What to Bring
Packing for an extended overseas trip is more difficult than you might think. On this page, you'll find some tips and strategies for deciding what to bring and how to pack it. There will also be a checklist that you can print and use while you are getting your stuff together.
Something I have learned from years of backpacking is that you should bring only what you know you will use regularly,Bring only what you know you will use regularly, or can't do without.
find double and trip uses for certain items, and remember that no one will notice that you're wearing the same clothes over and over, because they are as well. In backpacking the "no one will notice" philosophy extends also to personal hygiene, but let's not get carried away here.The Art of Packing
I will begin with a quote from the author of The Little Prince:Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Packing experts suggest that you put everything you would like to take on your bed or in a compact arrangement on the floor. Then, piece by piece, ask yourself whether you can live without it, how many times you are likely to need it, and whether you can improvise, borrow, or purchase something on site to make up for its absence. If it isn't essential or multi-purposed, push it to the side and forget about it. Be as ruthless with leaving stuff behind as you can. You'll thank me for it later.
You might wonder why you should take something only if it is absolutely necessary. The answer is that travelling is hard work, especially in such a large group. Everyone will have their luggage and personal bags, plus the stuff that they acquire along the way. Anything you bring, pick up or buy, you must carry through train stations, up steep pathways and stairs, and back home again.
Imagine this scene: Because of traffic, we are late getting to the rail station for our trip to (insert cool Italian city here), and have to zip quickly through the terminal to get to our platform on time. You have a bag that is about 10 pounds too heavy for you to comfortably carry, and the strap keeps slipping off your shoulder, or the wheels keep sticking and turning the bag over. You follow as well as possible, but at the last minute, we can't get on the train (or worse, you're left behind) because of your extra "necessities."
Now imagine this scene: We are late to the terminal, but your bags are compact, well organized, and light. You stroll quickly with the group through the terminal,Anything you bring, pick up or buy, you must carry through train stations, up steep pathways and stairs, and back home again.
and have time to notice a few interesting posters on the wall as you go. You step lightly on the train, and turn to hold the door open for the last few stragglers, red-faced and out of breath with their monstrous burdens. Instead of spending 10 minutes trying to force your bag onto the rack over your head, watching helplessly as it falls on your innocent professor's head three times, you are sipping from your water bottle and admiring the scenery as the train pulls out of the city.A backpacking buddy of mine often says that the more stuff he carries, the more he enjoys camping, while the less stuff he carries, the more he enjoys hiking. We will be doing more "hiking" than "camping" on this trip, especially considering that we will be staying in large, thoroughly modern urban centers of Europe, and there is little chance that you could be stranded without access to something you especially need.
One caveat that I have also picked up in the wilderness is that you should bring one luxury item, one thing that will remind you of home, make you especially happy, or be your personal talisman. Only you know what that something is.
Next is the issue of safety and security. An ancient Sumerian proverb (2000 B.C.) reads this way:
I'm going to bring my laptop computer with me (it is small and very light). It is necessary because I will need it for communicating with people back home, updating our travel journal, and, well, watching Spinal Tap on the plane.He who acquires many things, he must keep close watch over them. - Ki-en-gir, no. 6
It would be better to have nothing valuable on the trip, but by all means keep the list extremely small.
The downside is that I will have my laptop computer, complete with all of my personal files, trip journal stuff, and ripped movies. There is a very real potential for theft and breakage, and I have to reconcile myself to that fact, and to the reality that I will be constantly checking to see that I still have it, it is padded in the bag, etc. I would not want to do that with more than one or two valuable items. It would be better to have nothing valuable on the trip, but by all means keep the list extremely small.A related point is more philosophical in nature. We are surrounded constantly by sensory input, and by the incessant consumerist push to get more stuff. Often the getting is more important to us than the having. One of the purposes of travel study is that it teaches us that we can leave "stuff" behind and be fine. In fact, we can be better than fine; we can rediscover quiet places in the world, and in ourselves. We can connect with nature and with our fellow travelers. Things weigh us down (in travel, quite literally) and clutter our minds and hearts. What will we find on the other side once we have left everything behind? I will refer you here to the lyrics of an awesome song, Farthest Shore, by David Wilcox. The chorus:
Without further ramblings from me, on to the specifics:So...Let me dive into the water,
Leave behind all that I've worked for
Except what I remember and believe
and when I stand on the farthest shore
I will have all I need.
