Packing the Essentials

Traveling is a very interesting thing.  I'm not talking in regards to the places you can go, I'm talking about how you travel.

Road-tripping across American is different than taking the trains around Europe.  And both are different than backpacking in Asia.  I think backpacking should even be listed in its own separate category, far away from the "standards" of other traveling methods.  

Backpacking is.... well it's... 

It's knowing that on a good day 82% of what your guidebook tells you is going to be right, but that the odds are more in favor of it being wrong.  It's knowing that street food might look questionable, but that eating it will be one of the best memories you'll make.  It's having everything you need stuffed and jammed into the pack on your back.  It's the sweat that will never leave you.  It's the frustrations, excitement, highs, lows, stomachaches, exhaustion, disappointments, elations and everything else that is indescribable.  These are the things that connect you - with a place, with its culture and with all the people you meet - quicker than you can realize it's happening.  

It's not to say that traveling in other manners won't give you as much; it's just a different experience.  

More raw.  More rough.  

But it's doesn't have to be difficult.  And it's not.  I find that having a few key items packed makes backpacking all that much easier.

For each trip I've been on while living in Asia*, I always make sure to pack (what I've found to be) my basic essentials.

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I actually carry the pharmacy (as I've come to call it) with me everyday.  You never know what you're going to need and it's all right there in an easy-to-go pouch that fits comfortably in my purse.

My in-flight needs are pretty minimal.  I have the pharmacy with me, so that eliminates a lot of troubles, and I carry these hour-passing-electronic-units-of-endless-enjoyment.

To keep things even more simple, I carry these items in my pack to make sorting the extra things out quick and painless.

Then I stuff it all in (have you noticed green might be a favorite of mine?  No one can confuse their standard black bag with my neon green ones!) and I'm off to another Asian destination.

 

 

*I've been to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand since living in Korea.  And each time my essentials have helped get me through.

**Sorry for the tampons.  Part of life.