I've been asked often enough, so I thought I'd describe my packing strategy.
There's a few things to realize as you set out on a trip. The first is that, unless
you're planning to go alone to an uninhabited region, you're unlikely to
ever be very far from a place you can get what you need. The second is to take only
what you're likely to need every day, or at least several times a week. The third
is that if you're on the road (travel vs. vacation), then
whatever you take you have to carry, and a pound is a lot. If your bag weighs
more than 25 pounds (11.34 kg), you're not trying hard enough - there's something
in there you really don't need. Lastly, it's ok to ask for help, because people will.
When it comes down to it, all you need to have is:
- a passport
- some cash
- some credit cards
- a cash card
- passport photos for visas
- your immunization certificate
In other words, money and identification. Push comes to shove, if you need it,
you can just rent it or buy it. Most things are cheaper overseas anyway. I never
take travelers checks anymore. They're a pain to get, they're expensive to use,
and I've yet to find a country in which you can't use a cash card, or at least
a credit card to get cash. It's worth getting a pin assigned to your credit
cards to allow you to use them in ATMs, and it's critical that you have one
card on the Cirrus network, and one on the Plus network. Many countries support
only one of the two.
Also, it's best not to take anything you really don't want to lose. Most of the
things you take can be replaced, but if it's your favorite jacket, or that necklace
grandma gave you, do you really need it while you're abroad?
So, what else? I try to pack no more than 20 pounds, in a small backpack.
Suitcases are lousy to carry any distance, and wheels only work on pavement, and
you can't count on that. Try to get a pack that leaves you some extra room (for
bring stuff home, of course!), and the more pockets the better.
Here's what I usually take just about anywhere:
In truth, I probably take more "tools" than I do clothes.
And ironically, I take more (a larger pack) when I camp in the mountains
than I do when traveling. But then, when I'm camping, I really am out
in the middle of nowhere, and have to carry even my food.
If you're on the road though, you can always buy
clothes, and in many cases you want to buy the groovy things that you find
along the way anyway. The things to take are things that help you solve problems
along the way (like a pocketknife), and durable goods you won't find,
such as good walking shoes or hiking boots, or capilene long underwear, or
a gortex raincoat, or a 3 pound one-man tent. The expensive high tech stuff.
I usually spend a fair bit of money on the equipment I do take - the smaller
and more lightweight the better, but that usually costs more. My stove is the
size of a coffee cup, my sleeping bag fits in a pint glass - you get the idea.
The first big trip I took was to Africa, and I
probably had 50 pounds of who knows what in a 3000 cubic inch pack. It was
promptly stolen, and after the shock, I realized - what did I really need in
that bag anyway? The clothes on my back and my wallet got me through another
3 months.
Inevitably, the first time you pack your bag, it will be totally
full. Take out half the stuff, and put it away. Now pack again. Keep doing
that until your pack is no more than 60% full. Do you really need 3 of those
when one will do? If there's no room left, you brought too much.
Part of my strategy is to limit my burdens, and learn to rely on my
resourcefulness. I go on the road for the most part to challenge myself.
When I look around, and discover that I've landed in a really idyllic
spot, I stop. I enjoy it. I recuperate, I clean up.
Visas
You should take a dozen or so passport photos if you're going to be
crossing borders, and I've found a photo booth does an excellent job for a buck.
It's important to determine what the visa requirements are for the countries
you plan on visiting several months before you go. Requirements vary by
country, and your own country of origin.
In some cases, you can simply arrive at a border or an airport, and get
your passport stamped, but many countries require a visa before you arrive.
You can get visas before you go by mailing off your passport to various
embassies, but this is time-consuming to say the least.
Frequently, you can obtain a visa for a given country in neighboring
countries. Whenever you can get a visa locally (local to the trip), it's
generally faster and cheaper. The key is to make certain that you have
or can obtain on arrival a visa for the first country you're in, and that
you can also obtain visas for one or more adjacent countries once you're
there. Finally, make certain that you double-check availability of visas
for all the countries you plan on visiting - sometimes, you can't
get a visa for country X in neighboring country Y, but instead have to
obtain said visa much earlier in the trip in country Z. It is actually
possible to get to a border and find you cannot enter a country, which
basically leaves you screwed.
On a recent trip to Asia, I planned my route based on
visa availability. As a U.S. citizen, you can obtain a visa to Thailand
on entry. From Thailand to Cambodia, you can also get a Cambodian visa
upon entry. And in Cambodia (in Battambong), you can get a Vietnamese
visa while you wait. And in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, you can get a
visa for Laos. But a Vietnamese visa obtained in Thailand takes as much as a
week, and costs twice what it does in Cambodia. And you may or may not get a
Vietnamese visa in Laos. All of which produces a counter-clockwise travel circle.
A final point worth noting is that obtaining a visa can vary dramatically
in time and cost depending on where you get it. Most guidebooks have a
visa section at the beginning, and help spell all this out, but visas
are the one thing you must have to go from place to place that you can't
necessarily pack (unlike your passport and your cash).
Immunization and Illness
For an immunization card, check with
your doctor. Some hospitals have travel clinics, but your doctor can find out
what shots you'll need before you go. Make sure you look into this at least 2
months before you leave - some immunizations take quite some time before they're
effective. If you're in malaria country, I prefer Malarone to all the other
prophylactics. It's expensive, but you can buy it over the counter when you
get there for much less. It also has almost no side effects, and requires
the least lead time (two days before exposure, 1 week after). But the latest
greatest is forever coming out, so again, check with the doctor.
Many countries have immunization and inoculation requirements. In some cases,
particularly in Africa, if you don't have the appropriate shots already, they'll
give them to you at the border when you enter. Obviously, it's difficult to
guarantee hygienic conditions, so it's worth checking before you go.
Still, the likelihood of getting seriously ill with strange diseases is
fairly low. Bacteria and unclean water are your biggest threats, and
verifying a clean water supply is a must. Buy it, or take some kind of water purification system;
the latter guarantees clean water no matter where you are. Malaria is probably
the second biggest worry after impure water - there are any number of medicines
which offer some protection, but there is simply no guarantee.
If you do get ill, the two best places to turn to are the embassies, and
the four-star hotels. Both places will speak your language, and have a roster
of good doctors that also speak your language. In a worst-case scenario, your
embassy will facilitate your getting home.
The Center for Disease Control in the U.S.
lists prevalent diseases and recommended immunizations for most countries in the world,
and is a good resource.
What medicines should you take? Remember that you can buy what you need in
most major cities you visit, over the counter, and cheaper than you'd pay at home.
And in any serious emergency, you're likely to head for the doctor.
Still, what you'll probably want:
- triple antibiotic cream
- immodium or other diarrhea medicine
- laxative (a much bigger and more common problem than diarrhea, believe me)
- sunscreen
- length of hygienic gauze
- aspirin / painkillers
- needle and thread (good for emergency surgery and all sorts of repairs)
- superglue
- hydrocortisone or other anti-itch cream for bites
Guidebooks & Maps
There is a tendency to carry a whole library of guidebooks, to rely on them
heavily, and spend a lot of time reading them to determine your next move both
before you go and while you're away. Personally, I've discovered the less
you take in the way of guidebooks the better. They're heavy, and they tend to
be a crutch - you'll wind up doing the same things everyone else does (since they're
all relying on guidebooks as well).
Reading guidebooks before you go is an excellent way to know more about where
you're visiting, and to note the various highlights you'd like to see along the
the way. But all too often, the guides are inaccurate or out of date. These days,
I tear out the local city maps and hostel guides for major cities I plan on visiting,
and that's all I take. You'll find it's easy to borrow a book for a particular place
from any one of the myriad of other travellers along a route. And when you arrive
in a given place, there will be an army of locals that knows all about the hotels,
motels, hostels, and important sites in the region - they make their money taking
tourists and travellers there anyway.
No one series of guidebooks is the absolute best - different books and publishers
tend to be best for different countries. The South American Handbook is probably the
best guide for that continent (all in one handy book); Lonely Planet does an excellent
job in China and India. And one of my favorite guides of all time is
Mark Elliot's
South East Asia: A Graphical Guide.
It's designed for the savvy traveler, and primarily provides hand drawn maps indicating
where to find what you really need (embassies, transport hubs, backpacker / hostel areas).
In general though, I prefer the
Rough Guides, as they seem to be the most
well-written, and generally the most accurate. They also do an excellent job of
providing cultural and historical background, as well as covering issues of money,
health, local taboos, good street maps, the music scene and more. Another excellent
source for guidebooks and travel info is the
travel independent web site.
Further, serendipity is a key ingredient in any good trip. Many's the time I've
had a specific itinerary that's gone completely out the window once I've arrived
in a place. Maybe it's a lot more interesting and fun than you expected, and you
stay so long your plans have to change. Or maybe you hear about or stumble onto
something that wasn't even in the books. Or maybe you find you don't like the place
at all, even though you'd planned to stay, and you move on.
I suppose my point in all this is that while guidebooks are helpful, I recommend
you don't rely on them, nor on some incredibly specific travel plan. Leave yourself
the flexibility to discover unplanned wonders and adventures, and realize that
everyone along your route will have ample information about where they've been and
you're going.
Good local maps of a country on the other hand are indispensable. They give you
a sense of where you are, and where it's possible to go from there. They'll show roads,
trains, and airports. And local city maps are often available from an information center
when you arrive that list places or areas to stay, and transport hubs in the city you're in.
Conclusion
Your best preparation is your own resolve. With patience and a little effort,
you can solve about any problem you encounter along the way. You may wind up
taking a different trip than you planned, because of something you discover along
the way, or because of problems you encounter. The best goal is to set out on
an adventure, not to stick to a very specific plan.
Finally, being able to communicate with the people you encounter is key, so
here are my thoughts on language.
Above all, have a wonderful trip, and remember, you may come home a different
person, which is the most difficult thing of all for which to prepare.
I hope these thoughts have been useful. If you have any suggestions or improvements,
please let me know.