{"id":475,"date":"2010-11-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/?p=475"},"modified":"2017-01-19T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T18:00:57","slug":"the-packing-list-what-to-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/the-packing-list-what-to-pack\/","title":{"rendered":"The Packing List: What To Pack?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Going on a long term trip, for multiple months, or even a year? When we planned our first multi-month adventure, our friends and family kept asking us \u201chow do you pack for a trip like that?\u201d Our answer: \u201cWell&#8230; uh&#8230; I have no idea!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now that we\u2019ve done it a few times, we know how to answer that question. And we\u2019re not the only ones. We\u2019ve assembled some of the best packing list items and advice from people who have actually survived their trips.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re looking beyond the obvious, here. Everyone knows that you need shoes and underwear (everything else is optional). We wanted to list the things that you might not have thought of if you\u2019ve never been \u201cbackpacking\u201d or traveled on a minimal budget, or never visited a developing country. Below you will find a list of items that may have never occurred to you to throw in your bag. The items on this list come from experienced travelers who have been there and done that.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As you probably have heard us mention here, we took a year long trip in 2009. You can check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/guide\/packinglist.php\">our packing list<\/a> as part of our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/guide\/rtwtripplanningguide.php\">How To Plan A Trip Around The World guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The number one piece of advice from all travelers is to <strong>pack light<\/strong>. So, don\u2019t feel like you must take any or all of these things. Keep in mind where you will be going and what the situation will be like.<\/p>\n<p>Without further ado, <strong>what to pack<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Universal sink stopper for washing clothes (or hair)<\/li>\n<li>Shirts that are made from a nylon wicking material &#8211; they dry faster<\/li>\n<li>Mosquito net (depending on where you\u2019re going) &#8211; and something to hang it up (tape, string, etc) &#8211; Many travelers debate this item. Some say you can buy it on the road (you can in some places), others say it\u2019s a life saver. On our trip it was a life saver, but we were in Africa at the time. You won\u2019t need to take your own in SE Asia.<\/li>\n<li>Money belt<\/li>\n<li>Playing cards &#8211; the best way to get to know the locals!<\/li>\n<li>Earplugs<\/li>\n<li>Sporks<\/li>\n<li>Pocket knife &#8211; strong enough to open a can of food<\/li>\n<li>Plug adapter set &#8211; assuming you have anything electronic<\/li>\n<li>Towel &#8211; small and super-absorbent<\/li>\n<li>Hand Sanitizer &#8211; antibacterial \u201cwaterless soap\u201d (small bottles!)<\/li>\n<li>Flashlight\/Torch &#8211; very very small, keychain size<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What NOT to pack<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Toilet paper &#8211; buy it on the road<\/li>\n<li>Too much medical stuff (bandaids, etc) &#8211; instead, only pack a few critical items<\/li>\n<li>Travel pillow &#8211; it\u2019s just too big<\/li>\n<li>Snorkeling equipment &#8211; too heavy, you can rent it anywhere you need it<\/li>\n<li>Electronic language translator &#8211; total waste of time, weight, and money &#8211; and these days you can get an app on your phone for this!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let us know how it works out. Or if you have a suggestion, please post a comment!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Going on a long term trip, for multiple months, or even a year? When we planned our first multi-month adventure, our friends and family kept asking us &#8220;how do you pack for a trip like that?&#8221; Our answer: &#8220;Well&#8230; uh&#8230; I have no idea!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Now that we&#8217;ve done it a few times, we know how to answer that question. And we&#8217;re not the only ones. We&#8217;ve assembled some of the best packing list items and advice from people who have actually survived their trips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4,106,99,100,212,213,71,91,104,214],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-advice","tag-advice","tag-backpacking","tag-cheap","tag-guide","tag-packing","tag-packing-list","tag-planning","tag-travel-tips","tag-vacation","tag-what-to-pack","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-23 22:23:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8144,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions\/8144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}