BootsnAll Travel Community

Is it worth taking a sleeping bag round the world if I'm going to Costa Rica, Cook Islands, NZ, Australia, India and Nepal from about January to May? I have one, a really decent one which I don't want to wreck, although I could take a cheaper one but I don't know if it's worth it or if I'll even need it. What do you think??

Depends where you're planning to sleep!

Indeed it does. Most of those places that you mentioned have cheap guesthouses. If *I* were doing that trip, I know that I wouldn't be taking along a sleeping bag.

Hey,

I wouldn't bother with a sleeping bag myself but do take a sleep sheet, if you don't have one you can make one (it's just a sheet basically sewn together like a sack - easy!)

Jennie

So, if one WERE to take a sleeping bag on a RTW trip that included mostly warm countries but was for someone who gets cold easily--which one would you guys recommend?

Jessie

"Whenever I have to choose between two evils, I always like to choose the one I haven't tried before." --Mae West, I believe

A 20 degree goosedown bag sized to fit a woman.

even though we're travelling in warm, humid areas, we've decided to take sleeping bags because I ALWAYS wish I had brought one. Not for warmth, but mainly for padding to sit on or lie on when waiting in train stations, parks, bus stops, for hard beds, etc. The padding-less areas are limitless.

good to know about the 20 degree tip, didn't even think of that.

I ALWAYS bring my sleeping bag (0 degrees) - no matter how hot the climate of a country is. It's just a good thing to have with you. Example: last winter on the Philippines. After one night in a hostel on a small, little visited island, I found out (the hard way), that the mattress was infested with bed bugs. I couldn't change room and still wanted to stay a few days. So my sleeping bag mad a perfect matress for me the following nights. If I wouldn't have brought it, I'd have slept on the plain floor or the biting matress!

Then of course, I often have my tent with me - that way it makes double sense. Especially in NZ, where there is excellent hiking and camping, this might be a thing to consider.

Adrian

www.aresthetics.ch/trav
My personal travel website

I spent the summer in New Zealand doing heaps of hiking and camping adn I had a 30 degree synthetic and was never cold, if you are just wear your clothes in the bag. And Costa Rica I had a light weight sleep sack rated at 55 and I usually just slept on top of it in my bug net while camping. I'd never travel without a sleeping bag, sure it's nice to stay in bunk houses, hostels or whatever but sleeping under the stars is a neccesary expereince, at least for me, and you never know what oppurtunities may arise or what complications may present themselves. I've learned the hard way in many a sleepless night, because it was too cold and I was ill prepared, no sleeping bag.