Sean's list
Posted: December 3rd, 2006Hi there, here’s my list of items to take travelling. If something's here you need it, if not you don't: I’m 37 and fairly experienced, having visited 60 countries independently (in north, west, central and southern Africa, south, east and southeast Asia, north and south America, west and east Europe, and the Middle East); I’ve revised it hundreds of times since an initial version nine years ago.
It’s a three page Word file called Travel bag Travel bag
(Hope the link works)
Here’s a few initial comments. I travel with a shoulder bag not a backpack: a backpack means you’ve over packed, you look like a mountaineer or just a fashion follower, and you have to hunch forward slightly; the worst thing about a backpack though is that you look like a backpacker, which is the last thing you want in most places- you should be blending in so as to better make your observations, not standing out as though you're mindlessly insisting on your own background culture.
If you can pass for a sensibly dressed expatriate who happens to be carrying a bag, and not a nobody to defraud, you can cut down most of the creep/ tout/ begger/ hassle factor. To be fair though another the main factor in this is your age- if you’re young they know you don’t understand how the world works so well.
Also dozens of times I’ve arrived at a bus or taxi park when the they’re about to leave and are looking for someone to jump in right away- a 42x30x20cm bag often fits under the seat in front, by your legs, even on your lap, or in the back where you can keep an eye on it. Never, never let your bag out of your sight, eg tied on the roof: I’ve met enough travellers who’ve lost their backpack, and the horror that that means.
An effective reduction of the weight on one shoulder is simply to put the strap onto the other shoulder, over the head, redistributing it across the chest. Overall remember that the West is a very materialistic and wasteful society, constantly telling you you need more damn stuff than you do: the whole economy and way of life is based on selling you more than you need.
I wear the international style for men- shirt, trousers and shoes: they’re cheap, respectable, acceptable everywhere and get you taken seriously. The scruffy, antagonistic T-shirt, shorts, sandals and cap scheme is a dead-giveaway for the pre-socialised traveller and has minimal benefit in keeping you cool- the tropical sun burns exposed caucasian skin in minutes; also comfortable dress shoes are sufficient rather than heavy walking shoes: the Hushpuppy range are lightweight and a pleasure to wear.
(Moreover open footwear has the following risks: sunburn and damage from rays, even with sunscreen (Asians’, Africans’ and Latinos’ dark and sometimes hardened skin protects them); drying up, losing natural skin oils and heels cracking; getting dirty; injury from bashes, falling objects and hot liquids; secondary infection of wounds and bites from the unclean ground area; increased risk of snakebites; intestinal worms such as hookworms penetrating soles of the feet when walking, finding their way into the gut where may live for years; jiggers, a skin parasite causing itching and serious ulcerations, transmitted by sand fleas living near the ground; and reduced protection walking in areas of uneven ground, also used as dumps or toilets- including beaches.)
A couple of other things come to mind- get a ‘rectangular’ mosquito net, not centrally supported or wedge shaped ones: staying in a different room every other night with different set-up conditions means the net need some slack. The other types are only good when you can set them up exactly: I took one to West Africa, couldn’t make it work properly and got malaria twice. And regarding nets, one thing above all to remember when setting up or taking it down is to ensure the ceiling fan is off first: it’ll take your hand or your head off, no joke.
Also, give traveller’s cheques a low priority, instead favour hard currency cash- what the developing world wants: don’t worry too much about losing it, just be careful, storing it in a shoulder body wallet as I suggest- slightly harder to find these days; I’ve almost run out of money several times because no one for hundreds of miles could change cheques.
By all means let me know what you think.
It’s a three page Word file called Travel bag Travel bag
(Hope the link works)
Here’s a few initial comments. I travel with a shoulder bag not a backpack: a backpack means you’ve over packed, you look like a mountaineer or just a fashion follower, and you have to hunch forward slightly; the worst thing about a backpack though is that you look like a backpacker, which is the last thing you want in most places- you should be blending in so as to better make your observations, not standing out as though you're mindlessly insisting on your own background culture.
If you can pass for a sensibly dressed expatriate who happens to be carrying a bag, and not a nobody to defraud, you can cut down most of the creep/ tout/ begger/ hassle factor. To be fair though another the main factor in this is your age- if you’re young they know you don’t understand how the world works so well.
Also dozens of times I’ve arrived at a bus or taxi park when the they’re about to leave and are looking for someone to jump in right away- a 42x30x20cm bag often fits under the seat in front, by your legs, even on your lap, or in the back where you can keep an eye on it. Never, never let your bag out of your sight, eg tied on the roof: I’ve met enough travellers who’ve lost their backpack, and the horror that that means.
An effective reduction of the weight on one shoulder is simply to put the strap onto the other shoulder, over the head, redistributing it across the chest. Overall remember that the West is a very materialistic and wasteful society, constantly telling you you need more damn stuff than you do: the whole economy and way of life is based on selling you more than you need.
I wear the international style for men- shirt, trousers and shoes: they’re cheap, respectable, acceptable everywhere and get you taken seriously. The scruffy, antagonistic T-shirt, shorts, sandals and cap scheme is a dead-giveaway for the pre-socialised traveller and has minimal benefit in keeping you cool- the tropical sun burns exposed caucasian skin in minutes; also comfortable dress shoes are sufficient rather than heavy walking shoes: the Hushpuppy range are lightweight and a pleasure to wear.
(Moreover open footwear has the following risks: sunburn and damage from rays, even with sunscreen (Asians’, Africans’ and Latinos’ dark and sometimes hardened skin protects them); drying up, losing natural skin oils and heels cracking; getting dirty; injury from bashes, falling objects and hot liquids; secondary infection of wounds and bites from the unclean ground area; increased risk of snakebites; intestinal worms such as hookworms penetrating soles of the feet when walking, finding their way into the gut where may live for years; jiggers, a skin parasite causing itching and serious ulcerations, transmitted by sand fleas living near the ground; and reduced protection walking in areas of uneven ground, also used as dumps or toilets- including beaches.)
A couple of other things come to mind- get a ‘rectangular’ mosquito net, not centrally supported or wedge shaped ones: staying in a different room every other night with different set-up conditions means the net need some slack. The other types are only good when you can set them up exactly: I took one to West Africa, couldn’t make it work properly and got malaria twice. And regarding nets, one thing above all to remember when setting up or taking it down is to ensure the ceiling fan is off first: it’ll take your hand or your head off, no joke.
Also, give traveller’s cheques a low priority, instead favour hard currency cash- what the developing world wants: don’t worry too much about losing it, just be careful, storing it in a shoulder body wallet as I suggest- slightly harder to find these days; I’ve almost run out of money several times because no one for hundreds of miles could change cheques.
By all means let me know what you think.