Happy two month anniversary to me and my "little" trip. Since I've been officially living out of a backpack for over 60 days, I thought it would be appropriate to make a list of my Most Useful (and somewhat unconventional) Pieces of Travel Gear. Enjoy!
1) Sarong: Definitely an item that you should buy while travelling, since sarongs tend to be expensive at home. At the Krabi night market, I purchased the MOST beautiful sarong for 120 baht (less than $4). So far, I've used mine as a dress, a skirt, a top, a light blanket to sleep with, a shawl, a beach blanket and a towel. 8 uses for $4? Basically, a "must have" for any beach vacation.
2) Rope: With a little rope, one door handle and a bed post, you can instantly MacGyver (or MacGruber?) a drying line to air out bathing suits and towels. Also useful if you need to secure a backpack or bag to a motorbike or taxi roof.
3) Whistle: This was one of my bon voyage gifts from Jess. Definitely the cheapest and smallest form of protection I can think of, and more user-friendly than pepper spray. In sketchy buses, trains or hostels, I sleep with my whistle under my pillow. Fortunately, I haven't had a reason to use it yet, but I would imagine that it would attract a lot of attention very quickly. Props to Jess for the idea.
4) Student ID: Am I still a student in college? No. Do I show my old student ID to get discounts at museums, hostels, restaurants? Absolutely. Is it illegal? Technically, yes. Is anyone in harm's way if I save 50%? Not at all. Rarely do people even look at the dates or picture on the ID card. If you have an old one lying around, I highly recommend bringing it along if you're on a "every dollar counts" trip, like yours truly.
5) Quick Dry Towel: From soaking wet to bone dry in two hours flat. What more is there to say? The best $20 you can spend on your trip, I guarantee. You seldom see a backpacker without one of these gifts from the REI Travel Gods.
6) Overnight/day trip bag: My 16 kilo backpack doesn't get to go everywhere with me, no way jose. For my day trip to Phi Phi and then my 2 night stay in Tonsai, I filled my Longchamp bag up with necessities and left the Big Bertha at a guesthouse in Krabi. Boarding a long tail boat with a small shoulder bag > boarding a long tail boat with all of your belongings. Most hostels/hostels are more than happy to hold the bigger bag in a safe place for you until you return.
7) Sleeping mask: When I was a kid, we used to put a blanket over our bird's cage in the evening, to trick the little guy into thinking it was night time so he would fall asleep. Sleeping mask = same idea. Sleeping pills make me nervous, since I would feel vulnerable if I took them on a train or bus. Sleeping mask works just as well for me, without the drowsy factor.
8) Alarm/Clock: BYOC. Bring your own clock. Hostels very rarely have clocks on the walls. Bungalows? Forget about it. Maybe some of the nicer, more Westernized hotels have time keeping devices, but I wouldn't count on it. Keep in mind that most cell phones and ipods have alarm clock capabilities; two birds, one stone.
9) iPod Touch or iPhone: Shout out to my genius friend, Deanna Ho, for recommending that I bring an iPodTouch on my trip, instead of a laptop or netbook. The iPodTouch is basically an iPhone without talking capabilities (that is... until you download the Skype application and buy a microphone) and without a camera. I'm able to pick up WiFi almost everywhere I go and with iTunes built in, I've been able to keep up to date with my favorite podcasts, download new songs, etc. LOVE my iPodTouch. Best $200 I spent on this trip.
10) A Really Good Digital Camera: (not pictured, but used to take the picture) Some of my amazingly thoughtful & generous friends gave me a Canon PowershotSD780IS for my birthday this year. Best. Gift. Ever. From the "Sunset" setting to its ability to crop & edit pictures on its little screen, this little camera is my absolute favorite travel accessory. I've been able to record a video of the Thai jungle in Railay & have some excellent photos of butterflies from the exhibit on Mainau Island. Buying a worthy and durable digital camera seems like a must for anyone who wants to document their travels.
11) Headlamp: Another Deanna Ho tip! A cheap headlamp from REI ($14) is a great investment and very useful piece of travel gear. You can rifle through your backpack with two hands in a dark hostel dorm room. Walking along the beach, you can find your way back to your bungalow at night. You can read your book in bed on a night train without disturbing the rest of the people in your compartment. And, like I experienced four nights ago, you can sleep with it on your head so that when rats crawl into your bungalow in the middle of the night, you can turn on the headlamp to scare them away.
Hope you were able to find these suggestions useful! Thanks for reading.
1) Sarong: Definitely an item that you should buy while travelling, since sarongs tend to be expensive at home. At the Krabi night market, I purchased the MOST beautiful sarong for 120 baht (less than $4). So far, I've used mine as a dress, a skirt, a top, a light blanket to sleep with, a shawl, a beach blanket and a towel. 8 uses for $4? Basically, a "must have" for any beach vacation.
2) Rope: With a little rope, one door handle and a bed post, you can instantly MacGyver (or MacGruber?) a drying line to air out bathing suits and towels. Also useful if you need to secure a backpack or bag to a motorbike or taxi roof.
3) Whistle: This was one of my bon voyage gifts from Jess. Definitely the cheapest and smallest form of protection I can think of, and more user-friendly than pepper spray. In sketchy buses, trains or hostels, I sleep with my whistle under my pillow. Fortunately, I haven't had a reason to use it yet, but I would imagine that it would attract a lot of attention very quickly. Props to Jess for the idea.
4) Student ID: Am I still a student in college? No. Do I show my old student ID to get discounts at museums, hostels, restaurants? Absolutely. Is it illegal? Technically, yes. Is anyone in harm's way if I save 50%? Not at all. Rarely do people even look at the dates or picture on the ID card. If you have an old one lying around, I highly recommend bringing it along if you're on a "every dollar counts" trip, like yours truly.
5) Quick Dry Towel: From soaking wet to bone dry in two hours flat. What more is there to say? The best $20 you can spend on your trip, I guarantee. You seldom see a backpacker without one of these gifts from the REI Travel Gods.
6) Overnight/day trip bag: My 16 kilo backpack doesn't get to go everywhere with me, no way jose. For my day trip to Phi Phi and then my 2 night stay in Tonsai, I filled my Longchamp bag up with necessities and left the Big Bertha at a guesthouse in Krabi. Boarding a long tail boat with a small shoulder bag > boarding a long tail boat with all of your belongings. Most hostels/hostels are more than happy to hold the bigger bag in a safe place for you until you return.
7) Sleeping mask: When I was a kid, we used to put a blanket over our bird's cage in the evening, to trick the little guy into thinking it was night time so he would fall asleep. Sleeping mask = same idea. Sleeping pills make me nervous, since I would feel vulnerable if I took them on a train or bus. Sleeping mask works just as well for me, without the drowsy factor.
8) Alarm/Clock: BYOC. Bring your own clock. Hostels very rarely have clocks on the walls. Bungalows? Forget about it. Maybe some of the nicer, more Westernized hotels have time keeping devices, but I wouldn't count on it. Keep in mind that most cell phones and ipods have alarm clock capabilities; two birds, one stone.
9) iPod Touch or iPhone: Shout out to my genius friend, Deanna Ho, for recommending that I bring an iPodTouch on my trip, instead of a laptop or netbook. The iPodTouch is basically an iPhone without talking capabilities (that is... until you download the Skype application and buy a microphone) and without a camera. I'm able to pick up WiFi almost everywhere I go and with iTunes built in, I've been able to keep up to date with my favorite podcasts, download new songs, etc. LOVE my iPodTouch. Best $200 I spent on this trip.
10) A Really Good Digital Camera: (not pictured, but used to take the picture) Some of my amazingly thoughtful & generous friends gave me a Canon PowershotSD780IS for my birthday this year. Best. Gift. Ever. From the "Sunset" setting to its ability to crop & edit pictures on its little screen, this little camera is my absolute favorite travel accessory. I've been able to record a video of the Thai jungle in Railay & have some excellent photos of butterflies from the exhibit on Mainau Island. Buying a worthy and durable digital camera seems like a must for anyone who wants to document their travels.
11) Headlamp: Another Deanna Ho tip! A cheap headlamp from REI ($14) is a great investment and very useful piece of travel gear. You can rifle through your backpack with two hands in a dark hostel dorm room. Walking along the beach, you can find your way back to your bungalow at night. You can read your book in bed on a night train without disturbing the rest of the people in your compartment. And, like I experienced four nights ago, you can sleep with it on your head so that when rats crawl into your bungalow in the middle of the night, you can turn on the headlamp to scare them away.
Hope you were able to find these suggestions useful! Thanks for reading.
such a good list of "must haves" :) so glad the whistle has helped to make you feel safe at times- it made me feel better knowing you had it!
ReplyDeletesome of the items on the listed were definitely outside of the box but when you said the reasoning behind it, made so much sense! haha so glad you have all the necessities!
This was great! I will remember when I come to visit. Great to know you are doing well!
ReplyDelete