Last tip is, pack things that serve more than one purpose. Packing something that only works in a very specific situation isn’t that useful. Try to pack clothing that may work either if you need to meet in a more formal manner or that you can still walk around comfortably, the same for shoes and coats.
If you have been reading our blog you probably noticed that we post mostly about the cost of spending some time in certain places, how to get there, interviews with people who are moving and working outside their countries and photography galleries. This time we want to share with you a different insight into traveling. I have been traveling for about 1 year and half now and today I’m going to share with you my travel luggage. What I pack, how I pack and how it works for me. The kind of bags, my clothes, shoes, tech stuff, electronics and others.
BAGS / BACKPACKS
Lets start by the essential thing. Where do you put all the stuff you need. Even though I’m not that attached to my possessions I still have a few that follow me wherever I go. To pack them I use a regular backpack (about 70l capacity), and a photography specific backpack.
The regular backpack is composed of:
- Main section – where most of my clothes and sleeping bag go,
- A smaller bottom section – where I place underwear, some papers and a book,
- 2 side pockets – I divide between them my personal hygiene stuff and other small bits,
- Top pocket – the bag rain coat, usually my sun-glasses and the book I’m currently reading
The photography backpack is very ingenious and it’s composed of:
- Front Section – where I put laptop, wacom tablet, external hdd, usb pen’s, cables,
- 2 side and 1 top pocket – miscellaneous small electronic bits, agenda, pen,
- Main back section – this is where it’s ingenious; it packs a regular photography shoulder bag that can go inside the backpack or that you can detach and carry on with you – this shoulder bag has the usual photography cushions to separate and protect your equipment
CLOTHES
I started traveling in Europe (from Portugal) in the beginning of April 2014. At that time spring was starting and I had planned to cross all Europe and do this traveling for around 6 months. I didn’t need anything particular for cold as I was going to catch most of spring/summer and beginning of autumn. Although most t-shirts I started with are no longer with me, the number of items remains the same.
My list of clothing right now goes like this:
- 4x T-Shirts
- 4x Short-sleeve shirts
- 4x Shirts
- 1x Sweat-shirt
- 1x Jacket
- 1x Scarf
- 4x Shorts
- 1x Sport/Swimming shorts
- 4x Pants
- 10x underwear
- 6x Pairs of socks
- 1x Casual boot-like shoes
- 1x Sport sneakers
- 1x Plastic flip-flops
- 1x Sleeping bag
- 1x Belt
ELECTRONICS / TOOLS
Before I started I sold my old photographic equipment, my studio equipment and changed from a Canon 7d with some lenses (covering ultra-wide angle to tele-photo) to a full frame Nikon D600, with a simple 50mm 1.8F. I also bought a MacBook Pro with Retina display, as I intended to fund my traveling with my online freelancing work. The MacBook is definitively worth it. It’s as robust as one could wish for and I’m very happy to have parted with 2.000€ for it (happy might not be the right word but more – comfortable). On the other hand having changed from a Canon 7D to a Nikon D600, even though the later is Full-frame, hasn’t yet proved itself an important decision. It’s true that I got a new modern camera and ditched an older model, got full-frame and all that, but in the exchange I lost some range and options I had with the more complete set-up of the 7d. I don’t regret it, but I wouldn’t make it a priority again.
So what do I pack with me to keep working online?
- MacBook Pro 15″ Retina
- Wacom Intuos 4 Small
- 2TB Seagate External HDD
- Nikon D600
- Nikon 50mm 1.8
- Tokina 24mm 2.8 (old manual lens – 50€ in Mauer Park flea market)
- Samsung Galaxy GT-S7560
- Chargers & Cables & USB Pens
HIGYENE / PERSONAL
These items don’t change that much and this part is usually comprised of:
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste
- Nail cutter & scissors
- Tweezers
- Deodorant
- Perfume
- Soap/Body wash
- Hair-cut machine
- Wet-towels
- Topic antibiotic for cuts
- Towel
OTHERS / MISCELLANEOUS
- Beautiful Chinese chopsticks I bought in Vietnam – useful for eating in the streets
- Sunglasses
- 1 or 2 books at a time
- Notebook / Agenda
- Pen
TIPS ON TRAVELING LIGHTLY
I travel with 15kg in my main backpack and around 5kg in my photo bag, this makes up for 20kg total and gives me more than enough room to pack anything extra I might need when boarding a flight. Most carriers will have a basic 20kg luggage included plus 7kg backpack & hand bag allowance into the flight cabin. I never pack my laptop, cameras and gadgets on my “hold luggage”, I always take them with me as my hand luggage.
One of the things I found out was that if you’re traveling to cheaper countries it’s totally feasible to pack less and buy new clothing there. I threw out most of my t-shirts (after 6 to 7 months traveling and they weren’t new when I started) and bought new shirts and shorts in Vietnam. The textile quality is quite good and the prices are great. You can find decent t-shirts from 3$ to 5$ in quite good materials. I bought nice shorts for about 10$ each pair along with underwear and socks. Needless to say you can get custom shirts made to tailor your size for quite a reasonable price (20$ to 50$).
When I was in Berlin I had thrown away my old sneakers and bought a second-hand pair at Mauer Park’s flea market (simple VANS for 6€!). Then those got ruined about 5 months later and since I was in SEA I just used my flip-flops and my shoe-boots whenever I needed something more formal. Then once I got into Cambodia I found some cool blue Nike sneakers that I bought for 10$, and now I use them to run around the park near Sri Petaling, in Malaysia. I also bought two beautiful pants in Cambodia, one from a local designer in a cool blue and another pair of black skinny VANS, for respectively 9$ and 12$.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My advice would be, don’t worry too much about what you pack, get the essentials with you, maximum two different types of shoes, one flip-flops, between pants and shorts four to eight, t-shirts and shirts up to eight also. I cut my own hair so I just bring along my hair-cutter machine, some usual stuff for personal hygiene and nothing else. I have a sleeping bag for when needed, if it’s too cold in any place where I stay or in the case the bed sheets look “weird” (although I didn’t have to use it for this end yet, who knows right?). It came very handy when I slept on the streets in Paris.
The books make for excellent companions in those long flight/train/bus trips and you can either sell them in most places that have second hand books or simply exchange them with someone. I offered my guide to South East Asia to a German couple in Kathmandu as I wouldn’t need it and they were traveling there after. Besides these regular things I also carry what I need to work and document my trip, a laptop, my tablet and a d-slr.
My traveling setup is quite ok to manage on my own, either if I’m in a modern city or in a dusty road to nowhere. Of course if you’re traveling for shorter periods of time then you’ll probably manage with even less, but even for a year I found it to be more than needed. Remember that most places will either have laundry services (even small backpacker guesthouses) or you’ll be able to find independent places that will clean and iron your clothes for quite a reasonable price without any hassle at all.
Last tip is, pack things that serve more than one purpose. Packing something that only works in a very specific situation isn’t that useful. Try to pack clothing that may work either if you need to meet in a more formal manner or that you can still walk around comfortably, the same for shoes and coats.
What do you pack with you? Have you any other items you won’t leave home without or that you found to be quite handy when traveling for longer periods?
staygypsy | Traveling and freelancing 