Weekly Travel Question: Last week we received a great travel question from Aisleen & Rich @ Life’s Great Adventures asking: What items are a ‘must’ for packing into a backpack, & what really doesn’t need to come with you?
Hi Aisleen and Rich! Well, I can start out by saying that the first time I left for a big trip I thought I needed to bring my whole house with me to be able to survive. Among a lot of other junk I brought not only one but two pairs of high heels… Obviously, you don’t need that.
My sore back forced me to throw those out – among other things only a few weeks into our trip, and I carried on with my backpack a little lighter than before… however, the longer we traveled the more we realized how little we actually needed.
The Never Bring Stuff
Something you really don’t need to bring that I know many people do is 7-days worth of underwear. Unless you will be out of water for a week (which you won’t be), you only need to bring 2 or 3 at the most.
Everyday you wash one in the shower and let it dry over night or day, wear one pair and have a spare one in case. (you can also buy light-weight tramping quick-dry underwear, and also underwear you don’t need to wash for a few weeks… not personal experience, but saw them in the shop!)
Here is a quick list of a few more things which you don’t really need:
- high-heels, a massive makeup bag, hair dyer, hair straighter etc… more than 1 pair of jeans (if any), a 15 inch+ laptop (instead get a cheap 10-11inch one – for size, weight and cheap in-case it breaks), a camera tripod, more than one real book at a time – use ebooks instead, because books add so much extra weight to your pack.
Also a common thing you will see around the world is when you stay at hostels you will see a bunch of second-hand books sitting around and they normally let you trade your book for one of those which are left – so at every place you stay, you can just pick up a *new* book, and leave your old one for someone else to use.
The #1 Must Bring
This is something that before I left, I had no idea I would need so badly, or use so much – a good pair of walking shoes!
The only reason I bought them was because they were on 70% off in a camping store. I fell in love with my Teva Dozer Sandals, who walked me through everything, and never let me down. Without a good pair of walking shoes there are so many things I wouldn’t have done.
I wasn’t used to do much walking, so I never knew how important it was to have a good pair of shoes.
If I would have had to worry about having sore feet or blisters I would never have walked where I did, so I’m glad I had my Tevas.
If anyone has read the book “Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered To Do It” by Geoff Dyer you know that I’m not the only one who is obsessed and praise their Teva’s like a god.
Nathan loved them too, but so did some crazy big animal with sharp teeth… One morning we woke up and discovered that Nathan’s shoes were gone. We found them later totally ripped apart and full of teeth marks right through the sandal. Someone had eaten half the shoe…
No matter where you are or where you’re heading, all shoes you bring have to be comfortable, because you never know how long you’ll have to walk in them.
Even the flip flops should be nice to walk in, I strongly recommend the Havaianas Sandals. They’re made of a special material that is really good for your feet and doesn’t rub down the inside of the heel like many others. I like the ones with a strap going across your ankle, you’ll never risk dropping them!
Now let’s ask our readers – what are some of your travel items which are a MUST BRING and what are some things which you would never take again on your travels?
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