll figure it out, and here are some tips from other travelers that can help you conquer the packing problem:
- Packing Light
- Travel Tips for Globetrotters
- High-tech travel - not what it's cracked up to be
- First-time Travellers
On Backpacks
The first time Ant traveled abroad, he was on a student-exchange program, had no idea what he was doing, and to say that he was a bit scared of the whole thing is a little like saying the Titanic sprang a wee leak. Accordingly he overpacked, and wound up in the UK with a duffel bag on steroids, a suped-up folding garment (on wheels) and a laptop shoulder bag. The luggage barely survived the first week (and so did Ant's back!).
The next time Ant we abroad, he still overpacked, but not as badly, and he had also bought a backpack. Life was much easier – and that was just having hands free to buy a drink or snag a Tube token or do all those little things that hands just come in handy for. He didn't have to constantly set stuff down and pick it up; it was locked in place, and even (more or less) out of the way. He'll never go back. Why use a backpack?
- Less stress on your body overall, than carrying suitcases and such
- All your belongings are in one bag – easier to keep track of
- Your hands are free, and aren't getting cramped up holding suitcases, plus you can still tend to tasks (buying a drink, flagging a taxi) relatively easily
- When needed, backpacks easily pull double-duty as laundry bags.
Backpacks make traveling easier (and when you know that what you carry, you have to carry on your back, can also help you pack lighter). We aren't going to deign to tell you what to buy or how to choose; there's plenty of packs to choose from, and really only one good way to decide what would work for you and the trip you're undertaking:
- Go to your local outdoor gear shop, or travel to a larger city if you have to (for we Yanks, the BootsnAll guys are REI nuts, and are especially fond of Eagle Creek).
- Have your friendly knowledgeable salesperson prove their worth in terms of years on this earth, travel experience, overall technicall/backpack knowledge, etc.
- Thus proven, explain what you're doing and what you're looking for.
- Try on different packs. The saleperson will help adjust and "fit" the pack to you – the one that feels most right, is probably the one you'll want.
- Models with zipoff "day packs" can be especially useful. This way you your main bag, full of all the stuff you don't need when out sight-seeing, can chill in the hostel or hotel room, and you can take with you the stuff you need for the day.
Pack light, and preferably use a backpack – it goes a long way to making for an easier trip. Especially the packing light part; we have yet to hear of travelers who felt they brought too little, only too much.
Article added on March 02, 2005
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