Packing

My Dream Pack

Bags:

Osprey Talon 33 Liter backpack

Osprey Talon 11 Liter backpack

Dry Sack (at least big enough for valuables)

Attire:

x6        Boxer Briefs  

x3        Socks              

x1        Bathing Suit (double as shorts, neutral color, reliable pocket)

x1        Basket Ball shorts

x1        Jeans/long pants

x2        Shorts            

x2        Wife beater

x3        Tank top        

x2        T-shirt           

x1        Nice button up

x1        Running Shoes (or some kind of shoes)

x1        Flip Flops

X1       Rain poncho or rain jacket

X1       Sunglasses

Bathroom:

Case for bathroom products

Toothbrush

Travel size toothpaste

Floss

Deodorant

Contact Lenses

Travel size solution

Emergency toilet paper (in small heavy-duty zip lock bag)

Bar of soap (in heavy-duty small zip lock bag)

Razor with extra blades

Fingernail clippers

Cologne samplers

Utilities:

Lock & key

Waterproof head light (optional)

Pack towel

Drugs:

Malaria Pills

Antibiotics

Electronics:

I-phone 4s (not new)

In-ear Headphones (nice ones)

Chargers

Charger converters (optional)

Outlet Converters

Photography:

Canon Power shot G-16

Go Pro (not the newest one)

Papers & Documents:

Passport photo’s x10

Padi dive-book

International Drivers license

Passport

Wallet:

Debit card

Credit card

Student ID

Drivers License

Padi Card

Medical:

First aid kit:

Band-Aids

Moleskin

Tea light candle (optional)

Waterproof matches (optional)

Extras:

Rock Climbing Shoes (optional)

Travel Yoga Mat (optional)

Mini Travel Speakers (optional)

Macbook Air 13.3inch 256 gigabytes (optional)

My reasoning behind my dream pack:

Bags:

I chose Osprey just because I have had one for a long time and love it. They are light, comfy, durable and look cool. I chose 33 liter because it should be plenty big enough to fit everything including your daypack which will make it easier if you need to get somewhere or trek through mountains with all of your stuff. I found that having a nice daypack makes daily life easier allowing you to take what you need for the day. Also when traveling I like to have a large bag that I can throw under the bus or above the seat and a small bag with all my valuables that I can hold tight while I sleep or put between my legs.

Attire:

This area really depends on different circumstances. When and where you are going will require different clothes. If your very active, sweat easily, or are just a smelly person will greatly decide how much clothes you bring. After traveling for a while you will learn how to recycle clothes and maximize each item before washing it. When you go for a run, wear some clothes that are already dirty. If you know your going hiking you can wear slightly warn clothing since you know they will get dirty anyway. If you wore something but didn’t do any sweaty or dirty activities, chances are its good for another day or more depending on what you do in them and how hot it is outside. Don’t stress about bringing the right clothes because you can always get clothes on the road and chances are you will want special clothes from where you travel through.

Bathroom:

This also differs from person to person. Many girls might need more products for skin and make up and such. This is my personal list. Just make sure you don’t take large bottles of anything as you can always buy more small bottles of products while your traveling. Emergency toilet paper is on there because sometimes you really need to go and there is no toilet paper. This is not a good feeling and having some of your own will always give you peace of mind.

Utilities:

A small lock and key is nice for certain places especially to have some sense of security in a dorm setting but many places you can get away without locking your stuff up. I strongly recommend not leaving things out in the open and a lock is always the safest option for valuables. A pack towel is a must as it takes up no room and dries super quick. Many places don’t supply towels. A waterproof headlamp is optional but sometimes you are hiking in the dark and need your hands free in order to climb or hold something. Waterproof is just another plus. I don’t have sunscreen or mosquito spray and that is just my own decision but many places it is wise to have a travel size bottle of these things. In some situations I borrow from friends or I just cover up from the sun or try to avoid the mosquitos also doable with long clothing.

Drugs:

My opinion about Malaria pills is that you should only take them in high-risk areas during high-risk seasons. If you are traveling long term its kind of ridiculous to take them every day in an area where there is a small chance of getting it. The pills will do more harm to you than good. If you do get malaria symptoms and you’re not near a doctor you can self treat with a certain dosage of these pills and see a doctor as soon as possible. I also skipped out on getting rabies and Japanese Encephalitis vaccines but this is my choice. Whatever you decide, do your research and don’t rely on my opinion for your decisions, as I can’t guarantee anything. I just feel that many travelers make decisions while traveling like getting on a motorbike and not wearing a seatbelt which are more risky than not getting some vaccines or not taking malaria pills every day. If someone won’t bother to take a second to put a seatbelt on why would they pay 400 dollars for a JE vaccine when the benefit is probably better with the seatbelt? Antibiotics are nice to have if you’re good at self-diagnosing yourself. Don’t use them for every little thing as this builds resistance to antibiotics and again do your research.

You can always get drugs as you need them on the road. My experience is that most pharmacies in Southeast Asia at least will give you just about anything over the counter.

Electronics:

Many people are against having a smartphone while traveling but I think it’s a great idea. It’s better to have an older one so you’re not such a big target for theft. I will list the reasons I love having my I-Phone 4S while traveling. I can easily put a new sim card for every country, which so far has been very inexpensive. In Vietnam I paid less than 10USD for a month of 3g Internet and as many calls and texts as I needed. This helps with making friends and plans with locals. Having 3g gives access to Google maps so I always know where I am. I know if the motorbike taxi is lying about how far something is to make me pay extra or if they drive in circles. I learn my way around cities better with Google maps. If I don’t have my camera with me my I-phone acts as a second easily accessible camera for those surprising random moments. Also I can take pictures of things and maps in order to remember them. Shazam is awesome for when strange songs come on and you want to find them online later. I use apps for learning languages on bus rides. I can use voice memo’s to record how people say certain words in order to learn or for recording information, conversations, thoughts, etc. Access to bank accounts on the road, and also a notepad to jot down notes or write parts of my blog for publication later. The list of utilities for the I-Phone is endless. Headphones let me listen to music and watch TV shows on buses and in dorm rooms when people are sleeping. While so far I haven’t used my outlet converters as Southeast Asia seems to utilize the US plugs everywhere, I’m sure these will come in handy somewhere. Also the charger converters allow you to charge any device with one plug and just a few small adapters, which saves space so you don’t have to have so many chargers packed.

Cameras:

I did a lot of research before buying the Canon Power Shot G-16. I knew I was going to be traveling for possibly two years so I wanted to invest in a good camera to have quality pictures to remember my trip. I also didn’t want to lug around a giant camera. I wouldn’t bring it everywhere or wouldn’t pull it out because it would be too obvious. This camera is just small enough that I feel ok bringing it everywhere and pulling it out and the specs and capabilities are pretty incredible. For simply posting online you could probably find a cheaper option but I thought it would be nice to make some prints so I went for the higher quality.  While I bought the waterproof housing for my camera I realize that I could have bought a go-pro for the same price and if I could go back I think that is what I would have gotten. This way you have really good pictures, and then you capture all the action with the Go Pro. Also the Go Pro is so small and would take up less room in my bag as my waterproof housing for my camera.

Papers and documents

If you’re into scuba diving then you probably have a Padi card already and this will allow you to scuba dive all around the world. Your Padi book shows your street credit for diving and will give you more options for diving abroad. Bringing a student ID even if it’s an old one might get you discounts at museums and other things. Your drivers license acts as identification, permit to drive, and in some cases a better piece of collateral for renting motorbikes or staying at hotels than your passport as you can afford to lose your license but not your passport. An international license can be used to avoid bribes from police in certain places. Passport photos are good to have for applying for visas while abroad. You will usually need to give them a passport photo and can avoid overpaying if you already have one.

Medical:

Moleskin is good for hotspots and blisters for active travelers. Band-Aids are the only other first aid product that has come in handy to me however I guess some disinfectant could be useful too, but I would just buy that if I had a bad open wound. A tealight candle and matches could be helpful if you’re in the wilderness and need fire.

Extras:

While I could easily travel without these things, it is much easier for me to practice some of my passions when I have them. While you can always rent gear and split the cost with a group of climbers, shoes are a direct cost for you to rent and will not fit like your own. A travel yoga mat gives me a nice surface to practice yoga, do exercise, or meditate anywhere I am around the world. A mini travel speaker allows me to create an atmosphere around new friends, start a party, share music, or watch a movie with a group on my computer. A computer with a keyboard is essential for me since I am traveling so long mainly for the ability to write anywhere. It is also nice to be able to watch shows during transport and is nice for viewing and editing photos. If I wasn’t away for such a long time I could do without these things but these make me feel at home wherever I am. I love getting in the shower blasting loud rap music on my little speaker J

This is what I actually packed:

I bought some things and settled for what I already had in other areas. When I left I actually fit all of this into one small backpack (the 22 liter Osprey Talon) as you can see below.

As soon as I got to the airport my bag was so tightly packed that I couldn’t take my computer out of my backpack. In order to go through security I pulled out my compressible duffle bag from my backpack and through my clothes in there to make things easier. Since then I have been using my duffle bag for clothes and shoes and the backpack for everything else. My baggage has grown slightly as I have bought some clothes including a winter jacket from when I was in the mountains. I weighed both my bags the other day and it came to 13 kilograms (seen below). Maybe for Christmas I will treat myself to some of the things for my dream pack. So far this system has been working for me pretty well and I’m packed lighter than most people even with my extras.

Onward Tickets

The Problem
Many airlines require you have an onward ticket before checking in to your flight into certain countries. This is always a problem for open ended travelers since they might not know how long they want to stay and where their next destination will be.

I am flying to the Philippines tomorrow night and this is one of the countries that requires an onward ticket which led to do some thorough research to figure out what to do. Below are options that I have read about however I do not have that much personal experience with onward flight tickets.

Solutions:
I list the solutions in my own preferred order starting with most preferred option.

24 hour cancelation policies. Most online booking websites and airlines have 24 hour cancelation policies giving you a full refund back to your credit card. Double check before you book your ticket. This means that I can just book any onward ticket I want and print my itinerary before I leave for the airport. When I land I can call or cancel the ticket online as long as its within 24 hours. I suppose this might not work if your taking a flight that is 24 hours long.

Fully refundable tickets where you can cancel your flight but I read that even fully refundable tickets often charge you a fee for cancelation. I also read that some really expensive fully refundable tickets don't charge any fee's. Also refunds usually take a while to process. I avoided this option since I was too lazy to read the fine print for each airlines refundable ticket policies. Also it seemed scary buying a really expensive ticket and not being familiar with fully refundable tickets.

buying the cheapest onward ticket and accepting cost weather you use the ticket or not. Sometimes you can also buy a ferry ticket or bus ticket and print those itineraries which might be cheaper. I didn't go with this option because it seemed like a waste of money.

Make a fake itinerary either using word or start the booking process online and print your itinerary before the payment section. This option has worked for people but I have also read of people getting caught when airlines look up their flight in their systems. I didn't feel like taking that risk although I don't think the consequences are too strict I would rather have a full proof plan.

Hope they don't ask. I guess many airlines don't ask for the onward itineraries but I wouldn't bank on that. I would get to the airport a little extra early so if they did ask I could hop over to an airline counter and buy a ticket with one of the above options: either one with a 24 hour return policy, fully refundable, or just the cheapest ticket you can find.

Debit and credit cards

  If you’re from the US, I found Charles Schwab to have an account that does not charge foreign transaction fees and reimburses you for all ATM fees at the end of the month. I also have a travel rewards credit card with Bank of America that charges no foreign transaction fees. This combination allows me use my money anywhere in the world without paying fees. In the long run this will save me well over 1,000USD. Depending where you are from, you will have to do your own research to find similar accounts. This is a crucial money saving tip that many travelers don’t address.

When I first set off on my trip I thought I was smart having my travel rewards credit card from Bank of America which does not charge foreign transaction fees and gives 1.5 points for ever dollar spent. I quickly realized that almost nowhere excepted credit cards and if they did they charged their own 3% fee. My current debit card was charging me the larger of either 5USD or 3% of the amount that I was withdrawing. While I did find a way to avoid ATM fees most of the time by going directly to a bank with my passport and debit card, I found sometimes the timing was not right. My average spending had been about 1,500USD a month and given the 3% charge and ATM fee, I had been spending about 60USD a month on fees. Extrapolating this for two more years and this would run 1,440USD (another month or two of traveling depending on where). This was more than enough to motivate me to find a solution. I asked Google and found Charles Schwab has a checking linked to brokerage account that not only has no foreign transaction fees for withdrawing money, but it also reimburses all ATM fee’s at the end of the month. This was too good to be true and after talking to them on the phone they assured me that “they do everything they can for their customers”. I opened an account while in Thailand and had a debit card sent to my friends place. They also have an 800 number that can be called 24 hours a day with almost zero wait time to talk to very helpful customer service. I no longer have to think twice about taking money out.