Contents of my Asia Travel Backpack
I decided to shoot a short video where I tell and show the contents of my backpack, which I usually take with me to Asia and, in particular, to Thailand for the winter (that is, for 3-6 months). Once I already wrote an article about that, what to take with you to Thailand with my own advice, but I also decided to post exactly what happens in my backpack when I go without a child. In any case, I also recommend reading that post to those people who are going to warm Thai and have no idea what things to take with them. Plus, there, in the comments, someone also expressed their opinion..
The content of the article
The contents of my backpack
Video
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Clothes and footwear
T-shirts - 5pcs
Shorts - 2 pieces
Pants - 1 piece
Sweatshirt - 1 piece (needed on buses, trains and planes, creepy air conditioners)
Waterproof jacket or raincoat - 1 piece
Panties - 5 pcs
Socks - 2 pairs of lightweight and 1 pair of warmer
Touring sandals - 1 pair
Rubber flip flops - 1 pair (needed to go to the shower or to the beach)
Useful things
Plastic tray and spoon (storage tray, mango and papaya spoon)
Fruit knife
Needle with thread
A piece of rope (to dry the washed laundry, in cases where it is far from the laundry or it breaks to go)
Kettle and green tea (I drink tea every day all the time)
First aid kit (minimum set: plaster, iodine, citramone, activated carbon, nurofen)
Belt bag for wallet and documents
Sunglasses (comfortable for riding bike)
Technique
One or two phones (I do not have a two-digit phone, so often two)
Notebook
Camera + lenses (our set of photographic equipment)
Two travel bags with accessories and chargers
Surge protector (as a rule, I not enough outlets in guesthouses)
Contents of my Asia Travel Backpack
Why do I travel with a backpack
Let me explain a little why I travel with a backpack. Because, I really don't like it when my hands are full, with a backpack I feel much more mobile. Even in the city I never go with bags, always only a city backpack. In addition, in the same Tae, there are almost no sidewalks, which means a bag or suitcase on wheels turns into a heavy burden. Obviously, there is a taxi, but all the same, mobility is somehow lost. But I am not trying to persuade, do not think. If the suitcase turns out to be very small and light, or if you have arrived for a couple of weeks and are not going to move from place to place, then you hardly need a backpack. For example, when I come to Tai with the whole family (wife and child), then we have 1-2 suitcases and carry-on luggage in the form of city backpacks.
My backpack usually weighs about 15 kg, of which about 10 kg is a technique. This weight on the shoulders is much easier to feel than in the hands. Read below how to reduce it..
How to reduce the number of things
A backpack of 30-50 liters is enough for a traveler
In fact, for Asia, a backpack of 30-50 liters is quite enough, like the one I use as an urban one. You saw that there are few clothes and it will fit in it. But I have with me a fairly hefty set of photographic and computer equipment, including various wiring, chargers, and other accessories. With them, it is much more difficult to cram into 30 liters, but again you can, if you try. I just don't like it when my backpack is bursting at the seams and at the same time I have no space left at all. Better let my 70-liter backpack (how to choose a hiking backpack) will be half empty and I can, if anything, throw a bag of groceries on the way, or, leaving the country, put gifts for my loved ones, or some other things that appear on my way. I remember once drove a blanket when I moved from Chiang Mai to Phuket.
See also my review of the light version of my backpack. There I have just a city backpack and in general a minimum of things. This option is perfect for minimalists and those who don't like to check in their luggage. I also travel in this format, depending on the situation, for example, if it lasts only a couple of weeks. After switching to MacBook and mirrorless, it became much easier to fit into smaller volumes.
What you can not take
If I set out to reduce the number of things, then in reality it would be possible not to take some of them, since it is quite possible to do without them, and almost everything can be bought on the spot without any problems. Therefore, below are some adjustments to my set for lovers of minimalism or active travelers. Still, there is a difference when you go for six months and combine travel with work, sitting still, or just a couple of weeks on vacation, when there is only a trip.
- Do not take a surge protector if you will be charging a little equipment. Buy locally if needed.
- Do not take a kettle and rent hotels at a higher price, there it will already be. Recently, I also came to this option.
- Dispense with a raincoat purchased from 7-eleven instead of a waterproof jacket.
- Do not take a first-aid kit, especially if you do not have any chronic diseases, but buy travel insurance! It is much more practical, because the doctor will look at it and prescribe the necessary medications..
- Do not take soap and water accessories, as in normal hotels (and not in extra-budgetary ones), all this is often available (soap and shampoo). And also because it is sold on every corner at 7/11.
- Take only one universal shoe, because I personally rarely use the same rubber flip flops. Although, again, when staying only in the south of Thailand, just a slap will be behind the eyes.
- Do not take a notebook for notes, for a long time everything can be written into the phone, only I will not change my position in any way.
- Take even less clothes because they are sold locally.
- Take with you instead of a separate city backpack, some light and compact waist bag, or do not take anything at all if things for city walks fit into the pockets of your shorts.
- Reduce the number of wires or try to pack them more compactly.
- Use fewer photographic equipment and cases for it, since the same camera without a photo bag takes up much less space. After a while I switched to a mirrorless with one lens and the whole technique was significantly reduced..
Thus, you can go to the minimum set of an Asian backpacker - a small backpack, which contains a minimum of summer clothes, a laptop, a compact camera and a wallet. Everything!
There is also such an option for those who are used to hanging out in one place for a month or more - to have only a minimal set with them, and when renting a house, they just buy something into the house every time. But I really do not like to throw something away, especially when the thing is not spoiled, so I rarely do this. True, you can not throw it away, but leave it to the next tenants, and if the thing is useful (some kind of blender), then they will only be happy.
P.S. If anyone has any thoughts on how to make something more versatile in my set, please unsubscribe in the comments. Or I will be glad to hear other points of view on the number of necessary things when traveling to Asia.