sometimes you get lucky and the gods smile down on you when you walk out the front door and there’s a beautiful sunset with the weirdest light that makes the air feel thick, like you could cut it with a knife. And then you go on to a rad evening that ends in the weirdest way possible, babies and nazis and flat tires, oh my. Just sayin’:
Posted on 2010-08-23T00:00:00Z GMT
I’m getting ready to go on a big ol’ trip to Egypt, as most of my friends know. And, well, I have a confession to make: I love lists. They’re the only kind of organization I really ever use or need. My lists, they take care of me. Shot lists and set lists and tasks that need to be done. There is one kind of list that is nearer and dearer to me than any other though: The Packing List.
The first time I encountered one was in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, where the author said that any travelogue should have such a list laying around, and went through his list of things to take on your next motorcycle trip through the Dakotas. Later, when I was in college, I ended up doing quite a lot of traveling, and did a little research before each trip (especially one magical year where I was more out of the country than in). There are several good sites out there, onebag.com and the Backpack Travel Guide being the ones that come to mind immediately. These three share in that they’re not just a list, but an annotated and in some cases footnoted list, filled with reasons and thoughts on why these things are important. This is my humble addition to that list of lists.
Clothes: This is pretty obvious, but it bears retelling: Two sets of clothing (plus on set of spare underwear) is plenty. You can mix and match and be appropriate for almost any occasion, and any more is really just added weight. This includes what I’m wearing when I leave.
2 pairs pants- Loose dickies, cotton, but not denim. The same things I wear at home, for the same reasons. They blend in easily, dry fast and are double tough.
2 T-Shirts – Black and gray, or black and blue.
3 boxers – I’m a boxers man, now you know.
3 pairs socks – Black, smartwool if you can afford it, but I stick to cotton cause I chew through socks too fast anyway.
3 A shirts (wife beaters, for those at home)- I always wear these. Dunno why, but even in the tropics I feel odd without an undershirt.
Sandals- As much for the shower/tub/pool as anything else.
Shoes- One pair of some kind of fairly resilient walking shoes. You abuse the hell out of your feet on the road, so these will be your best friend.
Rain Jacket- Something to block the wind and keep the wet off of you.
Cardigan/hoodie/sweater- An extra layer, to be added when you need it. Most places, it drops at least twenty degrees at night. Unless it was 90+, you’ll need it.
Equipment:
Laptop- This trip I’m kind of in a shambles about what laptop to take. All of the software I use is on OSX, but my macbook is a 17", not exactly minimalist. A netbook hackintosh would be ideal, but my netbook won’t do that unfortunately.
Chargers- For everything that takes batteries. The camera, the laptop, the ipod, yada, yada.
Camera- I never go anywhere without it, and this is no exception.
Lenses- I tend to go a little overboard with the lenses. I take four. A 500mm mirror lens, a 35mm wide angle, a 50mm that I shoot 95% of my work with, and a 105 that is really lovely for portraits.
Ipod- might not go this time, as my iphone took a swim last weekend, and I’m saving all my money for road expenses.
Headphones- Small ones, in-ear. They’re nice for trains and buses and such, but I don’t use them anywhere where isolation could be a problem.
Hard Drives, power – For photos. I generate a massive ammount of photos, and I put them on pocket hard drives, one in each bag.
Card Reader- For copying photos. Faster than plugging in the camera to the computer.
Blower- A gadget I use to keep my camera clean. Looks like a rocket ship.
Flashlight – Tiny LED or halogen, I have a couple.
Batteries – spares for what I carry, namely my camera and the flashlight.
Three way plug adapter (2) – An ingenious device that makes three outlets from one. Much smaller than a surge protector.
Phone – Something cheap. Leave the iPhone at home, it’ll just draw attention in a bad way.
Toiletries: I shouldn’t have to explain these.
Soap
Shampoo
Towel
Q tips
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Puff
Razor
Deodorant
Nail Clippers
Brush
Glasses
Saline
Contact Case
TP
Miscellaneous:
Business Cards: for that extra touch of legitimacy.
Cup, bowl, spoon, fork: It’s much cheaper and usually healthier to make your own meals when possible. I don’t bother with a full backpacker’s kitchen, as I tend to stick to cities, but these come in handy.
Sewing kit: Big needles, heavy thread. I end up loaning this out more than I need it myself, but it weighs nothing and takes up little space. Also, if you’re badly cut and far from a hospital, this can save your ass.
Clothesline, laundry powder: For when you have to wash your clothes in a sink or basin. This is a daily chore, takes about fifteen minutes.
First Aid: Band-aids. Sterile wipes. Aspirin and Immodium. Anything worse, get to a doctor.
Multi-tool: Swiss Army or Leatherman or the like.
Eyeglass screwdriver: Just in case. In the field repairs are tricky at best.
Pocket Dictionary for the Destination country
That’s about it. All of this goes into two bags: a camera bag and a carryon sized backpack. This kit can go anywhere in the world, with a few adjustments for climate in the clothes (more layers if you’re not going somewhere equatorial), for an indefinite period. Clothes do tend to wear out faster on this schedule; I spent six weeks in mexico with almost this exact setup, and had to trash my shirts and socks at the end of it. I took a much bigger rig to Brazil for my semester abroad and regretted the weight and needed almost none of the extra things.
Posted on 2010-08-22T00:00:00Z GMT
