My Travel Backpack

By Gregory Rodgers

So you leave in a few days for the biggest adventure of your life. Your backpack sits empty and your room is piled high will things that you are thinking about taking. One glance tells you that its not all going to fit in there, and even if it does you won’t be able to carry it a few meters without collapsing.

Here is some advice to make packing for your travels easier:

Build a packing list before you go shopping

This will help you get organized and you will spend less money buying things that you do not take. See the backpacking packing list on Startbackpacking.com for some ideas to make your own list.

When in doubt, leave it out

Everyone knows the old mantra “pack light” but what most do not realize is that packing too heavy will dictate your entire trip experience. Ask 100 new backpackers what they wish they would have done differently and all of them will tell you they brought too much from home!

Buy Local

The backpacking stores are full of things that will supposedly make a traveler’s life easier on the road. The truth is, you actually need very little of them. Save your money for your backpacking trip! If you need something, buy it locally – it will be cheaper and you will help an economy that needs it.

Expect the Worst

Your backpack’s worst nightmare is about to come true. It will be mistreated in ways that you can barely imagine. It will be stood on, crushed, thrown, dropped, baked in the sun, rained on, and probably even used as a seat by you on occasion. Make sure that everything inside is ready to be abused. Waterproof anything that you care about in bags and pad fragile things with clothes.

The number one rule of packing is to never take anything you will cry about being lost, broken, or stolen!

Never, ever, pack to capacity

Dirty laundry takes up more room than neatly-folded clean laundry. You will most likely find cheap gifts along the way and will need room to carry them home. Also, when you run out of travel sized things like shampoo you may have to buy full sized bottles on the road. Never, ever, leave home with a full bag. At the most, never go beyond 75% full or you will regret it!

In summary:

• It is better to take too little than too much
• Buy stuff from the locals for cheap and responsible backpacking
• Don’t take anything you care too much about
• Don’t leave home with a full backpack

Get detailed instructions on how to pack and what to carry for backpacking travel on Startbackpacking.com.

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