My Budget Travel Gear List — All I Can Afford, More Than I Can Carry

November 27, 2009 · 27 comments

Rollover photos for details — weight, cost, etc.

Gear update here: link

There are still a few things I need to add to this, a rainjacket, clothing and small stuff — but this is the bulk of it. I hope to manage to keep it all under 45 pounds, which is still a lot to carry. On my previous trip to India, I was carrying about 65 pounds, so I am making some progress…

I’m taking a very basic camping setup — tent, sleeping bag and pad. In some countries, I won’t even bother with it but I think it will give me some flexibility and hopefully save me a few dollars here and there. I won’t bother with a cooking setup as I don’t plan to camp extensively. I can survive a night or two on cold food.

Not shown:  lightweight rain jacket, windproof fleece, Vasque boots, journal, backup hard drive, un-mentionables, and marching tuba.

Final List:

Arc’teryx Bora 95 Internal Pack
Waterproof pack cover
Timbuk2 Swig medium backpack

Marmot Hydrogen 30 sleeping bag
Thermarest Prolite 4 pad
Big Agnes SL1 tent, groundsheet
13” MacBook Pro w/ nylon case
Cables, chargers, extra laptop battery
500GB backup drive, wireless mouse
Canon EOS XSi w/ battery grip
Canon 55-250mm lens
Slik Sprint tripod
Canon PowerShot SD870 Elph
waterproof case for PowerShot
iPhone + backup battery
Flip MinoHD video recorder
Yamaha POCKETRAK 2G recorder
Nikon Monarch 8×42 binoculars
Vasque leather hiking boots
Nalgene bottle
Fleece jacket, rain jacket
Small medical kit
3 shirts, 2 pants, socks, shorts
Crushable wool hat, Keen sandals (sandals not included in pack weight)
Silk sleep sheet
Lonely Planet Thailand guide
Toiletry bag and beard trimmer
Leatherman Juice multi-tool
Stuff sacks and compression sack
Minimag flashlight
AA/AAA USB recharger, USB mini-hub
Duffel bag for checking bag

{ 3 trackbacks }

Web-o-rama : our favourite “gear” sections « Blog-o-rama
March 18, 2010 at 3:03 pm
locomote » Blog Archive » RTW packing lists
March 26, 2010 at 3:19 am
10 Pieces of Essential Travel Gear for the Digital Nomad
July 13, 2011 at 4:40 am

{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

Stop Having a Boring Life Rob December 5, 2009 at 6:25 pm

Intense, will you bring the tent everywhere? Also how many Litres is that bag? I’m on a trip now with a 59L bag. Some things we have in common include the flip camera, laptop, ipod / iphone.

Noticed you don’t have a power bar. Picked one up at tesco lotus in Thailand, worked well until it got fried earlier today.

Cool blog and even cooler update.
.-= Stop Having a Boring Life Rob´s last blog ..Thinking With Head, Eating With Hand =-.

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Stop Having a Boring Life Rob December 5, 2009 at 6:27 pm

Definitely do the diving course. Full Moon Party is pretty cheap actually, drinks are dirt cheap. I did buy a hotel room as a “safetynet”. Showed up the day of at 7PM and got a room for 400baht, split it with a friend and left the key in a drawer at the 7/11 ha, it was still there and at 6am was glad to have the room.
.-= Stop Having a Boring Life Rob´s last blog ..Thinking With Head, Eating With Hand =-.

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wes December 5, 2009 at 9:16 pm

I believe it’s an 80 liter bag. Too damn big regardless, but it’s what I have to work with. Yes, I’ll be taking the tent everywhere. It’s less than 3 pounds and gives decent shelter from the elements. A pain to get in and out of — I look like an arthritic crab climbing into the damn thing. But well worth carrying for the flexibility, methinks….

Not familiar with the power bar — will check in to it. Thanks!

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Robbin January 6, 2010 at 2:37 am

You could use those stuff sacks as a mute for the sousaphone….

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wes January 6, 2010 at 2:18 pm

Haha. You must be psychic, Robbin — I actually had a boy try to sell me a full-sized marching tuba in India. He was so earnest about it, I couldn’t help but laugh.

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Budgets are the New Black February 5, 2010 at 5:37 pm

What about the cowboy hat? ;)
.-= Budgets are the New Black´s last blog ..Just the Facts, Ma’am. =-.

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wes February 5, 2010 at 6:47 pm

I like that idea — improvise! ;)

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sebastian Wevers February 25, 2010 at 8:00 am

Lonely Planet has downloadable guide books. Saves carrying around that brick with mostly useless info. I got it on my Macbook because I don’t have an iPhone yet. Embrace the digital age with both arms.

Water heater is missing. Travel on a budget? Make your own coffee and tea in the hotel room.

http://osmosno.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/packing-list/

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wes February 25, 2010 at 12:31 pm

yeah, I’m a big fan of the LP PDF guidebooks — they’re really handy. Really nice packing list you have there — wish mine was as light.

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Darcy March 31, 2010 at 3:47 am

Just a quick question – what’s the spare laptop battery for? I didn’t think you could replace the battery in the new MacBook Pros? List seems good though!

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wes March 31, 2010 at 4:04 am

my macbook is from the last generation before they went with the integral batteries. It’s helpful but keeping them both charged is a chore… I really appreciated it when I was at a beach with only 6 hours of electricity, though.

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Darcy March 31, 2010 at 7:51 am

Ahh, lucky! I’m hoping they return to replaceable batteries before I buy my next one…

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humorparafreak April 6, 2011 at 12:44 am

Muy interesante y util! gracias

Very interesting and useful

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Cursos marketing online April 25, 2011 at 11:02 pm

Noticed you don’t have a power bar. Picked one up at tesco lotus in Thailand, worked well until it got fried earlier today.

Cool blog and even cooler update.

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tor May 1, 2011 at 11:11 am

I think bring essential medicines

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Uberjuegos June 1, 2011 at 1:29 pm

Wow, that’s a really nice gear, I’m wondering how do you do the thing that when i hover a image you get the titles displayed that way, it looks really elegant.

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Noticias Tecnologia June 3, 2011 at 2:03 pm

Hmm, I didn’t know you need that much gear, I’m trying to plan for a short travel, camping and I don’t know but I’m not so much a going out person so don’t really know what’s the basics besides, food and water lol. Anyways, good post.

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Libros PDF June 6, 2011 at 11:24 pm

A very useful list.
I am for a trip and your list is very helpful.

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Digitals2go June 11, 2011 at 6:20 am

Wow, that’s a really nice gear, I’m wondering how do you do the thing that when i hover a image you get the titles displayed that way, it looks really elegant.
Programa para ver tv online

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wes June 11, 2011 at 9:22 am

That was done in Flash. Glad you like it.

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Jane July 26, 2011 at 3:45 am

hi all,

i think for missed some thing ,,,, A strong rope to pull the car :)

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wes July 26, 2011 at 7:56 am

Haha!

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Aeropuertos en mexico December 27, 2011 at 1:07 pm

A very useful list.
I am for a trip and your list is very helpful.

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Guia Baradero January 12, 2012 at 9:27 am

woow, great list and a very cool weight. only 45 pounds?

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