Last 2016, we've finally ticked-off our South East Asian backpacking trip in our bucket list! This travel plan has been in our list since year 2013 and because of our heavy workload, our trip was pushed back 3 years after.
Backpacking requires A LOT OF PLANNING because you need to consider budget, itinerary, transportation, flights, time differences (if any), currency, accommodation and even the essential items that can only fit in one back pack. For me, the latter was one of the most challenging because I'm not a light packer haha but I will share to you how I packed for a backpacking trip and give you some travel tips!
1. It is best to start preparing you backpack after finalizing your travel itinerary so that you know what kind of clothes to bring, items to pack, and how many set of clothes you need to prepare.
It's been a habit of ours to print a 1-paged back to back cheat sheet of all our travel details such as itinerary, flight schedules and airport, foreign exchange rates, address of hotels or Airbnb, subway map, even budget per day or country so you have everything in one document. This one pager will come in handy and will not consume your device's battery. This is also our reason why we never availed those International Mobile Data because we've prepared everything and you'll never get lost even if your cellphone is dead.
2. Invest in a durable and lightweight backpack such as Deuter (Not a sponsored post! I just love my Deuter bag! Super worth it!). We bought one Red Deuter Act Trail 28 SL and a Deuter 30 SL in Blue in R.O.X. Fort. These sizes can be hand-carried so you don't have to purchase additional baggage allowance and do not have to wait for your bags in the airport carousel which sometimes take forever.
3. When choosing your attire, keep in mind the weather and make sure that the clothes can be worn many times or is versatile. Since we're traveling to South East Asia, we chose light and cotton fabric because it can be very humid. No jeans because it's bulky and can already take up space and weight in your backpack.
I packed the following inside my Backpack: 4-5 Tops mostly plain tops so I can mix and match
1 Denim Shorts
2 Leggings instead of jeans since I get cold easily especially in airplanes and buses
Scarfs used as blanket, pillow (when rolled), sun protection, or to liven up your plain Tee
1 Pambahay because it's just for sleeping
Underwear
1 Small Microfiber towels (this one is super absorbent!)
Slippers or sandals
1 rubber shoes (your feet will thank you for wearing rubber shoes instead of your tiis-ganda shoes)
Toiletries preferably in sachets so you can throw it right away after use and save space and weight for shopping
Tip: Don't bring big bottles of liquids if you will not check in your baggage. Sachets are a big space saver and will surely pass the liquid guidelines.
Another Tip:
Save all your beauty samples like toners, moisturizers, BB creams, Facial wash and bring those whenever you travel. Place sunblock in small bottles.
Medicines and Vitamins (Berroca is the best! Pack anti-acid meds too especially if you have sensitive stomach).
Tissue and Wet Wipes
Last Tip: I was on antibiotics during our first day in Cambodia because of very high fever. I used wet wipes as my "ice bag" to help lower my temperature. I placed one on my forehead, neck, and armpits.
Mosquito patches or lotion Poncho because you're not allowed to bring umbrella for hand carry bags.
Buy a medium sized or large ziplock in Daiso or in Supermarkets and place your clothes and stuff there so everything is organized! You may also pack 1 ziplock per set of clothes for convenience. By using ziplock, you can squeeze out all the air and make your bag more compact plus, it's transparent so you know right away what's inside.
Bring also 1-2 sachets of Ariel Powdered Detergent for wash days because we don't want to spend our money for laundry--we're kuripot like that! We washed our clothes in our Airbnb room (while taking a bath para sabay sabay na!) so we have fresher clothes for the next few days.
It's also advisable to hang wet clothes outside to dry and avoid amoy kulob but, if there's no place to hang outside and if you're a bit praning like me (kasi baka may magnakaw haha)...be resourceful instead! We were fortunate to have a clothes hanger inside our room and we used our plastic poncho to catch the water drippings to protect our room's wooden floor. Paminsan, para-paraan lang talaga!
For your gadgets, do not forget to bring the following:
CellphoneCamera or GoProPole or Tripod
Tip: you can bring your small and tractable poles inside your hand-carry provided that the phone, camera, or GoPro is attached to it.
Gadget chargers
Laptop (Optional) for blogging and video or photo editing
For your small bag I brought the following:
Pacsafe Bag (I invested an anti-theft bag because my Longchamp bag was slashed last time I went to Bangkok and I was super horrified. Thank God nothing was stolen huhuhu)
Kikay Kit (bring only the essentials! Keri na ang lip and cheek tint and BB cream!)
Passport
Flight Itineraries Print Out
Ballpen
Money (We always have our monies exchanged in USD then buy local currency once we reached the airport of our destination)
Mints
Rosary for protection
Others
That's it! Hope I was able to help you get an idea how to prepare your bags for your next backpacking trip!
Disclaimer: This is an old post from my Blogspot account dated August 2, 2017.
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