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What to pack for longer backpacking trips

Travel Gear for Longer Trips and what to pack.

The one question I always get, from both friends back at home, or from other backpackers I meet and or even people on mail is: What’s in your backpack?

There’s a big difference in what I carried in my backpack on my trips around Asia/Africa and South America compared to what I carried around with me on a trip in Europe, America, or Australia/New Zealand.

But the top of that, I always try to keep my backpack as light as possible, both for my own comfort and to save money. There’s no reason to carry expensive clothes, or if you do, then it’s just left you more annoying when you lost your clothes in the laundry or when other backpackers steal your favourite T-shirt (yes, that happens a lot!)

So, here’s what I put in my 48L backpack during my long trip. Currently, I’m using Osprey Packs Kestrel 48 Backpack. It’s ok for backpacking but far from good enough for high mountain hiking or for longer trips. Anyway, I will not hike a mountain all the time.

BUT

Unfortunately is not Osprey Packs Kestrel 48 Backpack made of the best quality, if you do a lot of travelling is this not the bag for you, I bought this bag back late in 2013 and now its completely useless, or literally falling apart. I’m very disappointed by the quality of this backpack. Soon my future trips I’ll choose a much better and longer-lasting brand.!

So ill recommend anyone that’s planning to do some serious travelling, drop Osprey, it’s not worth the money.

#backpack #osprey_kestrel

osprey kestrel 48

SO WHAT TO PACK.

* Think Tank Photo Mirrorless Mover, for my camera, tablet, and e-reader
* Black Diamond Revolt Headlamp. This one is very important; power cuts are very common in some area and very useful when you sleep in dorms, so you don’t need to turn on the light and wake up the whole room just to find out your stuff or read something.
* Earplugs It’s A Must! (Read: 10 Important Things That I Learned…..)
* Toiletries.
* Small pocket knife. Nothing expensive since I got a lot of them confiscated in security checks. So, find the cheap one and save it in the check-in luggage. In some countries, they will go through your backpack on train stations, metro stations, bus station and ferry terminals.
* Hammock. I always carry a very light hammock that I bought in India. Great for hanging up on deserted beaches, small boats going up and down rivers, and it’s getting more and more common for hostels to have a place to hang them up.
* Silk sleeping bag. A very important item, especially to prevent you from the bed bug-infested beds and dirty dorms.
* Sleeping bag. I always carry my good sleeping bag down to -20. I never know when I went camp outside or hike some mountains.
* First aid kit. I still haven’t needed it myself, but a lot of other backpackers I have travelled with have been very happy that I have carried one.
* Padlock. A good one to lock the safety locker in the hostel, or doors in hotels.
* Samsonite document organizer. For passport, bank card, licenses, and other documents
* Laundry bag. To keep the dirt and smelly clothes separated from the clean ones.

What to pack for TRAVEL CLOTHING.

1 pair of shoes. Salomon Speedcross 3 GTX. Great shoes for city walking and hiking. I have walked to Mt.Everest base camp, Annapurna circuit and all around Africa with this shoe.

1 pair of flip-flops. Some cheap one I bought in Taiwan.
1 Jacket. A lightweight waterproof and windproof jacket
2 Pants, one pair for trekking and hiking and another pair for daily use
2 Shorts, one for daily use and another one for daily/swimming use
2 Socks. I really hate sucks and only use them when hiking
3 pair Shirt/ T-shirt. It’s easy to laundry, and it’s dry fast
4 pic underwear
1 Sweater. Air-con on the night bus and trains can get cold.

If travelling to colder places, I’ll carry a set (shirt and trousers) of terms layer and a fleece sweater too.

I always bring 2 backpacks while travelling. 1 big backpack for all those stuff above, but I keep the most important things in my small backpack (around 6-7 kg).

Here’s what I put there:

Electronic Gear

Camera. Olympus OM-D E-M1
Lens. 12-40mm 2.8F
Tablet. Samsung Galaxy 8.4
E-reader. I choose the Sony Reader PRS-T3. The only reason I don´t use a kindle is coz I can use a micro SD memory card in Sony E-reader.
2 Headphones. I always break or lose a pair.
Mobile phones. A waterproof one
Portable battery. It can be weeks between each time I can recharge my battery when the travel of the tourist trail or hike in the mountains.
Small tripod for the camera. Currently, I use a gorilla pod.

Polaroid camera. I started to carry a polaroid camera on my last trip. It’s a fantastic icebreaker with local people when travelling in distant or remote places. Snap a photo and give it away. You will make someone happy. But, noted that it could be extremely hard to find a new film.

*I don´t carry an external hard-drive anymore, you got WiFi about everywhere these days, and using a cloud is much safer then take a hard drive around with you, and it saves weight.

what to pack for your first backpacker trip around Europe

What to pack for your backpacker trip

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Christian L.

Saturday 29th of August 2015

HI

I agree that saftey is a safety is a concern sometimes, i have had all my stuff stolen from the safety locker in a hostel, a hostel that i have stayed in more then 10times. I got all my camera gear, tablet, passport and everthing stolen from a saftey lock in one of the highest rated hostels in the world. So shit happens.. And that happend in a country thats recognized by one of the safets one in the world.

I have also got my phone stolen in Norway more times then any other countires in the world so, this is just my personal experince;)

One of the reasons im traveling list is that i can cary my backpack every where, and dont need to worry about me backpack in a hostel/guesthouse/hotel.

Everyone got their own experince, but i have never ever had a problem finding a hotel room in any destinations around the world, even if theres been a big festival/sport event. Theres always been a bed or a place at a a floor.

Christian

Christian L.

Thursday 27th of August 2015

I normaly dont have any problems uploading big raw files/other big files, but it depends abit on the country and location. Sometimes i spend a bit extra time in big citys or tourist destinations just to be able to backup my files online. Even im not a fan of their coffee is Starbucks a great place to upload files.

I dont have GoPro anymore, mine got stolen some time back and i haven't bothered getting a new one yet. I have insted been filming abit with my Olympus Om-d1, but i havet got time to edit it yet. Will be looking into editing it as soon as i can tho.

Christian

Irene Kaye

Thursday 27th of August 2015

Really like your photos and travel suggestions.