Packing List

All items on my Packing List spread out between two World Trips

Exemplary List of packed Items for a World Trip

While a packing list is always subject to personal preference and priority, the list displayed here reflects only items that I personally decided to take with me and what happened to these items while travelling. Wear and tear is a great factor, especially on clothes. When you don’t have many clothes with you and you constantly have to wash and wear them over and over again, you better want to make sure that they are of pretty good quality.

Also what you need to pack depends largely on where you go, when you go and your style of travelling. If you travel in the wintertime, like to stay in nice hotels, or are into camping, then your list will most definitely look a whole lot different from the one below. This packing list was generated for general world travel, mostly during summer months and for hostel or cheap guesthouse stays.

The most overrated items to pack are in my mind the Travel Towel, Leatherman, Swiss Army Knife and Headlamp. Also the Silk Liner was completely useless for most of my travels and I got rid of it. By the time I reached India and Nepal, I realized that this liner could in fact be a quite useful item to have and I had to ask a local tailor to sew a new one for me out of some cheap fabric.

With that in mind, there is only so much you can prepare and bring with you. Sometimes you just have to deal with situations when they occur and do some “b.i.t.” (buy it there) travels. But as a starting point, this packing list will hopefully be helpful for your travel preparations.

What I took:                                       Comments:

Clothes:

• 5-7 T-Shirts                           – replaced often (wear, tear, loss)
• 5-7 pairs of Socks                 – 1-2 thicker for hiking, 5 regular
• 5-7 pairs of Underwear          – synthetic, quick dry
• 2 Long Pants                         – 1 replaced after 1 year
• 2 Board Shorts                      – replaced after 1 and 1 ½ years
• Boxer Short                           – useful for hostel corridors
• Fleece Sweater                     – necessary only for cooler weather
• Fleece Vest                           – always used, stolen and replaced
• Thermal Shirt                        – always used, thin and warm
• Wind Breaker                        – waterproof, extremely lightweight
• Pair of Rain Pants                 – rarely needed, better than umbrella
• Pair of Swim Shorts               – perfect for Daycations
• Long Underwear                   – only used twice in the mountains
• Hat and Gloves                     – necessary only for cooler weather
• Sun Hat                                 – not really necessary
• Cap                                       – used many times

Shoes:

• Hiking Shoes                         – replaced after 1 year by Trail Runners
• Trekking Sandals                  – replaced after 1 year
• Running Shoes                      – unnecessary, barely ever used
• Flip-Flops                              – replaced by thinner and lighter ones

Toiletries:

• beach Travel Towel               – lost
• big Travel Towel                    – replaced by sarong (beach towel)
• small Travel Towel                 – never used
• Toothbrush                            – replaced several times
• Toothpaste                            – constantly replaced
• Shaver and Blades                – generic type to find replacements
• After Shave                            – 100ml in plastic bottle (Nivea Balm)
• Shave Gel                              – 80ml plastic bottle (King of Shaves)
• Shampoo                               – 80ml container (constantly refilled)
• Hair Wax                                – replaced by different products
• small Soap                             – small for daily use
• Sunlotion SPF30                    – sometimes hard to find good one
• Toilet Paper                           – for emergencies (1 Roll for Asia)
• Deodorant                              – sometimes hard to find a good one
• Tweezers                               – not really necessary, but good to have
• small Scissor                         – always good to have
• Nail Clipper                            – always needed
• Contact Lenses                     – supply for one year
• Contact Solution                    – heavy and need to be bought in cities

Medicine:

• Malarone                              – Malaria prevention (rarely used)
• Ciproflaxacn                         – for bacterial infections (stomach)
• Acetazolamide                      – altitude sickness (never used)
• Pepto Bismol                        – always used for upset stomach
• Immodium                             – always used for stomach problems
• Aspirin                                   – useful for headache and fewer
• DayQuil, NyQuil                    – emergency cold and fly treatment
• Iodine Tablets                       – water purification (used once)
• Band-Aids                             – useful for wounds and blisters
• Betaisodona                         –  very useful for cuts and wounds
• Motion Sickness Pills            – important to have, rarely needed
• Oral Rehydration Solution    – very useful in case of diarrhea

Equipment:

• small Camera                        – replaced 8 times (lost, stolen, broken)
• backup Battery                      – important to always use the camera
• Thumb Drive                          – always used for internet cafes
• small Netbook                        – always used for diary updates
• Travel Plug                            – globally used besides South Africa
• Splitter                                   – handy if only one outlet available
• Light Plug                               – not necessary (only used once)
• Global Phone                         – not necessary (only used 3 times)
• Alarm Clock                            – light and small
• Headlight                                – barely ever used
• small Flashlight                      – always used for dorms at night
• Steri-Pen                                – never actually used

Tools:

• Leatherman                           – given away – heavy, not useful
• Swiss Army Knife                   – only used to open a can or bottle
• Lighter                                   – rarely ever used
• Duct Tape                              – sometimes useful
• Cable Binders                        – sometimes useful
• Carabiners                             – not really necessary
• Straps and Lose Ends            – not really necessary
• Sowing Kit                               – never used

Laundry

• Detergent                              – soap or shampoo can be used
• Universal Sink Plug                – always used for washing clothes
• Inflatable Hangers                  – always used for drying clothes
• Clothespins                            – sometimes used
• Clothes Line                           – not necessary

Sleeping

• Wax Ear Plugs                       – always used for dorm rooms
• Eye Mask                               – always used
• Inflatable Pillow                      – always used for overnight travel
• Contacts Container                – backup with contact solution

Eating

• Plastic Cutlery                       – very useful, especially spoon
• Inflatable Bowl                       – useful in some countries
• Thermal Mug                         – always used, lost and replaced
• Tea Bags                              – great if hot water is available

Documents

• Passport                               – filled up very quickly with stamps
• Copies of Passport               – better to carry than the real passport
• Immunization Book               – good for border crossings
• Travel Business Cards         – not necessary, never actually used
• Traveler Checks                   – not really necessary (global ATMs)
• Prescription for Glasses       – used to get replacement glasses
• Passport Photos                   – very useful (visa, border crossings)

Miscellaneous

• small Pad Lock                      – always used (hostel lockers, doors)
• Pack-it Bags                          – to keep clothes dry and organized
• Zip Locks                               – for keeping the rest organized
• Aqua-Pack                             – useless, ruined my camera
• Glasses                                 – used mainly for overnight travel
• Sunglasses                            – replaced many times (lost, broken)
• Vision Sunglasses                 – not really necessary
• Emergency Kit                       – never used, but good to have

Backpack

• 80 liter Arcteryx                     – trip 1 – too big and poor quality
• 50 liter Deuter                       – trip 2 – great quality, but no good fit
• 25 l Deuter Daypack             – both trips – great quality, but small
• Messenger Bag                     – perfect for Passive Travel Days

The Messenger Bag and the Travel Mug were the most useful items that I didn’t have with me when I first left. After travelling for a while, it felt better to explore a city with a Messenger Bag than with a backpack and the Travel Mug became my best buddy on long bus or train rides. A lot of other items on the other hand turned out to be not as useful as I had hoped when I first left for my Round the world Trip. Overall it seems that a Packing List really is something organic and subject to constant change, depending on where you go and your travel behavior, so be prepared for constant adjustments.

Next Page:

Travel Day

• Active Travel Days
• Passive Travel Days
• Additional Types of Days
• Schedule with more Flexibility

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