JANUARY 2015:
What Luggage Am I Going To Pack?
I am a GRANDPAcker and I will pack accordingly.
This means that I will pack as a Flashpacker would PLUS a few extras (like my medications). 🙂
Useful Links:
Here are some useful links to sites that offer good travel products:
OneBagger: They find and review the best travel gear and accessories for your trips to save your time
Health & Safety:
In the poorer countries, the tap water is not always the best. In some budget hotels, the shower water can ‘smell’.
In my first 9 months I got inflamed tonsils 3 times and ended up on antibiotics; I put this down to brushing my teeth in the tap water.
As you travel around, you can buy bottled water for cleaning your teeth – and, I did this for a while. But, in the end, I found that the best solution was to travel with mouthwash and swill and gargle after brushing my teeth. I haven’t had any problems with my tonsils for the past 9 months.
What Items Did I End Up With?
I learnt a lot in the first 9 months of my travels and made some major adjustments. My final items were:
A SMALL BACKPACK / DAYPACK:
- With lots of compartments (to keep things separate and organised)
- With plastic zips (so that they don’t rust)
- Small enough to take on a plane as hand-luggage
- Lightweight (so that it doesn’t burn into my valuable 7Kgs of hand-luggage allowance when I fly)
- But big enough to take several more Kgs when I am travelling by land
- When on a plane, it is mostly about weight limitations…
- Otherwise, I will tend to put valuables in the Backpack and keep it with me at all times
Usual contents (from left to right):
- Wallet
- Advanced Open Water SCUBA Diving ID Card
- UK Driving License & NZ Driving License
- Personal Visa Credit Card & Visa Debit Card
- Business Visa Credit Card & Visa Debit Card (as back up)
- Travel Pouch
- Passport
- Vaccination Certificate
- International Driving Permit
- Loyalty Cards (eg airline)
- 12x Passport Sized Photos
- Cash for the Countries associated with the immediate travel plan
- Plastic Container
- International Travel Plug Adapter
- USB Charger (USA & Europe)
- Standard USB-microUSB Data / Charging Cable
- 3 meter USB-microUSB Data / Charging Cable
- Luggage Scale
- Spare Smartphone Battery & Charger
- Document Pouch
- Hardcopy scans of important documents (eg driving license(s), credit / debit cards, and Passport pages / tourist visas)
- Spare Money from Different Countries
- Numeric Padlock
- Bluetooth Earbuds
- Wired Earbuds (for when in flight mode)
- Sunglasses & Case
- Travel Drinking Bottle
- Lighter
A MEDIUM-SIZED HARD-SKIN SUITCASE:
- Big enough to hold up to 25Kgs (I will usually only travel with a maximum on 20Kg in the suitcase)
- Digital lock (this is where I will safely keep all my valuables (as you can’t keep valuables safe in a Backpack)
- Two separate compartments (one inside a zip cover and each with a tie-down strap)
- Collapsable Handle & Four Wheels (for maximum manoeuvrability)
A LAPTOP BAG:
- With a compartment for my Tablet
- And other compartments for Tablet Accessories, Passport, etc
- Shoulder strap (I tend to carry this around with me all day every day)
I bought this Tablet Bag in Thailand. It is excellent quality but I made 1 big mistake when I chose it … it has metal zips and buckles. You must get plastic. Two of the zips have already rusted and broken: the hot and humid weather in these countries eats away at metals.
Usual contents (from left to right)
- 2-in-1 Acer Switch 10E with 64Gb eMMC (magnetic detachable tablet and keyboard)
- Bluetooth Travel Mouse (a slimline Microsoft Touch)
- Tablet Power Plug & 3 metre USB-microUSB Data / Charging Cable
- Glasses & Protective Case
- Protective Case Containing
- Another Standard USB-microUSB Data / Charging Cable
- Other items as and when I need them
- Protective Case Containing
- Multi SD Card to USB Converter
- microSD to SD Converter
- 1TB Portable SSD Drive & Cable (no moving parts to go wrong) containing my whole music collection, picture library, movie collection, important documents and reference documents)
- 4Gb USB2 Flash Drive (for general usage)
- 64GB USB3 Flash Drive (containing my whole music collection, picture library, and important documents)
TECHNOLOGY:
- Protective Case containing
- Additional Travel Adaptor
- Additional USB Charger
- 2-Way USB Cigarette Lighter Charger
- Phono-Phono Cable (to play my music on other people’s devices)
- HDMI Cable
- microHDMI to HDMI Cable
- 3x Spare microUSB to USB Data / Charging Cables
- Spare USB3 Data / Charging Cable (for external Disk Drives)
- Protective Case (always kept in my Suitcase) containing
- 500GB Portable HDD & Cable containing my whole music library, picture gallery, movies, and critical documents)
- 2x 16GB USB2 Flash Drives (for general use)
- 2nd Pair of Sunglasses & Protective Case
- Protective Case containing microSD Cards (of different data sizes) and SIMcards
- Original Galaxy S3 Smartphone Power Adapter & Cable
- Protective Case (always kept in my Daypack) containing
- 500GB Portable HDD & Cable containing my whole music library, picture gallery, movies, and critical documents)
- 8GB USB2 Flash Drive (for general use)
- 64GB USB3 Flash Drive (containing my whole music collection, picture library, and important documents)
- 2nd Pair of Glasses & Protective Case
TOOLS & KITS:
- Protective Pouch containing
- Items for my S1 Prolapse / Trapped Nerve / Back Problem
- Anti-inflamatories
- Pain Killers
- Paracetamol
- Emergency Toilet Paper
- Protective Pouch containing a General Medical Kit
- Shower Rose
- Nylon Washing Line
- 1x Travel Sewing Kit
- Roll of Tape
- Credit Card Style Multitool
- Wire loop digital-combination padlocks (I don’t want to lose any keys)
- Travel Multitool
- 1x Cigarette lighter
PERSONAL:
- Pincers
- Nail Clippers
- Manual Toothbrush
- Travel Mirror
- Comb
- Toiletry Bag
- Wire Hanger & Thick Business Card & Piece of Flat Wood (for fooling keycard based hotel aircon controls)
- 3x Waterproof Pouches (Smartphone Sized)
- Spare Leather Wallet
LEISURE:
- Travel Raincoat
- Protective Plastic Container
- Manual / Dynamo LED Torch
- Swimming Shorts
- 3x Swimming Trunks (also used as underwear when needed with each containing a zipped back pocket to hold cash / credit cards)
- Water Shoes
- 2x Sarongs (also used as towels)
- Wetbag & Carry Strap
- SCUBA Diving Watch
- Spare Solar Wrist Watch
- Wrap-around Sunglasses
CLOTHES:
- Lightweight Plastic Coat Hangers for every item
- 9x Sleeveless Sports Shirt (very comfortable in hot weather)
- Fisherman’s Long Trousers (good to keep the bugs off in the evening)
- Lightweight Long Trousers which can convert to shorts (for looking smart)
- Fabric Belt (that doubles as a luggage strap)
- 4x Below Knee Shorts
- Smart T-Shirt
- Sleeveless Denim Shirt
- Warm Top (lightweight marino wool)
FOOTWEAR & OTHER:
- Baby Oil (to mix with Dettol to keep off sandflies)
- Sunburn Spray
- Bug Off (for mozzies)
- Aftershave
- Insect Killer (to spray Hotel rooms in the evenings)
- Lightweight Slip-On Walking Shoes
- Jandles
- Sandles
- 2x Long socks (1 being used & 1 in the wash)
- 2x Ankle socks (1 being used & 1 in the wash)
SMARTPHONE:
- Samsung Galaxy S3 with 64Gb eMMC
- 64Gb micro SDXC expansion card
Travel Insurance:
For Travel Insurance purposes, it is also worth doing the following
Take a photo of everything that has been packed
Take digit copies of the values of everything packed
In this way, should you need to make an insurance claim, you will have sufficient proof to make the insurance claim successfully.
This is now part of My Plan.