Essential things to pack for travelling

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The moment has come. Your long trip travel is already booked and now is time to decide what are the essential things to pack for travelling. It’s a hard choice. We spent 2 years travelling constantly, and are still counting since the end of 2014. We learn many things on what to pack for a long trip naturally as we travelled. However, some of the tip we will give, we had to learn by hook or crook. So, join us now because we will guide you through exactly what to bring on vacation!

What clothes to have on your packing list

Now, let’s talk business: Which clothes to take with you on your trip around the world? It is a complicated question as it really depends on which countries you will visit. Taking us as an example, who travelled through 5 continents and passed through all seasons of the year. Therefore, we have to be prepared for the difference temperatures we will face.

How to pack clothes for winter

If you will go through harsh winter on your trip, you will have to have a bigger bag to put all the winter clothes. Don’t forget a waterproof jacket with a hood, which is good for cold, rainy and even snowy days. Take the malleability of the material into consideration, as it is important that it is compact and doesn’t take too much space in your bag.

We strong recommend jackets known as puffer, quite trendy, actually. They are light, compact and really warm. It is is really worth the money (there are many different models and you can choose the one which suits you better).

A scarf, a thermal trouser and  thermal shirt is also advisable. We decided not to take gloves or hat since these are cheap stuff one can buy along the way if necessary. It seems weird to leave small accessories behind, but trust us, every little space you can save will be well-appreciated.

How to pack clothes for summer

One or two pieces of clothes are more than enough:

• 1 trouser (either jeans or other material)
• 1 shorts
• 1 dress (if you like 😉 )
• 3 t-shirts

It doesn’t look enough, does it? Don’t worry, you will get used. In fact, you will realise that not having many options to choose is sort of release. This new “backpacker” lifestyle will bring you many lessons. The first one is this, detachment.

When choosing which clothes is essential to pack for travelling to take with you, the tip is: you know that very nice shirt you always want to have with you to wear on a night club or a good party – and that you just wear it in these occasions – leave it at home. For the clothes to make to your backpack, it has to be a “jack-of -all-trades!” 😉 . Choose some sort of all-round clothes, easy to clean, hard to get dirty and basic (which is easier to match with all other clothes).

Whatever is your style, the rule is clear: the simpler the better! Save as much as possible.

How to pack underwear

One of the essential things to pack for travelling that you don’t have to be shy on taking as many is underwear. Take a large number of socks and underwear as you will not always be able to wash it, and these things you cannot turn around and reuse, can you? (if people really do this stuff, please, keep to yourself 😉 ) – They do not take up much space anyway. We take with us:

• 6 pairs of socks each
• 8 women underwear and 2 bras
• 8 man underwear

What hygiene accessories to bring on vacation

We carry only the basic and have never miss anything:

• shampoo (if you are bold as Tiago, don’t bother about that)
• conditioner
• bath soap
• moisturizing cream 
• sun’s cream
• tooth brush
• tooth paste

Remember to put them all into 100ml bottles if you are checking in your bags at airports. Those baby’s wet cloth are also very handy as having access to clean bathrooms are not always easy.

Additional essential things to pack for travelling

• 1 bathing suit: Even in a cold country, you might end up on a natural hot water spring or a heated swimming pool. Who knows?! Obviously, needless to say that if you are going to the beach you mus tick this box!
• 1 towel: We take one for the both of us (feel free to judge us 😉 though it saves a lot of space!)
• 1 picnic cloth: It has many utilities and it doesn’t take much space. You can use as a garment, around your neck, to sit down or lay down;
• 1 pair of flip-flops: obviously! 🙂
• 1 waterproof trekking boots: It can be used on mountains, sunny days, cold countries and on snow, let alone its durability.
• 1 sunglasses

What gadgets to have for your trip

• Camping tent: Unless you are absolutely sure you will not have to camp then is not part of the essential things to pack for travelling. If you are not so sure, it is worth having one as it can be a saviour. If the hotel is booked up or too expensive, you can ask to put up your tend on their back-garden for half of the price 🙂
• Head torch: Believe us or not, electricity hasn’t arrived everywhere yet. The head torch is good to have your hands free, whenever you are cooking or reading a book and so on. If you don’t want to buy one, the torch from your phone is will do the job.

• Sewing kit: because you never know when your trousers will rip apart!

What electronics to pack for your trip

• 1 tablet: simply for the fact of the apps you can download. Yes, it can also be downloaded on you smart phone, although space can be an issue. If your handset has a large memory card allowing to store large and many apps in it, then there isn’t much need of a tablet.
• 1 mobile: good for internet on the go, local sim card and all the rest you already know…
• 1 universal adapter: you can recharge your stuff anywhere.
• camera: If you don’t have one yet, try not to fall into the tale of big cameras are better unless you know how to use it, obviously. Many people want to buy those big cameras because they think the pictures will be better as it looks more professional. It can be partially true, although many of those cameras only impress with the exterior but have the same quality as a normal sized one.

Essential things to pack for travelling if you want to be a digital nomad

Here is where the problem lies, as electronics take a lot of space. You will need a:

• 1 computer with at least 8 RAM memory and a good video card for editing your photos and videos. We start our travel with a Ipad only, which we got as a present. But, we realised that, because of the website, we would need a laptop too, in order to upload the pictures and use functions tablets don’t have
• 1 GoPro and accessories
• 2 external HD: Have you heard of who has just one backup, has no backup at all? Well, it is true. And honestly, cloud does not help – well, a just a little. Clouds demand fast internet and sometimes is hard to find internet at all. So, physical HD is the best on-the-go. Two of them! (Clouds are good, but internet dependable).
• 2 Lenses: 1 tele and a wide angle; Or a nice zooming lens for the camera.

Anything else will vary according to the type of job you will – or plan to – do. For instance, we also carry a Rode mic and a tripod for the camera. For instance, we have invested in a DJI Phantom 3 Standard drone, which will be a challenge to carry around. It didn’t work out, so now we have a DJI Mavic Air drone.

What apps to have for your vacation

Three essential tips of apps to have in your tablet or mobile:

• “maps.me”, it is an offline map which works very well as a GPS and even shows options such as hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and so forth. It is heavy, but it is really worth and free.
• “trail wallet”, to control your finances. There you can control your budget daily or by trip. It can be added numerous trips, each one with its budget. The app shows how much above or below you are from the budget, the total cost, the monthly cost, it gives you options to put different currencies, enabling you to change the value of the exchange and more. Very simple to use and visual. Really necessary! Free with limited capacity. The full version will be eventually necessary.
• “cost split”, this is more for those travelling in group or with a friend. You open an account and all can have access to it. You put the expenses each one had with one another and the app calculates automatically how much one owes the other, or the group individually. The app also has different currencies in order to facilitate when travelling to different countries. Very handy!

What medical care is essential to pack for travelling

We begin our travel with a bag full of medicines and it was totally…..useless. Take just the minimum necessary, such as painkiller, plaster and antiseptic. There are pharmacies everywhere, and you can buy them whenever you need it. Furthermore, crossing border is always a headache with lots of medicine (at least they will be of use!).

Women and contraceptive: better to take a three months stock with you. Many countries do not sell this type of medicine without a doctor’s prescription, such as South Korea, United Kingdom, Germany and so on.

Well, that is all. Now is time to put it all in your backpack and hit the road! Try not to get paranoid when decide what goes and what stays. At the end, you will realise the clothes you wore or left behind are the least of the memories you will have from this journey.