Jul 20 2008
Packing Lessons I’ve Learned on This Trip
When I stay in a place longer than a couple of nights my stuff tends to take on a mind of its own and slowly creep across the floor of the room. Usually it also finds itself strewn across tabletops, other dorm beds and some of it has even set up a temporary home in the bathroom.
I have way too much stuff with me on this short one month trip and even more crap awaits me in Beijing. Something has gone terribly wrong with my packing and I’m not going to make the same mistake on future trips.
My Chinese travel buddy has a tiny backpack that’s not even full and she’s even carting a huge laptop around with her! I have learned a few packing lessons on this trip and have some advice that hopefully I will actually listen to next time I pack.
‘Just in case’ doesn’t usually happen - I’ve discovered that carting a sleeping bag around the world ‘just in case’ I need it really doesn’t work for me. Same goes for dressy shoes. If I need any of these things ‘just in case’ type things while I’m travelling, I can always attempt to buy or borrow them.
Take only things I know I’ll wear - I’ve learned not to take things I’ve never worn in my life because I think the mood will finally strike me when I hit the road. It won’t. I can’t stand the heat and have a couple of lightweight tank tops that I love, they fold up super small and I can buy them in China so I think I’ll stock up on a few more. I know I like them, I know I wear them, and they’re great for hot places. I’m not that concerned if my fashion sense seems to be a bit repetitive… I’m going to stick with what works for me.
Most places have sinks and soap - If a place doesn’t have a washing machine, at the very least they should have a sink and some clothes washing soap. In China all of the places I’ve stayed have let my travel buddy have some soap for free. Doing a quick load of sink laundry every few days means that cutting down on clothes is possible. It doesn’t take too long and if you have lightweight things, washing done in the morning will be dry before the next day.
All those super small travel sized things add up - Buying things in travel sizes is great. Buying 20 things in travel sizes is not.
The post office is my friend - I will be heading to Sydney during the winter in 2009 and really can’t be bothered going on a shopping spree once I arrive (I hate shopping). I have friends there and plan to send a few of my winter-y type clothes over to be reunited at a later date. It’s cheaper than buying all new stuff and it saves me having to carry jeans and other heavy clothes around boiling hot Asia.
If I have a big backpack I will fill it up - I already have my backpack and I’m not about to head out and buy another one. Instead, I’m going to attempt to put my smaller add-on backpack on the inside of the big one, rather than the outside. I put my laptop and camera in my small bag and it means that when I get on a plane, bus or anytime I might be separated from my big bag, I can grab the smaller one and not have to worry about it. Aiming to have space to put it inside my big bag will really force me to pack well.
I will never be free from art supplies - This is a hard one for me. When I left Canada in 2001 I had a slew of art supplies with me that I proceeded to take around the world with me twice and use about three times in total. I finally rid myself of them when I left London only to buy some more when I found a cheap art store in Beijing. Now I am lumbered with them again hoping that, one day, I actually use them. I guess art supplies are my weakness and I should accept that. I just wish they weren’t so heavy and bulky.
I’m ready to become a super light packer! I’ve seen the benefits and I want in. Dreading having to carry my backpack around really limits me and I want the freedom that comes with packing light. I have even more crap back at my apartment in Beijing and I can’t wait to get back and purge it from my life!
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I’m sitting here in my new apartment in Beijing and am happy to report that I managed to travel for three and a half months without having anything stolen. Yay! What did I do to prevent theft of my electronic goodies? Absolutely nothing!
I hadn’t really thought at all about backing up any of my computers until my desktop started showing me a screen that I think might be related to the blue screen of death. To this day I still haven’t got a clue what was wrong with it except that it decided not to work for three days and was eventually miraculously cured after I gave it a rest for a day.
I’m being good and not leaving my packing until the day before, for once in my life. The bags aren’t packed quite yet, but I’ve sold all my stuff, given most of the rest away, have two bin bags of clothes to donate, and have organised all my electronics gear. I think I’ll do the final pack on Sunday if my inevitable hangover doesn’t try to kill me.
So I’ve been on the hunt lately for a more portable laptop and finally found my match! I just bought myself a super small 12.1″ IBM Thinkpad X41. It’s only 1.2kg, 1.6Mhz Intel Centrino, 1GB Ram, 40GB hard drive, wiFi, external CD drive, and 5 hours worth of battery. I’ve never liked widescreen laptops and can’t stand glossy screens and this computer has neither of those dubious improvements so that was a selling point as well. The red thing is my passport, the blue thing is a Swiss Army knife and I put my SLR camera to the right to give an idea of the laptop’s size. It weighs about the same as my camera and lens which I think is pretty amazing.
I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go.