Not everyone travels with a backpack. Many people travel with simple shoulder bags. Most of the time you are sitting on buses, in taxi cabs, on planes en-route to or from hotels - but not walking great distances through jungles with everything you own on your back like in the old movies! When you are off on a hike usually your big bag is left in the hotel and you are carrying a smaller day bag.
Bring some hand wipe things. They are like "baby wipes" and come in all styles. There are times when you must wash your hands in order to eat clean. Many times in primitive areas there is no toilet paper in the stalls - borrow some from the hotel and flatten it out to fit your bag better.
Keep your family informed on where you are and with who!!! Often people you meet on the trip may be your worst enemy. Don't trust anyone completely! Going through Thailand or Malaysia when young backpackers are arrested with dope they immediately claim they were set up by the police, if anyone was set up it was by a fellow backpacker or boyfriend you meet on the trip - not the police!
I like hot coffee in the morning. I bring a small electric coil with me and a plastic cup. http://www.magellans.co.uk/store/Appliances___Food___BeverageEF226?Args=
You can pick up packets of instant coffee or tea in a Seven Eleven. You can even boil water for making instant noodle soup too! Always remember to pull the plug before you lift the coil or the little thingy will melt away!
Cotton, easy to wash clothing make sense. The cotton wicks sweat away from you and they dry quickly.
Leave really valuable stuff at home. If you something with you that treasure a lot and it comes up missing it will bum your trip out! Also, make copies of your info page of your passport and keep those copies in different areas of your bags in case your passport becomes lost. You can use the info at your country's embassy. When you travel on planes or buses or trains make sure you keep your valuables with you at your seat, especially passports, electronics, medicines and money! When your bag is out of sight it could be rifled or even stolen, maybe by a fellow tourist too!
Have the prescriptions for meds and eyeglasses with you in case you need replacements. For meds also get the generic names of the type of medicine you need to make it easy for local pharmacists to fill the order. If you are in an area that has malaria make sure to start your pills before you enter that area and continue them for a while after you leave that area!
You can save important "need to remember" info on the internet. Just write it out in an email and send it to yourself and then save it into memory. You can save flight itineraries this way and hotel confirmation receipts - lots of stuff!!! DON'T GIVE YOUR PASSWORD OUT TO ANYONE OR USE AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE THE PASSWORD TO!
Often people who you meet on the trail or you are a little wary of ask for an email address - always have a "phony" one you can use for these situations. You can open up a totally new account with different address and different names to protect yourself from kooks and whatever's! I rarely give my full name to any stranger until I can screen them a little better, even then if they are not important to me they may still get my phony name! Most people who answer stuff or enter stuff on forums use a pseudonym to protect themselves. Lots of nutcases out there!
Have a credit card for emergencies that might come up.
Women who get in trouble on trips it's usually because they get too drunk to make good decisions! Be careful who you fully trust with anything - and make sure you tell people where you are going and with whom! Best not to trust anyone to be safe!
Good luck.
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