Starting your long term travel backpacking: What do you need before you go on your long term travel

So you’re looking into getting into your own long-term travel? Let me say right off the bat, you’re making a great decision and the memories you’re about to make will last you a lifetime. In fact, I believe it will be life changing.

Long term travel can be scary, which involves a lot of risks such as giving up your career momentarily, injuries, or the general dangers of travelling. Sure, the risk are there, but what great achievements have been made without taking any risks at all? None. 

Travel Insurance

Before you go on your travels, I suggest you buy travel insurance to protect yourself in case something happens. Most companies won’t insure you for long term, but WORLD NOMADS insurance does.

WORLD NOMADS was created by travellers to fit the needs of travellers, and the best part is you can continually increase the coverage on the road if you decide you need more. Most traditional companies do not allow this.

I’ve spent the last 6 months travelling in Southeast Asia, backpacking Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore,  Indonesia so far. In fact, I’m still on the road currently sitting at a Starbucks in the Grand Indonesia Mall, right smack dab in the centre of Jakarta. Let me tell you ahead of time: Traffic is absolutely nuts in these countries. You need travel insurance, don’t go without it.

Get a quote below or find out more: Here

What sort of things will you face?

Finances

It’s important that before you head off for long term travel, you have enough money. Things WON’T go according to plan out here, trust me. Money will save you in most cases and help you return home should you decide you’ve travelled enough. A good basic budget for Southeast Asia is about $700 Canadian dollars a month, convert that to your own currency. 

Money should be planned like this:

• Survival money - Day to day in every city
• Emergency money - Locked away safe in your hostel/hotel if possible
• More than 1 ATM card - ATMs will eat your card if you fail to retrieve it within a time period. Make sure you have more than one ATM card from different banks
• Credit cards - Just like the above point, have more than one if possible. 

Somethings you should pack:

• Money Belt - This is #1. You will need this. I have been pickpocketed in a hostel while I was sleeping in Vietnam and ever since then, I’ve used a money belt. They 100% work and it is the best defence against being stolen from. Here is the one I use, you can buy it on Amazon here:  https://amzn.to/2pBD8xp 

• Coin pouch - Many countries still use cash in daily transaction and there will tons of coins! They all come in odd sizes and you’ll save yourself from the stress of keeping the coins all in once place with a coin pouch. Here is the one I have been using: https://amzn.to/2nTD3om it comes in different colours too. 

Backpack:

Choosing the right backpack for long term travel is crucial, it will make your travel so much easier if you don’t have to unload all your things just to get one thing at the bottom of your bag. I currently travel with the tried and true by many travellers like myself, that is the Osprey Farpoint 55 Bag, which includes a detachable day bag (SUPER USEFUL).

Why I like the Osprey Bag?

It is high quality, durable, and well designed for travel. There are steel wires that help keep the shape of the bag and the front loading design gives you access to everything in your bag all at once, compared to the top loading bags where you have to unpack everything just to get to the bottom item. It’s also the perfect size for all airlines carry-on dimensions requirements.

Osprey also has an “All-mighty Guarantee” where they will repair your bag free of charge should anything happen! Regardless if it was purchased in 1974 or yesterday, just send it into one of their many authorized repair shop around the world and boom, you’re back to travelling. From my experience with my bag so far, I never needed a repair once and it’s still in great shape after some pretty rough handling.

Check out the Osprey Farpoint backpack here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2o54AD5

Clothing:

One of the biggest mistakes travellers make is bringing too much stuff. You won’t need a second laptop and all those shoes and dresses “just in case.” If you’re looking to backpack your way through with just a carry-on, 7 kgs. (15 lbs.) is the maximum total weight for your carry on + personal bag. It’s do-able. 

• Pants with zippers - This will be great defence against pickpocketing and easier to travel with valuables or currency 
• 5 T-shirts
• 5 underwear
• 5 pairs of socks
• Small towel
• Hat
• Scarf
• Toothbrush and toothpaste (100ML max)
• Sunscreen
• Nail clippers
• Running shoes
• Slippers
• Earplugs
• Noise cancelling earphones
• Sanitizer & wet wipes
• Medication
• Packing cubes

Family and friends

At the beginning as your planning your trip and sharing your plans with your friends and families, you’ll get a lot of weird looks of discouragement. The plan to leave your comfortable life at home to seek out unknown adventures freaks people out — that’s normal. Once you can re-assure yourself that you’re making the right decision for you, everything will feel easier and you won’t need to seek others approval.