Post Travel Part 1: What's in the Bag?

Before embarking on our travels I read in a lot of places that people tend to take too much stuff with them. A huge rucksack on their backs, a smaller one on their fronts is the common approach.

I didn't want to take too much any way but the decision was made easy for me when I realised how much more flights cost when you have baggage. You basically pay about 10% extra for the privilege of putting your bags in the hold. I looked into the carry on luggage allowance and found out that it varied between 7kg and 10kg. The size was consistent across airlines: 56cm x 36cm x 23cm. Surely that's enough isn't it?

So, now was the time for a practice pack following the simple rule:

"Put everything you think you will need on the bed, then halve it."

You have to be pretty damn strict with yourself at the first stage too. It feels like you haven't got enough but trust me, you've probably got too much. Any way, let's move on...

The Bag:

I used my very old and tatty bag. This was well within the dimensions for carry on luggage which helped limit the total weight. I did have to sew it up a bit whilst on the road but this helped pass the time on the long journeys. Got some funny looks from the locals and fellow westerners but that was part of the fun really.

Here it is:

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The Contents Part 1:

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Here's my list (roughly left to right and roughly in rows). Note that this is how it ended up after the four months of travel so the contents had been fine-tuned.

• A5 Note pad, DVD of diving course*, carrier bags, duck tape, AA batteries, travel towel, phone charger and travel adapter, iPod, iPod wire
• Resealable bag containing: eye mask, beer bottle tops*, travel soap, travel shampoo sachets, nail clippers
• Metal tin containing: needles, strong polyester thread, spare phone batteries, yahtzee dice, headphone socket converter*, post-it page markers, SDHC memory cards, card reader, memory stick, imitation iTrip, lucky travel thing, UK SIM card
• Resealable bag containing: carabinas, minature screwdriver, hooks from coat hangers, 5m length of strong string/cord
• Strong carrier bag**, various papers, wet wipes, napkins, hand sanitizer, maps, various papers, various cards, spare mobile phone, headphones, various papers, playing cards, earplugs, bamboo instrument*, gorilla pod, pain killers and anti-malarials**, mosquito net**, sunglasses pouch, maglite torch, spare torch, 2 small padlocks, 2 transparent resealable bags**
• Resealable bag containing: camera battery charger, shortened AC lead, camera USB lead
• Sick bag*, passports, 2 pens, pencil, notebook, waterproof pouch*, 5 passport photos, 4 photocopies of passport, various papers, plastic cable ties
• Resealable bag containing: tea bags, creamer, sugar, various sauces
• Resealable bag containing: various sizes of elastic bands**
• Wallet.

* These items were collected during the trip

** Items of comment: Strong carrier bag was used as a cover for my bag. It was clipped on via the side straps and worked incredibly well; Pain killers, 1 packet of paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin lasted the two of us easily, we also had Malarone (anti-malarials) which were fine for us; Mosquito net, probably wouldn't take it again as only used it three or four times. It did pack up very small and was nice to know you had it; Transparent resealable bags were used for getting 100ml liquid containers passed security and on to flights; Elastic bands, so useful, just take 20 or so of varying sizes and you'll be laughing.

The Contents Part 2

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• Factor 50 sunscreen, toothpaste, toothbrush, strong mosquito repellent, weak mosquito repellent*
• Green t-shirt, dark grey polyester trousers, belt
• Light grey shorts, long sleeved black cotton shirt, sunglasses
• Swimming shorts, Lonely Planet**, orange t-shirt, short sleeved camel cotton shirt, grey t-shirt, black hiking trainers
• Goggles, grey jumper, camel polyester trousers which convert into shorts, silk sleeping sack**, sandals*
• Green cap, 4 pairs of boxers, 4 pairs of socks, red bag.

* These items were collected during the trip
** Lonely Planet was at times useful and at times a waste of time; silk sleeping sack was very light and thin so you didn't get hot in them. They were great to use if you thought the bed may be bug ridden.

Note: The only thing missing from these photos are my camera, for obvious reasons.

If anyone wants details of a particular item or has questions just add a comment.

Benefits

Here are some of the benefits of having carry on luggage only:

1. Speed: No need to hang around the carousels at baggage reclaim - just walk off the plane, get through immigration and passport control and off you go. Same goes for buses - keep your bag at your seat/on your lap rather than having it put on the roof or under the bus.
2. Security: As the bag is always with you, you can be pretty sure that no-one is going through it and stealing valuables. I have heard stories of people having stuff stolen from their bags on night ferry crossings from Ko Phanghan to Surat Thani and also on various night coach journeys.
3. Size: South East Asia is hot. Damn hot. Hotter than the sun. Imagine carrying a huge and heavy bag on your back and a small one up front in a sauna. Not fun. With a small bag it is so much easier to get around, plus you get to laugh at those people who have not only got a huge bag but a big red, angry face and are clearly thinking to themselves "I hate this damn bag!"/"It's so bloody hot!".
4. Freedom: A small bag means no laptop (I suppose you could fit in an iPad but whipping that out in South East Asia will make you look like bit of a knob, and a rich knob at that). No laptop means a) you don't book hotels in advance (a very good thing) and b) you don't miss half of your travels due to spending time glued like a pixel junkie to Facebook and catching up on what colour Sam from Scunthorpe has dyed her hair, etc.
5. Organisation: As you only have a few things, you get to know their place in your bag. Also when it comes to packing up and moving on (and you do this a lot!), it's dead easy.

There are bound to be more benefits but that's all I can think of now.

At the end of our trip I can honestly say that I didn't need anything that I didn't have in the bag. The only two limitations I can think of were that I would have liked my big SLR camera and that I would have liked my Swiss army knife (no scissors, knives, etc allowed in cabin). That's it really.

For completeness, here is Claire's bag. She should have done a girls version but couldn't be bothered! Maybe she'll write up what she had at a later date. Her tip is "Take crap clothes that you don't mind getting rid of because you will buy new clothes out there"

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