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What to pack for a long trip

Preparing for our trip around the world (covered in detail on the Nomads in Asia blog), we had to put a lot of thought into reducing everything we’ll need for a year to two backpacks. I’ve read a couple of great lists of what to pack and thought it would be helpful to share ours. In addition to fabrics, these are the items we started with

travel list

• Netbook: After much research, we settled on the Samsung N110 as it had the best battery life (5-8 hours) and video memory. The machine has performed really well after a $20 2GB RAM upgrade. The only time the Atom CPU hasn’t been able to keep up with my regular computer has been video editing. The only criticism is that the screen still dwarfs a 15-inch monitor, so I’d consider the Acer for future travel, even though it weighs a bit more.
• 2 USB cards of 4 gigabytes. We will use Firefox and remove chrome from these USBs in internet cafes to further protect our data.
• External Hard Drive – I’m a Western Digital fan, but had a larger Toshiba at work.
• 1 DSLR and 1 point and shoot camera. After breaking 2 Cannons in 2 years we have become unconventional with the choice of Olympus models for these devices. We have had these cameras for almost 4 months and so far they have been great. The Olympus point and shoot had a problem with the original battery, but that was fixed with a replacement.
• Camcorder – On loan from my sister. There will be some good videos to come
• Photocopies and photos of all our important documents (insurance/bank/Visa documents) – I used to scan these in the past, but found I can get the same quality with a digital photo.
• Lonely planet on a shoestring budget + 2 fiction books to read/trade.
• Swiss Army Knife.
• Adapters: I left the converter at home as most of our electronics didn’t need it and we were able to save about a point.
• ~10 energy bars/cliff. Although I’m a pretty adventurous eater, there have been times when traveling in hot weather has left me without an appetite, and that’s when these come in handy. After they sell out, my go-to local equivalent will be vanilla wafers.
• Bungee cords/carabiners: I don’t know when they will be useful, but I know they will.
• iPhone: Contract May Be Canceled, But Hopefully This Sucker Will Keep Doing Wi-Fi Wonders
• Cable splitter: so we can listen to an iPod/watch a movie on the same device.
• Inflatable Travel Pillow – Last minute impulse buy, we’ll see if it’s a keeper.
• 2 sheets/pillowcases: You can always buy a sleeping bag liner at REI for $40 or take an old sheet with you. I went with the second route.
• Light sleeping bags for the summer: we may have regrets, but they were cheap, weighing 1 pound each and can be thrown away after reaching the mountain in Malaysia.
• Sunscreen/Insect repellent/Dramamine/Mole skin.
• Shamwow like towels: I’ve hated travel towels in the past so we’ve substituted with the Shamwow ones, which are a fifth of the price and seem to work better in my test.
• Additional passport photos for visas in progress.
• A headlamp: Much smaller and handier than flashlights, and good for night and morning walks.

Look for an update in a few months to see which items we forgot and which ones we threw away. Check out our progress around the world on our blog t Nomads in Asia.