​TRAVELING LIGHT

When the idea of traveling light comes to my mind, I feel it like a challenge and scary excitement.

In 2012 I decided to take a 3 months trip around South east Asia with the least possible bagagge.

 

This is the result of my "traveling light experience":

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First of all I needed the perfect backpack to put all the stuff and my DSLR camera in a protected area and with 2 compartments. I finally gave up on that and I bought a camera bag and I kept looking for the perfect backpack. I was looking for something between 30-40L. maximum.

I finally found the Simond Alpinism 32.

Extremely light, also has a practical  side zip for direct accessto main compartment

and waterproof lid pocket. All the zips are hidden and protected but easy to access.

​​At first, I didn' t like it because it has some holders that looksvery unpractical for what

I wanted and I was afraid that the shoulder straps were not good enough or that could

hurt when I put too much weight but worked perfectly. 

 

So once I had the backpack it was time to decide what to put inside. Previously, I did a

research of the places I was going to visit to check the average weather and temperatures.​

This helped me to avoid Monsoon in Thailand and rainy season in Indonesia.

Bear in mind that this list only can apply to travel to South East Asia or countries with similar

​climate conditions.

This is what I chose:

(Then i will explain what I should had change on this list, after this 3 months trip)

 

Clothes

>6 t-shirts (Very used. I wouldn't buy brand new t-shirts to go to Asia. You can buy cheap clothes there).

>6 pair socks+ 6 underwear

>Cap. To protect from the sun. It can be very helpful in long routes with no shade.

>Backpack rain protector​

>Polar Fleece Jacket. Why? It' s a must if you are planning to do trekking on the mountains, high altitudes or if you travel in Myanmar "freezer" buses.

>Bathing suit. It' s also very comfortable to wear, daily, instead of the pants.

>Flip flops. I suggest to bring rough and resistant flip flops or even better, buy them in your destination. They can be a good companion if you take care of them.  90% of the time I only wore flip-flops.

>Trainers. Here it comes, one of my mistakes. In some cases you' ll need shoes more prepared to all kind of tracks.

>Sleeping bag liner. I use it a lot when I go to some guest houses with "suspicious" matress and sometimes during cold nights in trains or buses.

>Raincoat. It might seem useless to bring this to a hot country but, if you get a storm in South East Asia, you wish you had brought a raincoat, trust me. It s light and pocket size.​

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Cleaning products ​​

>Small  soap/Shampoo, Tooth paste + teeth Brush. You can put them all in a transparent ​plastic

bag. It will be easy to access to the products and it will be easy to check in airport check-points. ​

>Towell (that dry fast).

>Cleaning wet tissues to clean yourself while in bus/train long trips, trekkings and all these cases you

know you won' t have a shower for long time.

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Documents.

ID, passport, vaccination document, travel insurance, maps and copies of all documents. You also can send them to your mail or bring them in a pendrive.

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Security

>Money belt. I never put my money in one single place. Best divide it in several places.

Money belt helps to hide that money you want to keep safe. It has a zip on the non-visible area, what

makes it one of the best gadgets to protect your money.

>Waist safe. It' s another way to separate and keep your money and

documents safe. I used it many times but when you take it for long time is very warm

and can be unconfortable.

 

Health

>First aid kit. More info

 

Other

>Foreign currency notes. They were useful in Myanmar. I exchanged from euros to dollars bfore traveling and I got

better exchange rates than when I did it on other countries in south east Asia.

>Flashlight+ extra batteries. It was very useful in some rural areas, where there was no light on the

tracks, power/electrical cuts and also in trekking trips.

>Guide +Maps. From last trip, i try to avoid  travel guides in paper book and bring them in pdf, in

digital devices. Much lighter. Anyway, I try to bring some basic maps and basic information printed.

>Mobile/cell unlocked phone+ charger. When I was traveling, I had to call some people in the same country, so buying a pre-paid card was very useful.

>Sewing kit.

 

 

Whose were my mistakes when I chose the items to put into the backpack?

1. I brought urban trainers. You' ll need comfortable but resistant shoes, prepared to all kind of tracks. Short light trekking shoes ​are the best option. If you' re planning to trek or hike during your trip, this type of boot is essential.

 

2. I brought 8  AAA batteries and 8 AA bateries. Unless you have many devices that need many batteries or your device consume much power, don' t bring so many or best buy them while you are traveling.

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3. Maybe I brought too many clothes, you can​ bring less clothes and buy them for cheap price on the place you are traveling and dress like a local!

 

I missed

Most of the things you miss, you can buy them on the place you are traveling. But if you have it, bring it. There is no point to buy the same you already have at home.

>A travel battery- Some devices run out their battery before you expected and if you are in the middle of nowhere, it' s always helpful to have a full universal battery that you can connect to your device, instead of bringing an extra battery of all your devices.

 

Other practical things to take with you.​

>Swiss Army Knife (only if you' re planning to check-in your luggage, becasue it' s not alowed on the the plane cabin baggage). It' s a basic tool that can  can help you in milion cases.

 

 

When I compared my luggage with other travelers I could see that most of them brought >45 litres backpacks but I also found people traveling lighter than me. I traveled with a guy that only walked with flip-flops. He only brought an extra t-shirt and underwear, a tent and a hammock and he usually didn' t pay for sleeping.

 

Why traveling light?

You don' t need to check-in your luggage in the airports, you can take your backpack with you in your seat in the bus or train or everywhere you go and not much weight during long walks.  Also the less things you bring, the less you have to pack/unpack, to lose,...

When you travel light for first time it can be a bit scary, at the beggining, for some, but the most important is that is a challenge for yourslef to see how will you manage in difficult situations and face your fears and squeeze your skills.​