Living out of a backpack can be hard: what do you pack? How do you decide what’s important, essential and what may save your life? How much can you carry? What do you leave behind? Do you really need all those pairs of socks?
What you pack and what you don’t pack ultimately depend on how long you’re planning to travel for, where you’re going and what you’ll be doing. It also depends on what type of person you are.
If you’re high-maintenance then the last thing you’ll want to leave behind is the make-up collection you’ve accumulated, the straighteners you paid a fortune for, and the high-heels you took out a small bank loan to afford. You’ll also probably struggle to decide whether the black play-suit will look better on a beach in Thailand than the orange one, and whether you should squeeze in those extra accessories instead of that bottle of mosquito spray and the tiny first aid kit equipped with anti-septic cream and rinse-aid. You might even shun the backpack idea altogether and decide a suitcase would be more appropriate; but not before colour co-ordinating it and seeing if the airline will up your baggage allowance from 20kgs to 40kgs (you know, just incase).
If you’re low-maintenance you could find packing a breeze and decide to take the bare-minimum, leaving yourself more time to plan your adventures and adopting to use the spare space for items you may accumulate along the way. This could also set you up for a fall; what if the weather turned bad? That cotton hoodie just won’t cut it in gale-force winds and golf-ball sized hailstones.
Packing will always be a challenge whatever the situation, but living out of a backpack for a year or longer can teach you many things about yourself, not just what kind of packer you are; it can change your attitude towards certain things and it can shape the face of your future travel plans too.
Here’s ten things that living out of a backpack taught me:
- Material possessions are actually quite worthless – you could own 20 designer handbags, a flash car, and a £16,000 watch but when you’re travelling, no-one really cares about that kind of stuff – it’s not like the flash car will come in handy when you’re traversing Inca trails in South America. Just as you think you might be judged for not wearing designer glasses back home or having the latest pair of Nike trainers, you’re more likely to be judged for wearing or possessing an abundance of material things while you’re travelling. Leaving my one designer handbag and my expensive jewellery behind was the best thing I could’ve done. And you know how many times I longed for them on my trip? Zero.
- It’s surprising how little food you can live off and still remain healthy. I think I survived on porridge, eggs, tuna salad and the occasional banana for about two months at one point, and I can tell you this, when I finally tasted less bland food, or splashed out on an extravagant meal, it was like an explosion of flavours in my mouth. I learnt to love food while living out of a backpack. I learnt to savour every mouthful and not leave anything to waste; but more than that, I didn’t just learn to love food, I fell IN LOVE with food.
- The fundamentals of religion have no place in a backpacker community. Now, that’s not meant to sound antagonistic, and it certainly doesn’t mean you have to be of the atheist or agnostic persuasion in order to travel; what I mean by this is that no matter whether you have a religion or not, while backpacking your religion doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to those around you whether you’re a Jew, a Christian, a Muslim or a Jedi, you’ll be treated the same wherever you go – you’re all in it together remember; just as every religion believes in and seeks to find a certain type of God, travellers are seeking similar destinations on their road to adventure and happiness, and a backpack makes you all part of the same family.
- Soap is one of the most useful items I’ve ever possessed. Need to wash your hair? Use soap. Need to clean your face? Use soap. Need to wash your clothes? Use soap. Need to scrub your body clean of dirt and grime? Use soap. It’s like a magic portable washing machine in a teeny, tiny bar.
- No matter how light your backpack is, you’re still probably carrying too much weight. I took six pairs of shoes and about seven pairs of shorts with me on my ten month trip, and at least five out of those thirteen items never left my backpack; they just sat at the bottom, soaking up the fustiness.
- Damp towels, creased clothes and leaking toiletries will become a thing. After a while you get used to it and realise that having a pressed shirt in the middle of the Australian outback isn’t really the bee-all and end-all, and damp towels are just an insignificant inconvenience that won’t really matter in the long run.
- Your back and mind are stronger than you think. Running to catch a bus with 15kgs+ on your back and another 7kgs in your arms becomes child’s play. Weight lifting? You’ll be Olympic standard in no time! As far as your mind goes though, you’ll come to find that there are bigger things going on in this world than the stresses, strains and worries you accumulate on a daily basis, and living out of a backpack pales in comparison.
- Your backpack will become like a best friend and without it you may feel slightly lost, after all, it’s been on a journey with you and will have its own story to tell. However, when you have the chance to leave it behind and go sight-seeing sans-baggage, it’s the most liberating feeling in the world. Two free hands? No aching back? No weighty bulk? Bliss!
- Just as owning a dog may attract conversation from fellow dog-owners on the daily park walk; and just as taking a new baby swimming may help a young mother bond with other mothers or fathers who also like to take their kids swimming, a backpack will become an instant people-magnet. Your backpack will be your wing-man; a common denominator between two foreigners; a way to single you out from a crowd; and having a backpack can help you forge friendships, whether they be at bus stops, airports or in hostel receptions.
- Nothing is permanent. Living out of backpack can give you freedom and liberation. There’s no ties when all you have is a weight on your back, you’re free to go wherever you please, whenever you please. And having that kind of freedom leaves the door open for opportunities to not just come knocking but to waltz right into your life: love, relationships, work, adventure, challenges. Spontaneity can lead to many great things; taking off with just a bag on your back is nothing short of courageous, it helps you take risks in life and can help you discover things you never thought possible; you just have to be prepared to leave the things you don’t need behind.
If it came down to it, could you live your life out of a backpack?
Chasing Amy-Lou 