What to pack for a long term travelling?

If you are going on a trip for a month or longer, basically the things you need to take with you aren't that different, even if you don't intend to come back home for a year. Today I will share with you a few tips on what to pack in a backpack, and my advice will be based on my own experience from three expeditions in which I participated: a six-month trekking across Europe, a six-month bicycle trip through Argentina, and a six-month bus trip through Paraguay and Bolivia.

As you can see, the three journeys mentioned are completely different - two of them involve overnight stays in forests and off-road, while the third one combines the elements of overnight stays in hostels with short trekking in national parks. Despite these significant differences, I believe that the items suggested by me to pack will be universal. However, if you are convinced that any of them will be unnecessary on your trip - do not take it with you. Rule number one for all travels is the same - the fewer things the better. Remember that any item you take will be worn on your back almost every day. If you pack in an unreasonable way, you will strain your spine and feet and hurt yourself as a result. So pack a little, but the best quality things.

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Transport

Of course, you will need a large backpack, preferably with shoulder height adjusters and a net that separates the backpack from the back. As it is one of the key travel items, I will describe all the functions of the backpack in a separate post and tell you how to choose the right one.

It's also good to have a second, smaller backpack with you, which will be useful for shorter trips. Most things can then be left in a tent or hostel and with a smaller backpack, we can go trekking.

Shoes are essential. I travel with two pairs - one Adidas sports shoes that I use when traveling and the other, the simplest lightweight flip-flops that I wear after setting up the tent or when I don't have to move much. Of course, sneakers are good for our feet, but flip-flops allow them to rest.

It is good to have paper maps and a compass with you. Yes, I know, nowadays all maps are available in the GPS version - google maps have the option which allows using maps in the offline version, but paper maps are noteworthy as an additional security measure. Let's be old school.

The last element in this group is an item that raises a lot of discussions. It's about Nordic walking poles. I did not use them during our trekking across Europe, but my husband, who sometimes has back problems, did not part with them a step and appreciated them very much. Decide for yourself whether it is worth taking the poles with you or not. It is not a heavy thing - carbon fiber poles weigh around 600g, but when not in use, they are quite bulky due to their large size, even when folded.

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Clothes

The basic thing. A common mistake is to pack too many clothes for your first trip. My backpack usually includes:

• 4 t-shirts made of airy, non-iron materials. Black or dark T-shirts will work best, as they do not show dirt or are destroyed too quickly. Perfect if you can buy T-shirts with silver ions that kill bacteria and protect against odors.
• 1 shirt for special occasions. Travelers are often invited to weddings, cultural events, and better restaurants. Sometimes we just need to feel more elegant, look a bit better than usual (especially when we have been traveling for a year)
• 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of trousers, one warm and one airy.
• 5 pairs of panties and socks. You can also take your swimming pants with you. Of course, you can swim naked in the bosom of nature, but swimming trunks will be useful when you want to go to the pool in the city. About socks: I recommend merino wool socks - they are expensive, merino type of wool is quite exclusive, but they cool perfectly on warm days and keep you warm in cold weather, they provide great air circulation, and when covered with silver ions, they kill bacteria and bad smell.
• 1 rain jacket, hat (or better - multifunctional tunnel), scarf, and thermoactive tights for sleeping and the coldest weather.

I was traveling with a belt made of fabric with a hidden money box on the inside. Quite a popular product that can be purchased in almost any backpacker store. In general, remember to keep your money in at least three different places when traveling. Even if a thief steals some of them, you will have savings from two other compartments.

Take also sunglasses with a UV 400 filter, preferably with an anti-reflective coating and a polarizing filter. Don't buy the simplest sunglasses from the street seller. You will be spending most of the time outside, so take care of your eyes.

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Hygiene

Take your cosmetics with you, but remember that when traveling in the wilderness, you must only use products that cannot negatively affect the fauna and flora. The base is three products - soap, hair shampoo (unless you don't have hair on your head), and toothpaste. Use unperfumed gray soap. It is so natural that bathing in a river will not harm fish, and if washed ashore into the soil, it will not negatively affect vegetation (in fact, it may even help some plants. I wrote about it in my articles on permaculture).

Ecological shampoos can be found in specialized stores in the form of a bar or a liquid. You may consider buying alum as a natural antiperspirant.

In terms of toothpaste, unfortunately, the environmentally neutral one does not contain fluoride, so I recommend using two - one without fluoride when out in nature and the other traditional when staying in hostels or traveling through towns and villages. In nature, you can also replace your toothpaste with a miswaq sprig.

You will also need a toothbrush (I recommend bamboo instead of plastic) and toilet paper (made of recycled paper), which will turn out to be indispensable more than once. Do not forget to pack two towels, preferably microfiber, quick-drying - their additional advantage is the fact that they take up much less space than traditional towels.

It is a good idea to bring a bottle of alcohol-based disinfectant or moisturizing wipes with you. Water is often a product that requires rationing, a disinfectant liquid will allow you to quickly wash your hands without wasting its resources, for example before a meal in the middle of the day.

If you intend to camp and stay in one place for a few weeks, you may consider taking a travel shower with you. It is a bag that hangs on a tree and is constructed in such a way as to heat the water with solar energy. The bag includes a tap that allows you to control water consumption. However, if you intend to move regularly, such a shower will not be of any use.

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Sleeping

Of course, the most important elements when traveling are a properly selected tent, sleeping bag, and mat. If you decide to save on one of these three things, this decision will take your revenge very quickly. The tent and sleeping bag must necessarily be of the best quality, a sleeping bag appropriately selected for the temperatures outside, ensuring thermal comfort. In one of the upcoming articles, I will describe these products in more detail, and I will suggest what parameters to pay attention to when buying.

It is good to have three additional things with you related to our accommodation in a tent - very light things that significantly improve our sleeping comfort:

• a thermal insert for a sleeping bag, which in the coldest climates allows increasing the thermal comfort of sleep, and in the warmest, tropical ones, it can be used as a sleeping bag itself. After folding, such an insert takes up as much space as a clenched fist and weighs about 150 grams.
• an inflatable pillow which, after removing the air from it, weighs no more than 100 grams. Sure, you can use a backpack or folded clothes for a pillow, but it is much less comfortable, especially when most clothes are already dirty and waiting to be washed
• earplugs, especially when you travel with your husband who snores, but also works perfectly in hostels where we share a room with other travelers or at campsites where someone has decided to organize a party 200 meters from your tent.

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Electronics:

It is hard to imagine traveling without electronics (although it is possible and I praise the people who do it). You will probably want to take your phone and charger with you. It's good to have an additional charging cable and a solar battery with you, which will allow you to charge your phone even in the middle of the forest. Do not buy the cheap, Chinese ones, because they charge very slowly and break down quickly - invest in a good quality battery.

If you intend to travel between countries, it is worth investing in a universal switch to contacts. It is a small box with retractable contact tips that will allow you to recharge electronic equipment anywhere in the world. It is light, relatively cheap and very useful.

You will need a flashlight when traveling - to leave the tent at night for the physiological needs, to set up the flysheet in case of a sudden cooling down, or simply to check what causes the noise between nearby bushes. The flashlight is an absolute must-be.

The next products are already optional and it's best if you decide yourself if you need them: Many travelers take a second phone with them as emergency contact equipment. It's best to have a CAT phone. This company offers ordinary old-fashioned phones (not smartphones) that are virtually indestructible - they can fall out of our backpacks in the mountains and will still work perfectly. Their battery life is over a week.

If you work with a laptop, you must bring your laptop and charger. You may also want to pack a camera that will allow you to take better pictures than the ones taken with the phone. Consider packing the headphones.

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Health

Here, of course, the most important thing is the first aid kit, in which we can put mainly pills for headache, diarrhea, sachets with some flu powder and powder for dehydration, bandages, and plasters, maybe some cotton wool, which can also be used as kindling when lighting a fire, and foil isothermal. There is no need to go crazy with more drugs because they are widely available in pharmacies in every town. The items listed are the ones I used on the go.

If you are traveling in a region with mosquitoes, also pack repellants to protect you from the more serious diseases transmitted by these insects.

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Food and water

Food and water always take up a lot of space in your backpack. If we know that during our journey we will not encounter any water source for 24 hours, we need to take at least 4 liters of liquid in bottles with us - for drinking and a little bit for daily hygiene. Food is worth having with you for at least the next three days. Also consider packing a so-called "Iron reasons", that is, non-perishable food that you will reach for only as a last resort. Any lyophilized food works great in this role, but also, in the budget version, dry crackers.

Remember to pack water purifiers. These can be tablets, filters, or special solar machines. I wrote about it earlier here.

Pack a metal cup, fork, and spoon (often sold as one reversible cutlery, preferably made of titanium), a handy knife (I traveled with two - one pocket and the other larger).

If you intend to camp in one place for a long time you may consider taking a kelly kettle with you. If you move to a different place every day, if you know that you are not going to make a fire, a kelly kettle will not be useful).

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Others

Apart from all the things mentioned above, it's good to have a few little things that will make our travel easier:

• a padlock for locking luggage in hostels
• a spade, necessarily foldable, for digging a latrine and preparing the ground for a tent
• photocopies of documents so that you do not have to show your original passport each time
• pepper spray, more for wild animals than people
• waterproof bags for documents, because if you travel long enough, your luggage will certainly be flooded by heavy rains more than once
• waterproof matches that can be sunk underwater and will continue to burn after. A nice gadget that makes it easier to light a fire in all weather conditions
• paper and pen or marker, which will be useful, for example, for hitchhiking when we have such a need
• entertainment (cards), is always worth having something that will provide entertainment. Traveling is a lot of stops - hiding from the bright sun at noon, setting up a tent early, breaks for meals. Take something that will give you pleasure but will not be too big or heavy.
• duck tape, zips, string, lighters, batteries, insulating tape, Pendrive, needle and thread, line, hook, nails - what will allow you to repair a broken tent, clothes, backpack, or glasses.

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Summary

Category	Necessary	Optional	Only while camping in one place
Transport	Big backpack small backpack shoes	paper maps compass nordic walking	-
Clothes	Clothes sunglasses	belt swimming pants	-
Hygiene	shampoo toothbrush, toothpaste soap solar protector towels	alum disinfectant	camp shower
Sleeping	tent sleeping bag mat	thermal insert inflatable pillow earplugs	-
Electronics	Flashlight Phone charger solar battery	switch to contacts extra charger extra phone laptop photo camera headphones	-
Health	First aid kit repelente	-	-
Food/water	water purifier extra food portion cup, fork and spoon knives	-	kelly kettle
Others	waterproof bags document copies fixing tools	padlock pepper spray entertainment	spade

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Thank you for reading,
@papi.mati