Backpacking

[Nate]

e-mail yourself copies of important documents like passport, tickets, etc.

 

[dysfunction]

e-mail yourself copies of important documents like passport, tickets, etc.

Excellent suggestion!! Has helped me in the past!

 

[Nate]

If you can fit everything in a hand luggage bag try to, makes getting in and out of airports/coaches etc much easier and there is no worry of your stuff ending up in another country. It's pretty hard to do though but you don't need a lot of clothes if it's just for holiday travel. There are some good size hand luggage bags you can get online. Might wanna do some research in to what is reviewed as good makes, reliable, etc. You don't want a cheap bag that'll rip/have zips that break within the first week. But don't go crazy at the same time.

3 t-shirts, 2 trousers that can turn in to shorts, 1 fleece jacket and a cagoule. Think light clothes rather then heavy jeans, etc.
Try to get a micro fiber towel, they are really light, saves on space as they usually come in a bag and dry really fast.

 

[DaGaffer]

How many sets of clothes etc?

we're both absolutely new to this and we know nothing.

1. Good Backpack (tuck away straps for airport carousels, buses etc.) I'd recommend MacPac.Mine is fantastic and kept going where other people's fell to bits.
2. Clothes depends on your route. I pretty much replaced my entire wardrobe over the year and actually sent a load of warm weather gear home from Peru because I was going to be in jungle/humid climates from then on). If you're doing south-east asia, shorts and t-shirts are dirt cheap.
3. Good rain coat (preferably packs small - Colombia or similar)
4. Hiking boots
5. Flipflops
6. All documents scanned and put in dropbox and/or emailed to yourself, including passports, travel insurance and important phone numbers - like your bank)
7. Camera (although unless you're taking an SLR, these days your phone will do)
8. Multi-country plug adaptor
9. Torch (headband type is really useful)
10. Daypack
11. Usual toiletries, but generally I bought as I went along.
12. I took a small travel medical pack but never touched it
13. Microfibre towel
14. Sleeping bag liner (silk). Really useful in hot climates because mozzies can't get through silk and it packs tiny. If your sleeping in beds that look a bit dodgy, also helps a lot.

I also took a small laptop. Used it for blogging, booking hostels, watching movies etc. but you could do all that these days with a phone/tab.

Depending on where you're going you may also need to plan in time for visas and jabs.

 

[Nate]

Take 2 credit cards too, one to use and one as backup. If you're going to stay in a country a long time and work there will be worth opening an account.

Halifax Clarity I think is one of the best, might have changed since then but it does no usage fees and free withdrawals abroad which I couldn't find any other credit card that does. Pay the money in to your credit card from your debit card every month with a direct debit so you don't pay any interest.

 

[DaGaffer]

Nationwide used to have no transaction fees for international ATM withdrawals. Don't know if that's still true but worth checking.

 

[Nate]

Yeah they're doing some reward thing, worth looking in to Laddey. I'd say get 2 of them sorted out soon because it can take a while for them to send you the card. Think mine took 5 weeks to get sorted.

 

[Bahumat]

Nationwide used to have no transaction fees for international ATM withdrawals. Don't know if that's still true but worth checking.

Ah they stopped that
I went to Barcelona last year and used it, but then before I went to Australia they said they could not do it anymore. Best to double check though.

 

[Ch3tan]

Grab a small diamond worth half a grand, or gold, hide it well so that if you get robbed/lose your stuff you still have something to trade in so you can get home.

Or he could just get travel insurance....


And oh yeah, I though you had 8 grand each. doh! Still 4 grand each will get you 6 months of good travelling time if you don't spunk it all on nice hotels.

 

[cHodAX]

Or on thai laddeyboys!

 

[Everz]

As for getting a 'backpack' from experience get a suitcase with wheels on. Hell of alot easier and you can fit more in with less damage caused and more secure.

 

[Fweddy]

Or on thai laddeyboys!

Then what's the point of going?

 

[cHodAX]

Then what's the point of going?

Culture, well that is what the posh twats say, we all know it's a drugs and sex holiday though!

As long as Laddey gets date raped and bummed proper everything will be just fine!

 

[Nate]

I reckon you'll be in prison in Thailand and on that Big Trouble in Thailand show in a years time saying how we thought it was a great idea

 

[cHodAX]

I reckon you'll be in prison in Thailand and on that Big Trouble in Thailand show in a years time saying how we thought it was a great idea

With arsehole you could comfortably drive a Harley Davidson through. WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?!!!?!1/!

 

[megadave]

As for getting a 'backpack' from experience get a suitcase with wheels on. Hell of alot easier and you can fit more in with less damage caused and more secure.

Can you get off road wheels for suit cases then?

 

[old.Tohtori]

Or he could just get travel insurance....

Still worth it, especially in the less "civilized" countries.

 

[DaGaffer]

As for getting a 'backpack' from experience get a suitcase with wheels on. Hell of alot easier and you can fit more in with less damage caused and more secure.

Completely disagree. Wheelie suitcases are fine if you're going from airport to cab to hotel, but if you're actually travelling around, they're a pain in the hole, especially in more third-world places where pavements are broken or non-existent. They get battered to fuck on buses and trains as well.

There are backpacks with wheels; but I remember looking at a Victorinox one when I was shopping for mine and found it pretty uncomfortable as a backpack. I think Berghaus do a better one now though (I nearly bought one for the missus when we went on Safari).

 

[TdC]

there is also a North Face duffle which doubles as backpack and has wheels iirc. hella handy but prolly hella expensive if I know good NF shit.

 

[Everz]

Completely disagree. Wheelie suitcases are fine if you're going from airport to cab to hotel, but if you're actually travelling around, they're a pain in the hole, especially in more third-world places where pavements are broken or non-existent. They get battered to fuck on buses and trains as well.

There are backpacks with wheels; but I remember looking at a Victorinox one when I was shopping for mine and found it pretty uncomfortable as a backpack. I think Berghaus do a better one now though (I nearly bought one for the missus when we went on Safari).

Sure if your packing light but I found it a nuisance to carry around when compared to wheel.

Though what you stated at the bottom sounds like a decent enough shout, though may be something of personal preference?

 

[rynnor]

Sherpa to carry your stuff - job done!

 

[TdC]

re the insurance discussion in the other thread: get some decent travel insurance. it doesn't have to be expensive to be good.

 

[Nate]

I went with http://www.worldnomads.co.uk/ but yeah shop around, didn't have to use it so really don't know if they are good but I guess that's the deal with all insurance. They can seem good for covering lots and being cheap but until you actually use it you don't know what they're like. Check out http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ too. Great source for the best deals on insurance, credit cards, etc.

 

[Nate]

Thread hijack, has anyone done/does anyone know about the trans-siberian railway? Might give it a go.

 

[DaGaffer]

Thread hijack, has anyone done/does anyone know about the trans-siberian railway? Might give it a go.

Yes, did it in 2006. This is the best site out there with advice about the Trans-Sib (or most other train journeys for that matter). http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm

 

[Nate]

Yeah it looks exciting. I can jump on a ferry at Harwich which is about half an hours drive

 

[DaGaffer]

Yeah it looks exciting. I can jump on a ferry at Harwich which is about half an hours drive

I did Waterloo-Brussels-Cologne-Moscow-Trans Siberian (although I never got to Mongolia and had to get off at Irkutsk to go home because of a family crisis).

 

[Nate]

I did Waterloo-Brussels-Cologne-Moscow-Trans Siberian (although I never got to Mongolia and had to get off at Irkutsk to go home because of a family crisis).

That's a shame mate. Was your plan to fly back if you didn't have that crisis?

 

[DaGaffer]

That's a shame mate. Was your plan to fly back if you didn't have that crisis?

No. I was going on to China then Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia etc. etc. It was part of a ROW trip. I had to miss China, Vietnam and Laos (Vietnam wasn't the end of the world as I've been before, but I still want to go to Laos) and restart in Thailand. On the flip side I ended up doing central America and Cuba when I'd originally planned to end the trip in Venezuela.

 

[taB]

Trans-Sib is ruddy excellent. I did Beijing to St Petersburg in 2003 as part of a larger trip.

Hugely reccomend taking in Mongolia on the way if you can. Ulan Bataar was a bit of a hole but going out into the Steppes and sleeping in a yurt is still a very fond memory.

Irkutsk to Moscow is a pretty long stretch though. I didn't stop anywhere on that part and it was 4 days and 3 nights of identical brown scenery. Still, the vodka made it more than fun.

Fuck that was a long time ago.