Packing Correctly

Anika is in Alaska right now.

Yeah, you read correctly. Only a month before we start our trip to Asia she flew to the complete opposite side of the earth. It took her 22 hours, three planes and a 300$ backpack, lost by the airline, that – thank god – reappeared two days later to get there.
„How is she even able to afford this“ you ask? Well.. she won the trip! On television! In a TV show! And I’m really jealous right now 😂

Now let’s move on to today’s topic…

…and of course you already read the title: Packing your backpack correctly for your destination is one of the most important things and one of those things that can go terribly wrong even before you start your trip!

So we have a quite interesting constellation here that you can benefit from. What I mean by that? Anika is very experienced with traveling around the world to very different locations in terms of climate but she also is a person who sometimes just goes for things and doesn’t spend too much time on planning everything. On the other side there’s me. Most of my travel experience comes from going to places relatively close to where I live for vacation with family or friends. Furthermore I know myself good enough to know that I’m a last-minute-packer. And that is my first tip for you: Know yourself and the typical mistakes you make and try to avoid them!

In my case that means I started to write a packing list a whole month before the start of our trip. I have noticed that when I’m on my way I often think „Oh hey, I need this in Asia“ but when I’m home I totally forget to write those things down. So I started my list on Google Keep. I used this app for quite a long time and it’s perfect for taking cloud based notes. That way I’m able to put things on my lists whenever and wherever something comes on my mind.

This is what your setup may look like. As you can see I splitted up my lists into different categories. If you’re a girl or a very fashion-conscious kind of dude you may create a list for clothings, too. I’m more the „on-top-of-the-pile“-kinda guy 😅 Perhaps you wanna create another list for things you have to buy before you can pack them. This can be a good idea if you’re that type of person that sets important things aside and in the end hasn’t enough time to get them in time. Of course you can use any cloud based app you like but I can definitely recommend Google Keep as it saves every little step you take and no point on your list gets lost if the app crashes or something.

Of course the things you have to pack depend on the destination you travel to. That applies to clothing as well as it applies to the utilities you need. If you go to a cold area you need a thick and warm sleeping bag that warms you up at night. On the downside those are heavy and take much space in your backpack. You don’t have this problem if you travel to the warmer places on earth. Clothes made of less fabric and sleeping bags that weigh 200 grams. So another important thing is to inform yourself about the area you plan to visit. Look it up on the internet, there are guides for almost every single country in the world. What you have to keep in mind for specific reasons, what you should avoid and what you have to bring. In some countries driving around in the city by cab is a great and cheap way to see all the different shades of that city really fast. In some other countries cab drivers try to put you over the barrel. So knowing where you are going to and planning the trip like „I’m not going to do that, but I will have to try this instead…“ is a great way to get the most out of your trip!

Those are things you have to keep in mind before you start packing and because there are so many things to keep in mind packing lists you write and extend over weeks are a great way to make sure you don’t forget a single thing. Because you will forget things if you pack last minute, trust me on that. It’s a pain in the ass if you’re on vacation and suddenly notice you forgot to bring your styling product… This scenario gets 100 times worse if you’re not just at the beach for a week but 3 month on a trip through a country and expose your fuzzy hair to the locals. Horror right?

So all in all: plan your packing and start early enough. This prevents frustration and is one more step towards a perfect trip around the world 😊