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There's a funny scene in
Romancing the Stone when Michael Douglas' character meets Kathleen
Turner's character and agrees to take her to a phone booth hundreds
of miles away. He simply refuses to help her carry her completely
impractical luggage and a few scenes later goes even further by
chopping the heels off her shoes so she can actually walk in them.
This little fiasco encompasses the essence of packing for
adventure travel. Less is most definitely more!
When in a foreign country it is usually pretty easy to spot the
experienced traveler from the novice. The novice is usually dragging
a giant suitcase or trying to lug a brightly coloured backpack
that is even bigger than they are. They are dressed in the
latest "must have" adventure gear from the most expensive
adventure stores and have "trekking" shoes worth hundreds of
dollars. This is not the way to do it for several reasons. The first
is comfort. You will usually be doing a lot of walking whenever you
go on a vacation and walking with 50 kg of luggage is both tiring
and difficult. You will also, most likely, be getting extremely
dirty and ruining whatever clothing you take (even if it's expensive
"adventure clothing") and don't forget that some of your gear
may even be stolen (sometimes by other travelers). If you show up
with all the best and most expensive gear you are also a walking
target for hustlers and thieves. With all of this in mind here are a
few tips:
Luggage - If you are going to be doing anything even remotely
physical and walking any further than a few hundred meters, then a
backpack is definitely the way to go. But not all packs are
created equal! Think small and inconspicuous. Dark colours like
brown and black will attract less attention than a bright purple or
red pack. Make sure it is the type of pack that has a flap on the
top that closes over the pack's opening to keep out water (the types
that zip up WILL get your stuff wet). You will also want to put your
clothing in waterproof stuff bags - I use standard plastic shopping
bags, but there are tougher ones that you can buy from disposals and
camping stores. You also want your pack to be as small as possible.
Especially if you are only touring (mountaineers may need something
bigger). I use a 30 liter pack but would say 45 liters is an
absolute maximum for general purpose use. You will be carrying it
around a lot and if you cannot fit something in then you probably
don't really need it.
Clothing - Think light and breathable! Cotton is always good. Three
shirts is usually enough because you can wear one, wash one and have
a spare. Take ones with collars to keep the sun off your neck if you
are going anywhere remotely sunny. For pants, I like cargoes that
can zip off the legs and turn into shorts (which can also double as
swimming trunks). Dark colours are always going to hide the dirt and
grime so that's also a good idea. Usually, other than underwear and
socks, I don't take much more than this. Remember that if you need
something you can always buy it there and usually for a fraction of
the price than at home! Don't forget to take some type of hat as
being sunburnt is a real drag when you are traveling.
Shoes - Unless you are doing some serious mountaineering then you
probably won't need those $300 Scarpa trekking boots. In many poorer
countries you can buy those $300 Scarpas at the local markets for
$10 anyway, because some idiot tourist left them outside his door to
dry and an enterprising local stole them to sell at the markets!
Think comfort - I usually go for Converse All Stars, but any type of
cheap canvas shoe will probably be ok. On a trek across England my
Converse shoes allowed my feet to get wet about 10 minutes before my
buddy's feet got wet - he was wearing the $300 Scarpas! Once again,
if you need something better, you can probably buy it at your
destination for a cheaper price.
Other stuff - There are a few things I will never travel without.
Sunscreen is the main one because I REALLY hate getting sunburnt. A
small multi-tool is often pretty handy too - don't get a leatherman
because you will lose it or get it stolen. You can often buy
multi-tools for $5 anyway that work perfectly well. I also always
take a lighter ($1 plastic kind) for anything from lighting people's
cigarettes to sealing the ends of ropes.
The trick to packing for adventure travel is to pack light,
inconspicuous and cheap. This avoids you becoming a human pack-mule
or a target for thieves and hustlers. You will also find that you
will enjoy your traveling more because you won't be so tired nor
worrying about your gear so much.
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About the author:
Rob Wood is a regular
traveler to third world countries and helps run a site over at
Polo's Bastards about extreme adventure travel.
http://polosbastards.com.
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