The CragBaby

For the past five years I have traveled to a new destination, either as a move within the U.S. or as an international trip. I have always traveled solo because travel partners can be a little tricky to find as traveling can be quite taxing: everything you own is in a backpack, optimizing your time usually results in a lack of sleep, the new culture and language can be frustrating, there is always a possibility of illness from the food and water, etc. I believe the key is to find a travel partner with a similar demeanor and outlook for the trip. Surprisingly enough, I actually might be so fortunate this year as the details are in the works.

When I was in China in 2005, I met a couple British guys who became dear friends of mine and one night we wrote up The Ultimate Backpacking list as it is extremely easy to overpack (and then shipping items home). It seems that whatever items are needed for a weekend trip are the same items that will be needed for a year long trip and nothing more. We found that the goal should be to leave home with the backpack only half full as to ensure there is room for any presents or items picked up along the adventure. Here is the list:

Clothes
1 pair of pants
2 pairs of shorts
3 shirts - one a little dressy for going out
1 light sweater
1 pair of flip flops / Chacos
1 pair of running shoes (I enjoy running in the new cities I visit)
3 pairs of socks
4 pairs of underwear
1 baseball cap or bandana (Even if you don’t wear one at home, I swear you will want it while traveling)
1 belt (This is needed even if you don’t use one at home. In China the humidity made all my pants fit too loosely so I bought a string at a market place and tied it around my waist. I looked like I had just gotten off a ship wreck.)

Bathroom Supplies
toothbrush / toothpaste
face wash
deodorant
chapstick
sunscreen
small bottle of shampoo / condition
razor
insect repellant (depends on where you are going)
wet wipes (not completely necessary, but very nice)
saline for contacts
extra pair of contacts / glasses (I pack two extra pairs of contacts now due to a problem I had in China)

Misc.
umbrella
travel guide
1 book (I took audiobooks on my Ipod when I went to Ireland and it worked extremely well)
journal
electrical converter
first aid kit (did not take this last trip. I think it depends on where you go. I took a very complete kit to China and it was unbelievably handy.)
alarm clock (I used my watch)
camera
small bag for day trips (I have seriously needed this every trip. Perhaps something small that can be rolled to not take up very much room)
swiss army knife that has scissors, corkscrew and nail clippers
towel - I would suggest the small terry cloth ones
rain slicker / poncho (depending on where you travel)

I followed this list exactly when I traveled to Ireland and felt like the list was impeccable, that is after I added on the rain poncho (an item I forgot and was in dire need of in Ireland). =) I am open to any suggestions though from all you fellow travelers. Yet note that this list is for city traveling only as a climbing trip would be entirely different.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 12:22 am and is filed under travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.