Packing Tips

What to Pack: An Updated List After Three Years of Getting It Wrong

I spent three years learning which items earned their place in my pack and which ones I should have left behind from the start.

2 min read

“Three years of subsequent travel across Asia, Australia, and South America have produced a revised list that is both lighter and more considered than the original.”

The first packing list, written and filmed in Barnsley in March 2011, contained several items that were unnecessary and omitted several that would have been useful. Three years of subsequent travel across Asia, Australia, and South America have produced a revised list that is both lighter and more considered than the original.

What I would drop from the original list: the formal trousers that I carried for four months without wearing, the number of t-shirts that turned out to be two more than necessary, the physical guidebooks that are now better replaced by downloaded content, and the excessive first-aid kit that could have been reduced to a more portable selection of the most-used items.

What I would add: a decent lightweight rain jacket rather than the heavy one I carried initially, a better quality sleep sheet for hostels in hot climates, a small combination padlock that fits most hostel lockers rather than the large padlock I carried for months without using, and the packing cubes that I resisted until I saw someone use them and immediately understood why they work.

The Columbia convertible trousers remain the best single clothing purchase of the entire trip. I bought a second pair in Manila and would do so again without hesitation. Lightweight, quick-drying, enough pockets for everything you need to carry on your person, and convertible to shorts in a way that actually works rather than making you look like someone who gave up halfway through getting dressed.

Lightweight, quick-drying, enough pockets for everything you need to carry on your person, and convertible to shorts in a
way that actually works rather than making you look like someone who gave up halfway through getting dressed.

A full updated kit list with current recommendations will be posted as a separate piece once I am back from South America and have had time to properly assess what I actually used versus what I carried.

dave@launchcx.com

A British ginger seeing the world one questionable decision at a time. Based wherever the wifi works.

What to Pack: An Updated List After Three Years of Getting It Wrong

“Three years of subsequent travel across Asia, Australia, and South America have produced a revised list that is both lighter and more considered than the original.”

Lightweight, quick-drying, enough pockets for everything you need to carry on your person, and convertible to shorts in a way that actually works rather than making you look like someone who gave up halfway through getting dressed.

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Lightweight, quick-drying, enough pockets for everything you need to carry on your person, and convertible to shorts in a
way that actually works rather than making you look like someone who gave up halfway through getting dressed.