I’ve seen tons of “What To Pack” blogs and lists scattered across the internet. Don’t get me wrong, those posts are awesome. I searched for just that sort of information before I went to Asia. I’ve looked at those kind of lists in the simply for curiosity’s sake as well, in the past (I used to be obsessed with packing. When I was 6 or 7 my parents actually wouldn’t tell me we were going on a trip until a few days beforehand, because otherwise I’d pack 3 or 4 weeks in advance and unpack and repack daily). However, I’ve decided to mix it up a little and tell you what NOT to pack. Besides being a little different, this list would’ve actually been incredibly helpful to me when I went on my trip, as it might have saved me a bit of space and weight in my backpack! As it was, I had to throw out a few shirts and a pair of shorts over the course of my journey. My hope is that this helps a fellow backpacker or two to lighten their load!
So, without further ado, What Not To Pack For Southeast Asia:
- Shoes — Well obviously wear a pair of shoes. Don’t go completely without. But you really don’t need much in the way of footwear. I packed sneakers, TOMS and a pair of flip flops, and contemplating bringing a fourth pair of shoes, some dressy sandals. After attempting to wear the sneakers for my few first days of touring around, I ditched them and ended up wearing flip flops the rest of the time I was in Asia, even on the plane home. Unless you plan on doing some serious hiking or your feet get sore easily, you really don’t need any serious shoes. I’d recommend 1-2 pairs. Havaianas flipflop knockoffs are absolutely everywhere, and they’re all anyone wears, so if you wear out a pair of sandals (or lose one shoe, like I did during a night of drinking), it’s cheap and easy to replace them!
- Pants — Asia is seriously hot. I brought two pairs of leggings and a pair of jeans – absolutely unnecessary. I only wore the leggings on the plane, and couldn’t even think about jeans without breaking into a sweat. Bring a pair of leggings or light pants for air travel (seriously, why are airports and planes always freezing?!) and purchase some elephants pants for less than 200 baht to wear when you have to have your legs covered in temples and you’re set! Honestly, I love my elephant pants. I have a few pairs, and I always wear them as pyjamas or for lounging at home, and I might even wear them out in public once the weather gets warmer!
- Sleeping bag/sheets? — This depends on the type of traveling you’re doing. Because I was on a tour for the majority of my time in Asia, I stayed mostly in hotels, high-end hostels and guesthouses, and spent one night on an overnight train. I brought a lightweight sleeping bag I got for $9 with me and didn’t even pull it out. I’d contemplated buy/bringing some sheets too, and I’m glad I didn’t. All the accommodations I stayed at had clean bedding, and even the overnight train supplied passengers with sheets, a pillow and a light blanket. However, if you’re “roughing it” more than I did (which I wish I’d done, a little more), you’ll want to do your research. Bringing a sheet or light sleeping back with you might be a great idea, just in case. It depends on the type of traveling you’re doing.
- Jacket — Another item I brought and did not use once. I’d recommend bringing a sweatshirt for air travel and cooler mornings (a rare occurrence!), otherwise it depends on your preference – you can bring a (really) light sweater or windbreaker/rain jacket. Personally I found that if it rained I was so grateful for some way of cooling off that I didn’t mind the drops hitting me at all.
- Water purification tablets — Having never traveled in a third world country before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I purchased some of these tablets from a camping store. Good idea in theory, but there’s a 7-Eleven convenience store on every corner, where you can purchase huge 2-litre (my Canadian is showing) bottles of fresh, clean, pure H2O. You can also buy beer, ham and cheese toasted sandwiches, DVDS, vodka….
- Laptop/camera — As long as you have an iPhone or something similar, it’s really not necessary to bring all the fancy technology. If you’re so inclined, an iPad (especially an iPad mini) is also a good option for uploading and backing up photos and Skyping friends and family back home. And if you’re a big photography with a “real” camera and half the reason you’re going on the trip is to take amazing photos, then obviously bring your camera! Otherwise, things like that are just a liability, at risk for getting stolen and lost.
- Sunglasses — Do not bring expensive and/or delicate sunglasses on your travels! They will get lost, crushed, stolen, scratched… If you have a cheap pair at home that you don’t care about, you can bring those, but I’m sure you can find an even cheaper pair of knockoff RayBans in a fun colour in Asia to use!
- Hat — It’s simply too hot to wear a hat. If anything, a light straw hat might be a good idea to keep from getting sunburned (I got pretty roasted), but you don’t want a baseball cap anywhere near your head.
- A lot of shirts/shorts — Because clothing is so cheap and readily available in Asia, you’ll find you mindlessly purchase and throw away a lot of items. Your clothes are frequently being cycled out, so it isn’t necessary to bring a ton of stuff from back home. Leave the expensive clothing (or, expensive compared to Asia) at home, and purchase/throw away things as needed. I had a good amount of shirts and shorts with me, however I found that my friends had brought a lot of dressier items with them as well for when we went out at night, whereas I only had one dress (which I definitely did not want to be wearing every night). I went out one afternoon and purchased two new sundresses and a dressy top and I was all set with a good rotation of fancier clothes for going out.
- Drugs/medication — The pharmacies in Southeast Asia are simply the best. They have pretty much EVERYTHING, and you can get a lot of things there without a prescription that you’d need a ‘scription for back home. If you have a specific medication you take for something, or something you take daily, bring it along! Otherwise, you can cheaply purchase anything else you could possibly need (or not quite need – my friends bought, among other things, allergy medication with an antihistamine to help them sleep, and UTI antibiotics just to “stock up”). If you get motion sickness, you can also buy wristbands at these places to help with that. Personally, I bought cold medicine (I came down with the worst cold about a week into my trip, it was horrible!) and an antiseptic for some really bad cuts I got on my hand and foot.
You’ll be lugging around your backpack for weeks (maybe months, if you’re lucky!), up hills, through airports, onto already-crammed boats and vehicles, off luggage carousels, over puddles and through crowded streets. In extreme heat. The less you have in your backpack, the better off you’ll be! Remember, if there’s anything you forgot or don’t have, chances are the street vendor and/or 7-Eleven on your nearest corner will have it!
Now for a few essentials you may not think to bring…
- Tide to go/laundry soap packets — This is great to get little stains and spills out quickly, to wash an emergency pair of underwear or socks, or even to wash a couple shirts in the bathroom sink. Laundry services aren’t always readily available, or you may not have the time to wait overnight for your laundry to come back, so this is a great alternative. Plus, do you really think the laundry service is much more than your clothes being swished around in a sink with laundry soap anyway?!
- Snacks from home — I brought along granola bars, protein bars, crackers and some canned tuna. This was key for me, because I’m always hungry, and when my blood sugar gets low, watch out! Snacks weren’t always readily available when traveling from place to place, and I didn’t necessarily want to sit down and wait/pay for a full meal all the time. Besides, it was nice to have a little taste of home admit all the Pad Thai, rice, chicken heads and grubs!
- Hand Sanitizer — This was lifesaver for me. I use hand sanitizer as little as possible while at home, but it came in so handy in Asia and at airports. I was very strict about putting it before I ate or touched anything that went near my mouth, as well as using it after being at a public site, in a gross washroom or on transportation.
- Toilet Paper — I brought along a few rolls, and stole a few from my hotel room bathrooms as I went, but I didn’t use any of it for actual bathroom related situations. Because of my aforementioned cold, my nose was constantly running, so the TP was great to blow my nose into. A lot of my friends did run into bathroom situations where the toilet paper came in handy as well, so I’d highly recommend bringing along a roll or two – you never know what you’ll end up needing it for.
- Aloe Vera — A small tube of this was all I needed, as I got a really bad sunburn pretty quickly and then was lovely and golden brown and tanned for the remainder of the trip. It depends how badly burned you get and how often, I suppose. My sunburn was so horrible and painful, and my skin was peeling like crazy. There was nothing like the relief of some aloe!
