Well done! It is your time to go exploring this wonderful and fragile world and its people. But do you have any idea about how to pack your travel backpack?
Travel Backpack: What size?
Reducing your life to a single travel backpack is not easy, even more if you travel for a long time in an expensive and wealthy country. Nevertheless traveling is nothing about taking all your life with you! Here are several questions you should ask you to choose the right size for your travel backpack:
- First of all, if you plan travelling on a Working Holiday Visa, do you want to work/live in society from the start?
- Secondly, how do you want to travel between points A to B?
- Last but not least, do you have some specific activities in mind you would like to do abroad and what are the consequences on your equipment (camping, …) ?
These three questions should help you to have a better understanding about what should take place in your backpack. However you should not exceed a 60L size, which is already huge. For instance, I only travel with a backpack between 30L and 40L MAXIMUM that never exceeds 15kg with my water.
If you plan on working abroad, you will stay somewhere for some time, so you can take more clothes that you won’t keep after. Don’t be seduced buying more things (like clothes) because you have a place to stay!
If you want to travel with other people or hitchhike, it is also easier to give you a lift when you travel with a light backpack. Moreover you won’t catch as much attention with a small travel backpack, therefore it automatically makes you safer as you won’t catch the interest of thieves!
[clear]Concerning road trip and camping, you should at least carry a light tent (around 1kg) as well as a silk sheet (bed bugs in several backpackers hostel). I only use these two about forty nights in 2 years time in Australia, however I’m glad I did when it rained or because of insects and bugs.
When I do not plan camping, I only take a well designed 35L rucksack: The Only One. With this travel backpack, I travelled for 6 months (New Zealand, Tasmania, Thailand, Lao and Cambodia). An upgrade of Mary Poppins’ bag somehow!
As a general statement, everything you don’t use often will be lost soon or later, so why taking it?
One or two travel backpacks?
This is a good
question to ask you because there are many advantages taking two travel backpacks. Indeed, When you go somewhere for several weeks, month or years, it is not handy carrying a big backpack. With two travel backpacks you can:
- Carry all your belongings in the MAIN backpack
- Carry what you need for the day in a small FOLDABLE backpack
MY main travel backpack is a BACH Shield 38L and my foldable backpack is a Takonka Superlight 18L light and reliable.
This combination helps me a lot at the airport to separate hand luggage and checked luggage. You transfer from your main backpack to the foldable backpack what you need during your flight (documents, headphones, digital accessories, food and beverage, …).
Then, you transfer everything back to your main travel backpack after landing.
This tiny foldable backpack can also be carried on your chest. I did it several times in Peru when I was doing a trek in self-sufficient conditions to carry my food and smartphone.
This foldable backpack is also a handy way to go shopping or to go to the beach with your towel and swimwear! Precisely, let’s speak about what kind of cloths you should put inside your backpack !
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