The Things We (Don't) Carry

© Garry Knight / Flickr

For most of the nearly five months I spent traveling through India and Nepal, my bulging and bloated backpack felt as heavy as a dead kangaroo and about as smelly.  The fact that it was frequently lying in a puddle or sandwiched between a goat and a crate of chickens, meant that in addition to weighing as much as a bag of baby buffalos, it was usually caked in mud and at least four different types of animal feces.

By the end of my trip, I was so tired of lugging my overstuffed pack around, I was ready to donate it to a temple and have it burned as a sacrificial offering to the Gods. And if it hadn’t been for the fact that I’d packed three of my favorite H&M shirts before leaving New York, I just might have. 

I had to learn the hard way that while a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch jeans and seven shades of eye shadow might seem like essentials back in the comfort of your air-conditioned New York city apartment, they won’t seem so essential when you’re running to catch a bus in humid, 90-degree weather and you’re sweating so much that there are blue eye-shadow streaks running down your face and your jeans are so slick with perspiration they resemble the pants of a potty-training two-year-old.

Later, I would take comfort in the fact that many of my packing faux pas were standard rookie mistakes. It seems that for one reason or another, most first-time backpackers erroneously equate a trip to say, Malaysia, with a mission to Mars and will show up on the shores of Singapore with enough provisions to weather anything from a famine to a flood to the second coming of Christ. 

Because, the truth is that while everyone may claim that they’re light packers, few actually are. The following is a list of seven things (in addition to denim) that light packer though you may be, you’d be wise to leave behind.

Don't Pack: A Giant Backpack

If you’re unsure as to whether or not your backpack falls under the ‘giant’ category, take it on a trial run. Stuff it until it will barely zip close, go for a five mile walk around your neighborhood and then stand for 45 minutes in the steam room of your local gym.  This should give you a good idea of what it’ll feel like to be hostel-hunting in August in Bangkok or Beijing. If, within 15 minutes you feel like hurling your backpack into oncoming traffic, then perhaps you’d be better off with a smaller pack.

I know what you’re thinking: “But, but…I need a big backpack!  How else will I fit my 23 pairs of underwear, 12 pairs of white socks and my Plants of Southeast Asia guidebook?”

You won’t. And while it may be agonizing to leave behind your travel Parcheesi or freeze-dried ice cream, trust me when I say that your back muscles will thank you later. 

Instead, Pack: A 30 to 45-Liter Backpack

A 35-liter bag is small enough that you can rest it in your lap instead of having to store it in the bus’s luggage compartment. That way there’ll be less of a chance of your bag getting damaged or stolen when you’re not looking.

Don't Pack: Expensive, Brand-Name Clothing or Anything White

Don’t pack any item of clothing that you would be heartbroken to have stolen or eaten.  Because if it doesn’t get ‘lost’ at the cleaners, then after washing it a few times in a bucket of brown hotel sink water, it’ll become so stretched, worn and stained that you’ll wish it had been. In most towns and cities along the backpacker trail, you can buy an entire wardrobe for the price of just one of the shirts you bought back home. While the 30-cent polka-dotted tank-top you buy in a market in Paraguay might not be the prettiest item of clothing you’ve ever owned, chances are that you won’t shed a tear it when you’re forced to toss it after it begins to mildew.

Instead, Pack: Tan, Cotton Clothes

Leave your whitest whites at home and opt for tan-colored, cotton shirts and pants. While black attracts the sun and mosquitos and anything white won’t stay white for more than a couple of hours, tan hides dirt well and complements most any color scheme.  It’s best to stick with one color pallet (like ‘earth tones’, for instance) because it’ll make mixing and matching all the easier.  

Don't Pack: A Blow-Dryer or Straightening Iron

Even when using an adapter, most blow-dryers aren’t wired well enough to withstand a change in voltage and using an American-made blow-dryer abroad could cause a short-circuit in your dryer, or worse, your hotel. Take it from someone who once dismantled the power of an entire apartment building in Germany, the threat of frizzy hair is not worth the risk. 

Instead, Pack: A bandanna and a Bottle of Deep Conditioner

Like duct tape, a good bandanna has multiple uses. It makes a great head scarf (when visiting a mosque), protective shield (when standing in a dust storm) or sweat rag (when you’re sweating so much that the gush of salty liquid pouring from your forehead threatens to flood the bus).  But most importantly, a bandana makes a great bad hair-hider (for when your hair is frizzy, or so tangled its sprouting dreadlocks). 

Don't Pack: A Sleeping Bag, Pillow and a Mosquito Net

It’s fairly standard for most hostels or hotels to supply bedding and unless you’re planning on camping in sub-Saharan Africa, you won’t need a mosquito net.  Travel agencies in most backpacking destinations will rent you sleeping bags and tents should you decide to go camping.

Instead, Pack: Travel-Smart Sleep Gear 

Pack a blow-up travel pillow (for those long train or bus rides) and a sleeping bag liner. A sleeping bag liner is a thin, sheet-like shell that you can sleep in for those times when your hostel sheets are so stained, they make you wonder if the last person to sleep there, used the sheets to diaper his offspring or bathe his pet pig.

Don't Pack: Books, Board Games or Musical Instruments

Unless your instrument of choice is a harmonica, leave the guitars, ukuleles and drums at home.  They’re too bulky to pack and are likely to get damaged while you’re hopping in and of moving microbuses or shoving your way into crowded subways. I once had to climb out of a bus window in India because the bus’s doorways were too crowded to squeeze through. In order to escape before the bus started moving again, I had to toss my bag out of the window. Luckily, my guitar was one of the few nonsensical items I hadn’t brought, because otherwise it probably wouldn’t have survived the fall.

Instead, Pack: A journal, iPod and Ear Plugs

An iPod makes for a great companion during long bus rides when you’ve grown tired of listening to the Indian bus driver warble along to the soundtrack of Dhoom Two. And you’ll appreciate having ear plugs when you’re trying to sleep through your hostel-mate’s acoustic guitar version of “Stairway to Heaven”.

Don't Pack: A Rain Coat or Umbrella

There’s nothing like the scent of fresh rain. Unless it’s rotting on your three-day-old wet clothing; then it smells like stale puke. Not exactly the fragrance you want wafting off of you after you’ve spent a day and a half on the road, sleeping in sweat and water-soaked clothing.

Rain gear, therefore, is essential. However, a thick, bulky rain coat is not and neither is an umbrella. A rain coat is likely to be too warm (especially in tropical climates) and if you don’t forget your umbrella in a taxi 2.3 hours after you arrive, you’ll wish you had. Maneuvering through a crowded station or market is difficult enough without worrying you’ll stab someone in the nostril in the process. 

Instead, Pack: Lighweight Rain Gear

A light-weight poncho and a waterproof backpack cover are all you need.

Don't Pack: A First-Aid Kit

Backpacking newbies often haul around a medicine kit so well stalked that you’d think they were half-expecting to have to conduct war-time field surgery right there on the banks of Barcelona or Brisbane. 

What every traveler will learn the hard way though, is that even pharmacies in the most primitive regions of the world, sell the same drugs you can buy at home but at a fraction of the cost. Save that space for souvenirs and leave the ace bandages and calamine lotion at home.

Instead, pack: The Bare Necessities

Things like ibuprofen, sickness pills, Pepto Bismol, hand sanitizer and wet wipes.

In parts of South Asia, Africa, Central or South America, you’ll be lucky if you can find a bathroom with a sink, let alone a supply of soap. Next to bug repellent, hand-sanitizer and wet-wipes are probably the two items you’ll get the most use of while on the road, so it’s worth stalking up on some before you leave.

Other Things to Leave Behind:

Hiking boots (unless you’ll be hiking volcanoes, Teva sandals and sneakers will do) High-powered flashlights, (a hands-free headlamp works best for night hikes or for reading in the dorms) and travelers checks (with ATMs being so prevalent these days, traveler’s checks have become obsolete. Bring credit and ATM cards and a money belt instead).