The web is full of posts on packing light. I wish that I had read some of them in 2004 before flying to Beijing with an 80 litre backpack and 40 litre daypack and a camera bag full to burst. This is a personal account of why I pack light, learnt the heavy, sweaty way. With some practical tips thrown in for free.
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| Maybe this is too many clothes for a backpacking trip |
I headed out into the world with; 8 pairs of long trousers, 20 T-shirts, 6 long sleeved tops, 4 towels, a thermal coat, a light jacket, 2 penknives, 2 torches , camcorder, camera, guide books, reading books, notebooks, sketchbooks, pens, 4 bars of soap, 750ml each of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel, travel washing liquid, a sleeping bag, a tent, enough medication to start a pharmacy and even water purification equipment.
Sadly there are no images of me struggling under that weight to prove the point but picture a short guy with long hair, strapped between 2 mattresses and you have the idea. Luckily I learn fast, 6 months later when returning to the UK everything fitted comfortably into my backpack with all of the extension pouches closed.
So what changed?
1 - My back gave in
2 - I got organised
3 - I let go
After struggling out of Beijing International Airport sandwiched between 2 packs and being garrotted by the camera bag I made myself instantly unpopular with a bus full of local commuters as I blocked the walkway on a morning rush hour bus. A very awkward 20 minute bus ride later and we should have been 10 minutes walk from our youth hostel. 3 hours later we arrived tired, sweaty and cross at the hostel.
- Lesson 1: Unless you are in the military you cannot carry 60% of your body weight for 3 hours.
- Lesson 2a: Do not bury the route to where you are staying in the middle of your pack just so you can cram in 2 more changes of clothes.
Leaving Beijing I had already shed a number of my changes of clothes but it took a few months to realise the light packing golden rule:
Pack for what you will be doing, not what you might be doing.
Sounds simple but the hard part is figuring out what you will be doing day to day. I packed water purification gear because someone had told me not to drink the water in China. What I didn't take into account was that bottle water is cheap and available everywhere in China as is tea (often free). Even when trekking the guides plied us with a never ending supply of boiled water. My mistake was not finding out enough about the place I was going before I got on the plane.
- Lesson 2b: Don't just look at the pictures in the guidebooks.
The part of the golden rule I found the hardest to get was the second half:
Pack for what you will be doing, not what you might be doing.
If you are going trekking in the Himalayas it is obvious you are not going to need a dinner jacket. It is less apparent that the things you use everyday at home will not always be as necessary. The immediate reaction to a few weeks without being near a washing machine might be to pack 20+ T-shirts. Packing 3 quick drying tops and washing 1 in the sink each evening will keep you just as fresh and reduces your load. This was a tough lesson for me, at school I was the kid who always carried all of his school books just incase I had read my timetable wrong.
- Lesson 3: You can't carry a supermarket in a backpack, but you will find one where you are going.
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| Eaglecreek packing sacks |
Enough ramble I have packing to do, www.onebag.com is the site I use for all my packing geek needs. We have not quite got down to having 1 carry on size bag each but we only have 1 medium size backpack each.
Happy packing.
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