Travelling Essentials

If you’re embarking on your first long-term voyage, the planning process can be overwhelming. Here is a very short list (by NO MEANS exhaustive) of some absolute essentials that will get you started on your inventory.

Picture Travel Book
One of these can be an absolute lifesaver. If you are travelling in a country where you don’t speak the local lingo, you might be better off buying a phrase book in that particular language – but if you’re travelling through multiple countries, there really is no substitute for a picture book that will get you universally understood. Using one will make you look less than cool, but in desperate situations that will be the last thing on your mind.

Hiking Boots
If you only take one item of footwear on your travels, make sure it is a sturdy pair of hiking boots. This is because it can be difficult to get an idea of the quality of items you buy in a faraway souk from somebody with whom you share no language. Buying a pair of duff sandals for a small sum would be far from disastrous, but shelling out for a pair of boots to take you up a foreign mountainside could cause serious problems if they turn out to be worthless.

Medical Supplies
Medicine is vitally important when you are travelling. This is one of the few categories in which it is better to take more than you are likely to need. Everything from the standard diarrhoea medicine and headache tablets to anaesthetic, antiseptic creams and blister plasters should find a place into your medikit. Speaking from personal experience, it is NOT fun trying to decipher pharmaceutical product descriptions in a country with a dubious regulatory system.

Notebook
Don’t go travelling without a notebook. It really is that simple. A notebook enables you to record your unique experiences, it gives you a place to stick scraps from foreign magazines and business cards from overseas hostels, and it can provide hours of doodling entertainment on improbably lengthy train journeys. For that matter, don’t forget a pen – and a pencil. They weigh nothing and can do a lot.