Real Travel Tips – Packing

One of the topics I was thinking of writing about after traveling in Asia and Africa for ~9 months was travel tips. I sort of pushed it off thinking that there must be a lot of good advice already out there. Since I’ve been back I’ve gotten a lot of different questions about traveling and I realized a lot of the real travel tips I ended up learning by talking with other travelers, local people from different countries, and being on the road.

There are a lot of travel tips so I am breaking them out into a series of posts. Here are some of the main tips involving packing that every traveler should know.

Don’t Over Pack

Even after telling myself this countless times and having traveled on numerous trips, I still have issues with this. The key thing to remember is that in most places around the world, you can always buy things you need (specialized gear is the exception. It depends what kind of trip you are going on). In most cases, the things you actually need are passport, debit cards, and money.

Usually I’ll pack my bag with all the things I am going to bring and then I unpack it and take out a portion of everything. Do you really need all of those clothes? Or 2 ziplock bags full of medicine? Then I repack it, check the weight, and repeat. Remember that you are going to be lugging your bag around and you may buy things along the way, so, less is better.

Compartmentalize Your Pack

I used to go on 2-week canoe trips to Quetico Provincial Park with my Great Uncle Lou when he was in his 80’s and he was always adamant about keeping his packs in order. He has packed things the same way since, well, probably since he first started going there, which was 65 years ago at the time! He always brought everything he needed and he always knew exactly where everything was (unless you put it back in the wrong spot, then he wouldn’t be too happy…).

I’ve always been on the more messy side of the spectrum, but over the years I’ve realized that some organization helps a lot if you want to find things. One step towards achieving Uncle Lou’s organization status is to group your smaller loose things together. That way you are not digging into your bag forever for the only outlet adapter you have for that country.

One of my friends swears by using packing cubes and I’ve heard many people really like them. I looked into them and they seemed a little spendy, so I improvised and used ziplock bags, sacks, sunglasses case, etc. I had a ziplock bag for my medicine, a sack for dirty clothes, sunglasses case for different country outlet adaptors, waterproof bag for socks and underwear (trust me, you do not want wet socks or underwear!), ziplock bag for toiletries, etc. It will make your life a lot easier having things at least a little organized and easy to find.

I haven’t made it much past level 1 in Uncle Lou’s organizational skills, but the next best piece of advice is to keep the things you don’t need towards the bottom of your bag and the things you want handy in outside pockets or towards the openings. Over time you get so used to your pack that you gain the ability to reach into your bag blind and find things by feel.

Double Bagging It

This is just personal preference but I prefer bringing my main pack and a day pack when I travel. It may seem weird at first but I’ve found it’s way more convenient than just having one big backpack. Advantages are:

• Weight Distribution – you are more balanced front and back.
• Bag Limits on Flights – you can move weight from your carry on to your personal bag to get them both below 7kg, which is the limit on a lot of airlines (you can always wear stuff if you need to get it lower…).
• Security – You can put most of your valuables in the day pack that usually will fit in hostel lockers or you can carry it with you and drop off your bigger bag.
• Travel cred – What’s cooler than walking around with 2 bags at the same time?

Everybody has their own style for how they travel and pack their bags. The more you travel and the more people you travel with, you figure out different ways of doing things. Over time you develop your preferences and what you believe is important to bring. E.g. It wasn’t until recently that I started carrying a needle and thread to mend clothes, and rope for tying things down, drying out clothes, and putting up a hammock.

Here’s to developing your own packing style and striving to get closer to Uncle Lou packing level status! If you have any specific packing questions, feel free to reach out!