What Gear Do You Travel With?

Hi Tina,

On our last long term travels I carried a Fuji Bridge camera (not a quite a compact/not quite an DSLR), a full 15" Dell laptop, an unlocked quad band Nokia phone on pay as you go (so no contract) and all the various chargers and cables you NEED to make all this crap work, which a lot of people forget about until they're packing and and it's amazing how much space they take up.

As for a backpack I've got a 70l (60+10) Karrmor pack that I got from Blacks in a sale and it has been tried and tested many times and I trust it to hold. I certainly don't need a pack that big, but I like to have a big pack only partly full with the option to stuff more in if needed, that buy a smaller one where everything fits but am screwed if I buy anything new.

On our next travels (starting in just over a month), I'll be taking the above pack which will carry both mine and Faye's stuff, while Faye will be carrying our sons in hers (a 70l Berghaus pack.

as for everything else:

An Acer 3810t, bigger than a netbook but so much better when it comes to editing photos. I also have a Samsung NC10 netbook but the screen is just too small to do anything useful on.

A Canon 450D DSLR with 17-70mm, 50mm and 55-250mm lenses.

500gb external hard drive

an unlocked Nokia 2730 - cheap with a pay as you go sim, just for emergencies really, it's far too expensive to call anyway, for calling we use Skype.

An iPod touch 3rd gen 64gb.... Pocket computer that doubles as a phone as long as you're in a WiFi area using the skype app, can also update facebook, read travelblog, watch films, listen to tunes, play games. Mine's loaded with Fireman Sam to keep my eldest quiet. It's essentially an iPhone without the phone part and ridiculous £40 a month contract for two years.

I keep all this 'essential' crap in a DR-467i Kata bag

In a years time it will be interesting to see what I'm carrying as it's almost guaranteed the one thing you think you can't live without will get jettisoned along the way, whereas some random article you chucked in as you might use someday gets used constantly....

😊 Reply to this

My backpack is a Vaudo 50 litre version, good for light travel, I suggest that one of the most important thing while going for a RTW trip is to pack what's necessary. 😊

For internet access I just makedo with my ipod touch; serves as a great company for music, videos and even looking through photos back home if you're feeling homesick! 😊

All the best! Reply to this

Myself and one of my best friends have been travelling for 2years at present and we just talked about this recently (were both tech freaks):-)

we both started off with unlocked nokia 96 which was cutting edge at d time. Free gps, wifi, 16gb of inbuilt internal storage(upgradable with 16gb micro sd) for pictures and music, 5mp camera solid enough for non scenery photos. Basically this is going to be with you all the time and is my back up camera when i dont want to carry my small dslr like on nights out. I spent about 400 euro on it and is easily d most important thing i spent money on. Keeps parents happy with always contactability, mp3 for those 30+ train/bus journeys, free wifi when out in cafes minus netbook, gps for lookin for your hostel or driving... For 400 euro now you could get a great phone like d nokia n8 with a 12mp camera! No need for compact then haha! What ever phone you sick just make sure its unlocked and that you have good storage on it for music. Unlocked i phone would be good choice too.

Camera wise i really would encourage you to get a mini dslr, i'm using a samsung nx10 and its a great compromise when travelling when compared with full dslr. The level your photos will improve by with one of these types of cameras is amazing when compared wit a compact. I really really suggest you look into it for all those amazing moments your going to capture, especially you'll thank me for your scenery shots:-) I was agonizing over picking an entry level dslr, or a good compact and then i found this beauty. My photos easily rival my friends who travel wit a full dslr but i am far more likely to take mine out with me as its light and about half the size and even smaller if you want to take a flat fixed lens. I got mine for about 600 australian dollars and the photos i'm taking i will cherish for a life time. 4months later i'm delighted wit my choice. And if your worried about nights out photos hey wait a minute you got your great phone camera thats saving you space in your pocket;-)

laptop wise i literally just bought a span new samsung nf208 this week and its eyewateringly perfect for travelling. Its about 1kg, 10inch screen, has a 320gb hard drive, i get about 8hrs battery life using processor intensive photo editing software so maybe 12 hours typing and 7hrs on d web. Perfect! And it was only 350 dollars.. Where have you been all my life! Having had an unreliable acer for 2years i am over d moon wit this new windows 7 ready mini beast! I primarily hav this for web surfing, photos, typing. My friend has a bigger laptop to watch movies on and play games so if you want to do that too i'd suggest a 12inch laptop. Bigger the screen d less battery life your gonna get. Depends on what you need:-)

so for about 1200euro you will be tech ready fors all your travellin needs! i hope this all helps your decisions and if you've any other questions please message me!

Nige Reply to this

This is similar to a thread I started a while ago;

When we left home we had a Toshiba Nb220 netbook and it has been invaluable. It has now easily been surpassed in value for money terms new but it is still going strong. The only downside to it has been that it is a little light on storage space ( with over 10000 pics and counting no wonder)

Our miles too big iPod at 160 Gb doubles as additional storage to back up the pics and has both our music on it.

Whilst away we got annoyed with only having one device between us and have since purchased an iPad whilst on our travels, slightly OTT really but nice and means we aren't digging over access pr who can be blogging ( we share the writing)

Camera wise we set out with a panasonic lumix tz-7 and a sanyo xacti waterproof camer/videocamera

The panasonic was excellent until it was dropped and the LCD screen went fuzzy! The sanyo has been used much less as it is not very great to take pics and haven't felt the need to video much really.

With the panasonic biti the dust we have now got an entry level dslr Canon 1000d and what others are saying about enjoying taking pics is very true - we are doing even more now we have this!

We didn't take a phone of any sort with us believing (incorrectly) that Vietnam, Cambodia etc wouldn't have much signal or wifi but it is everywhere, better than at home even. So we had our iPhones delivered to us which are a great backup camera, music player, Internet acces etc.

The good thing with a lot of this kit is it shares cables (all the apple stuff same connector) and the camera cables each have a different dock but same cable! This sort of thing saves space and all goes in a really small shoulder bag that will fit in hand luggage on flights!

Invest in some good kit and it will repay you, but keep any receipts that you get when purchasing as insurance often want those!

Hope this helps and happy trip Reply to this

Im a wetsuit and a sarong type packer so really cant offer any advice other than always have two cameras - a cheap point and shoot fuji or something thats small enough to fit in your pocket, cheap enough not to be a tragedy if its stolen or lost might just save the day if something happens to your "good" camera. Also will cut down on weight as you have a pretty extensive list of gadgets there.

Happy Travels :-) Reply to this

TRAVEL LIGHT is the darn best advice anyone can give you. U will be lugging around that pack everywhere you go, u will live out of your backpack, you will catch buses with your backpack and you will WALK a lot getting to your hostals with your lil home on your back! Remember that! You will get sick and tired of carrying it around, so lighter is best!

If you can try out your lil home before you buy it! Go to an outdoor store and get a sales man/lady to help you pick the right fit for you! If you can, try to buy a light packpack bc most packs can weigh 5 lbs with nothing in it! I have used two packs in my travels a VAUDEone and now a DEUTER
(something similar to this one http://deuteroutdoor.com/proddetail.asp?prod=ZM23093)...it weighs roughly 3lbs!

Don't carry too many shoes! Maybe flip flops to shower and for the beach. I hike a lot so i take my hiking boots and that is it. I went dancing a couple of times in Chile and Argentina and yes while everyone was looking cute I had my hiking boots on....I DID NOT CARE bc i'm not their for looks : P But if you are into looks, maybe take a pair of flats?

I wore the same pair of jeans for almost two years! Lucky Pair of jeans last a long time! You don't need much...a few pairs of undies, it's best if you buy the dry fit kind, take one pair of jean, and well maybe a few shirts that look ok when wrinkled.

If you wear makeup?! I love eyeliner, so i made sure I had a few with me and if it's an eyeliner pencil make sure you take a good sharpener for it from home....it was hard to find in arrequipa peru for me! jajaja.

As far as camera I have had one since 2006 and it's been on all my travels:
Canon PowerShot SD600 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom. In my opinion it's the best. I have taken some pretty neat pictures with it. If you know how to use it, it will give you great pictures!!!!

Good luck and have fun!
ps----make sure you take medicine with you.....Cipro is a good anti-biotic to have, maybe try to get an antibiotic for your eye in case you scratch your cornea (i did while on a 4 day trek, wished i had eye antibiotics), and take any other necessary meds that you might need!

pssssss----a headlamp always come in handy....it's must have for me! especially if the cities have power outages!!!
http://www.rei.com/product/714737

h a p p y T R A V E L s !

Reply to this

Hi Guys

I was hoping to update this thread and ask a similar question.

What clothes/shoes and bits and bobs did you take?

We have been looking at tech clothes and jackets and boots etc and its all very confusing. So I was wondering what you travelled with. Did you buy tech clothes that wick mouisture and don't smell for longer, dry quicker? How many pairs of trousers/tshirts /shoes did you take with you. Did you take your own mosi net? Was there anything you wish you had left behind?

Thanks Reply to this

Hey Tina

What kind of travelling are you planning to do?

When we first went to South East Asia we had lightweight, easy dry trousers and t-shirts as well as Teva style sandals and walking boots - but we're not sure they are worth the money. You can buy lightweight combats in any cheap fashion shop that will be just as good. We rarely wore the walking boots and when the Tevas eventually broke, replaced them with cheap flipflops with no notable difference.

In South East Asia, and I am guessing in other similar regions, it is cheap and easy to get your clothes laundered, so there isn't the need for them to be easy-dry.

We had a mosquito net at first, but never used it. You can check that places you stay have suitable ones. If you are a couple, check they have the square ones as the round ones are rubbish for two of you, unless you are two midgets.

As for how much to take, when backpacking I had the trousers/skirt I was wearing and 1/2 spares. Plus 3/4 tops. One pair of flipflops and a pair of boots (which we rarely used - but we useful for trekking). 5-7 pairs of pants, 2 bras and one swimsuit. Kris had the shorts/trousers he was wearing and a spare, plus his swim shorts double as shorts. We also had a lightweight fleece for cold nights, mountainous regions and acting as a pillow, plus a raincoat.

You can buy all sorts of suitable clothes en-route, so don't worry so much about bringing it all with you. Vietnam is a bit crap for buying clothes unless you're teeny tiny, but Thailand is great.

Another useful things: a headtorch, multicountry adaptor and silk sleeping bag liner (although you can buy them over here).
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