"You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself"
Prince Siddhartha Gautama

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Packing Up Your Troubles: A Travel Writer’s Guide to Packing

PACKING UP YOUR TROUBLES

Packing for a trip is a problem. Does your destination better suit wheelie bag or rucksack? Will you need smart clothes or will combats suffice? Will it be sizzling at your destination, or also icy up in those mountains? For work I’m normally going to out-of-the-way destinations in developing countries, so security is important: where to stash valuables so they stand least chance of being snitched on night buses; what to do with travel money (cash, or travellers’ cheques?) I’m often off for at least a month, so the need to pack sufficient clothes and books jars with the need to travel light in a job where picking up your belongings without notice to jump on a train, plane or bumpy automobile is sometimes imperative.

The headache for me when I go away for work is that I can guarantee how I pack needs to accommodate the full gamut of these extremes and more. But, over the years, I’ve more or less mastered the art of knowing what and what not to take on an adventure.

• Go with rucksack, not wheelie bag: if you’re not business travelling or on cosseted or pre-arranged trips, you’ll regret dragging your suitcase over ramp-less pavements or pot-holed side-streets. Rucksacks are infinitely more user-friendly.
• RESEARCH YOUR DESTINATION’S WEATHER BEFOREHAND. Don’t bring a padded North Face jacket to the Caribbean; DO remember that for most destinations between 50° north and 40° south a minimum of a lightweight waterproof and a warm jumper/fleece is essential torso-wise year-round.
• Swimming trunks and sunglasses: I’ve never been anywhere, cold or hot, where I haven’t needed them.
• Laptop: for bloggers or for keeping in touch, even outposts of third-world countries are embracing Wi-Fi. It’s more convenient than trundling to an Internet cafe.
• Space-savers: take shampoo over shower gel; take only one or two books, then rely on the universal travel etiquette of book exchange, pack extra tops over second/third pairs of trousers/shorts.

Then there are all those seemingly-insignificant-but-never-the-less-vital packing tips. A pair of scissors is a must-have. Go with European and American adapters: sockets vary; usually in places you need the other sort most. Always pack a kinetic-motion torch. Batteries melt. Travellers’ cheques are a good idea but inconvenient unless you’re visiting large population centres. Distribute cash in several places, putting large notes/cash cards in a money belt. Subtlety, remember, is the defining art of packing.