Two Top Tens

Question from Kevin: What are your top ten suggestions for travellers to take on a trip?

I love packing for an adventure. But, with limited travelling for most people right now, and with so many having recently escaped fires and floods, before sharing a trip-packing list, how about my top ten go-bag suggestions?

Kim’s go-bag:

1. I use a backpack for ease of carrying. I don’t see a suitcase or duffel being useful if I need to get somewhere without a vehicle – no fuel, blocked roads. My pack is small enough to sit on my lap during an air or water evacuation.

2. Important documents including house and vehicle insurance, passport, SIN card, birth certificate, copies of my credit and bank cards, a memory stick with photos of major/treasured house contents.

3. A healthy stack of $5.00 bills. In a major emergency getting change may be difficult and using credit and bank cards may be impossible.

4. Basic first aid kit with over-the-counter pain medications, toothbrush and paste, my spare glasses, tissues and hand sanitizer. If I took prescription medications, I’d pack enough for at least 72 hours.

5. Steri-pen with spare batteries to purify water. Two water bottles and a dog bowl.

6. Head lamp with spare batteries.

7. Rain poncho, fleece jacket, hat, gloves, one set of spare clothes – pants, shirt, socks and underwear.

8. Sleeping bag and emergency bivvy sack.

9. Protein- and calorie-dense snacks for 72 hrs emergency consumption. I’ve selected items that need no preparation – open and eat. Enough dog food for 72 hours. I try to remember to check expiry dates and re-supply every year.

10. Paper and pen/pencils.

I’ll grab my dog, purse, cell phone/charger and if I have time my, iPad on the way out the

door. I have a candle heater, matches, emergency blanket, larger first aid kit, sturdy shoes and a dog leash in my car.

We can’t know when a disaster will strike, but we all know that one can happen at any time with little or no warning. Where I live, it could most likely be an earthquake, fire or windstorm. I’m prepared in case I need to leave in a hurry, day or night. Are you?

What’s in your go-bag? Please help our collective preparedness by sharing your tips.

Kim's Trip Packing:

Now onto the subject of packing for a planned trip. Of course, my packing list depends on where and when I’m going, what I’ll be doing and how I’m travelling. That said, I never leave home without flexible itinerary, patience, a sense of adventure and open-minded curiosity. In addition, I don’t set off without:

1. Passport, including a laminated copy of its first two pages and my travel insurance information. I will also be taking my federal proof of vaccine for the foreseeable future.

2. Two different credit cards, two debit cards, like-new cash and access to emergency funds in the bank. VISA & Master Card are the most widely accepted credit cards. My cards are issued by two different national banks as are my two debit cards. In some countries, certain ATMs don’t accept all Canadian bank cards. I have been at more than one ATM where my fourth card has been the charm after the first three have been rejected. Depending on what country I’m going to, I carry US cash as it’s more exchange friendly than Canadian dollars. If I can buy a country’s currency before leaving Canada, I will take some with me, so I have local funds on hand upon arrival in case ATMs are unavailable. Euros are also widely accepted in many countries. In some places, larger denominations receive a better exchange rate than smaller denominations, but too large will be suspect and hard to exchange. (New US $100.00 or €50.00 bills work well.) Cash expires, so if I’ve had foreign funds sitting around for a few years, I confirm that it is still legal tender. (Something I learned the hard way the last time I went to the UK.) When I begin travelling again, I’ll make sure my emergency fund is extra robust because COVID has resulted in added expensive travel disruptions such as two weeks in a quarantine hotel.

3. Hardcopy phrase and guidebooks. Many people now use translation apps on their cell phones. That’s useful, but the phone then becomes central to the conversation rather than more personal attempts to understand and be understood. I enjoy learning a few words in other languages and value connections made through eye-to-eye, pantomimed communication. Having heard some of the translation apps in use – I’d not rely on them for consistent accuracy. A guidebook is handy for brushing up on customs, rules, details. Knowing my iPad battery limitations, I avoid relying on a digital copy. I also like making notes.

4. Appropriate luggage. I usually carry a forty-litre backpack weighting about nine kilos – carry-on size. I try not to encumber myself with more luggage than I can easily carry on my own. When I trek in Nepal that rule goes out the window as I take extras to give to my friends there, my sleeping bag is bulky, I carry extra-warm clothes and sturdy trekking poles are generally not accepted in carry-on luggage. Many of my travels are active trips so carrying a pack is obvious. However, when a wheely bag is an option it is most often carry-on size. Before making the baggage decision, I consider my mode of travel. Wheely bags work well on smooth surfaces but are nightmares on cobbled or unpaved streets. A pain to drag around through crowded train and bus stations, they need to be lifted onto trains and maneuvered down narrow aisles. The bigger the bag the bigger the hassle. Tourists struggling with too much or too heavy luggage are perfect targets for touts and thieves. A solo traveller trying to haul a monster bag or collection of luggage into a tiny bus-station washroom is not a pretty sight. Self-sufficiency is key. In the military we had an axiom, “One man – or woman – one kit.” It works.

5. Medications, first-aid kit, glasses, toiletries and biffy bags. In some countries the ingredients in common over-the-counter cold, sleep aid or pain medications are illegal. I always research a county’s drug restrictions and, if appropriate, request that my family physician write prescriptions. When trekking at altitudes over 3400 metres I bring Diamox with me from Canada. When visiting malarial areas, I bring appropriate anti-malarial prophylactics for the region. Having suffered from food poisoning, I now carry a prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotic. My first-aid kit is basic – blister, anti-itch and skin-irritation care. While I’ve never been attacked by bedbugs, I hear the bites are incredibly itchy. With a wasp sting allergy, I so also carry an epi-pen. I’ve used my spare pair of prescription glasses more than once because travel can be hard on glasses. I keep toiletries minimal – hairbrush, toothbrush and paste, deodorant, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, shampoo, and lotion – resupplying as needed. In some countries, toilets don’t have toilet paper, so I carry a small biffy bag containing tissues and hand sanitizer.

6. Electronics – iPad mini, point-and-shoot camera. To date, I’ve not carried a cell phone. I use an iPad mini (in waterproof pouch) for navigation with relevant Pocket Earth maps downloaded before leaving home. I also download books, negating need to carry paper books (other than the phrase and guidebooks). On future trips I will also carry my cell phone and buy local sim cards to avoid horrendous roaming charges. I’ll probably continue snapping photos with my camera because that’s my technical comfort zone. Of course, all the electronics require their assorted charging cords.

7. Bits and Bobs – Headlamp – not all streets are well lit, in case of power failure, to use at night rather than flip on the light. Stretchy clothesline with safety pins – the best way to keep a load light and luggage small is to wash and wear a minimal amount of clothing. Plug adaptor(s) – depending on which countries I’m visiting, sometimes a variety is required. Steri-Pen to purify water and water bottle – I try to avoid single-use water bottles. New for my next trip will be face masks. I imagine mask-wearing will become an essential element of travel.

8. Journal & pens. As an author, recording daily activities and impressions is vital. Electronics are subject to damage, theft, loss or crash and I enjoy the physical act of writing a travel journal.

9. Minimal, quality, multi-use, quick-dry clothing. I’ll blog about my favourite gear another time. Broad strokes – everything is the best quality I can afford. I abide by a rule of two. Two pants (or one skirt and pants). Two short-sleeves. Two long-sleeves. A light fleece and a heavier fleece that can be layered. Two base layers – tops and bottoms. Base layers also serve as my pajamas. Two pair of underwear. I used to only carry two pair of socks but having had a pair stollen, I now carry three. (In the Footsteps of a Roman Legion reveals a sad socks story.) Rain jacket and pants. Warm hat, and sun/rain hat. Gloves. Unless I’m going to a hot dry climate, I leave cotton and bamboo fabrics – including jeans – at home. They take too long to dry and tend to be heavier than technical fabrics. I take into account cultural norms of women’s attire in the countries I’m visiting at take appropriate clothing.

10. Collapsible trekking poles. Trekking in Nepal where there are a lot of steep ups and downs, I use robust telescoping poles. Trekking in the UK and Europe, I use lighter carbon-fibre folding poles. The lighter poles travel without comment in my carry-on.

That’s my two top tens. I cheated – listing more than ten individual items, but I do get it all in that forty-litre, nine-kilo carry-on pack! As always – feedback appreciated. Stay tuned for gear brands I love and brands that have failed to deliver. Meantime, if you’ve been thinking about a perfect and useful Christmas gift for a certain someone, maybe some emergency gear for their go-bag is an idea.