Packing was a drag. When you pack for a 14-days holiday it’s easy. But packing for a low budget trip around the world is much more difficult because you have to put so many things into consideration. What you pack is what you carry and what you have at your disposal. The fact is you can always drop something you’ve been carrying around needlessly and you can always pick up new useful things along the way as well.
To start with, we’ve probably packed too much. Even though our backpacks weigh “only” 13 kilos each, they’re pretty much full of stuff we might never really need or could do without. I’ll be coming back to this topic in about six months time when I’ll try to access what has been really useful, somewhat useful or completely useless.
Here is what we’ve packed for a young couple travelling the world:
Small first aid kit & on-the-road pharmacy:
- first aid kit (bandages, wraps, 1 dcl of NaCl for disinfecting wounds, heat blanket, more bandages)
- medicine (pain killers, Ciprobay (antibiotic), Seldiar (diarea stop), Fermental and Rupurut (stomach pills), rehydration powders)
- crèmes and lotions (sun lotion, Bepanthen (for faster skin healing), hand disinfectant gel, Canesten, mosquito repellent)
Her clothes
His clothes
- 7 pairs of socks (1 pair of warm socks, 3 pairs of hiking socks and 3 pairs of regular cotton socks)
- 7 underpants and 2 bras
- 6 T-shirts (3 cotton, 3 Dri Fit)
- 2 long sleeve cotton shirts
- 2 fleeces
- 1 wind stopper
- 4 pairs of pants (1 jeans, 1 trekking pants, 1 cotton, 1 leggings)
- 2 pairs of shorts (1 leggings, 1 cotton)
- 1 long sleeved pajamas
- 1 swimsuit
- 1 rain jacket
- 3 pairs of foot gear (1 pair of hacking shoes, 1 pair of flip-flops, 1 pair of hiking sandals)
- 1 pair of sunglasses
- 6 pairs of socks (1 pair of warm socks, 4 pairs of hiking socks, 2 regular)
- 6 boxer shorts
- 6 T-shirts (2 cotton, 4 Dri Fit)
- 2 long sleeved shirts (1 cotton, 1 Dri Fit)
- 1 wind stopper
- 1 rain jacket
- 2 pairs of pants (1 jeans, 1 light trekking pants)
- 3 shorts (1 jeans, 1 basketball shorts for sleeping, 1 swim shorts)
- 3 pairs of footgear (1 pair of flip-flops, 1 pair of Teva sandals, 1 pair of hiking shoes)
- 1 pair of sunglasses
Her toiletries
His toiletries
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- razor
- face cream
- deodorant
- shampoo, shower gel and soap bar
- hair brush and hair bands
- hairdryer
- tampons and pads
- nail clipper
- earplugs and sleeping mask
- sun lotion
- small mirror
- toilet paper
- towel (microfiber)
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- razor
- soap bar
- pincers
- towel (microfiber)
Gadgets
- tablet computer (Samsung galaxy tab3 8″)
- compact photo camera (Sony cybershot G, 10.2MP)
- smart phone (I-phone 4)
- regular mobile phone (Samsung gts 6500)
- world plug adapter
- extra 32GB micro SD
- GPS backtracker
- flashlights (1 headlight, 1 pocket, 1 reading)
- chargers for all of the above and some extra batteries
Other accessories
- duck tape
- lighter
- some rope
- 2 small hooks for hanging stuff
- Swiss knife
- Swiss knife style cutlery
- sleeping bags
- inflatable pillows
- smaller daily backpacks
- sewing kit
- shoe deodorant
- small and light cooking pot
- plastic cup/bowl
- pins and rubber bands
- note book/diary and pens
- a small bottle of spirits for stomach problems