Choosing Travel Gear for a New Traveler
We often get requests from our readers about how to choose gear for traveling. While we do not recommend any specific piece here (although we will be biased towards the products we own); rather, We’re going to explain in board terms how to choose them.
How to Choose Backpack for Travel?
To estimate the size of backpack you are going to need first assemble the items you are going to take on your trip. Then get a school bag or borrow backpack from your cousin or friends. If it doesn’t fit, you will need a bigger sized bag. Repeat the process and so on. If it fits, or you have space, you can downsize (prefer) or bring more items.
A good backpack is a combination of fabric, materials, design, construction, and warranty.
Do not buy any bag from any lifestyle brands or bags from large chain stores/outlets. These bags are not optimized for travel and break just after limited use.
Our recommend brands are Tom Bihn, Red Oxx, MINALL, Tortuga, GoRuck, Patagonia and many others that focus on adventure sports.
Your backpack is one of the most important piece of gear you’re going to own, so make sure you buy the best bag you can.
How to choose Clothes for Travel?
For clothes, you just need to remember that Merino is excellent. Merino is excellent at odor absorption, sweat-wicking and will keep you cool in warm in hot weather and cool in the hot climate. You can use it anyplace you tend to sweat and in any piece of clothing even underwear.
For pants and shorts, you can go for synthetic options (especially abrasion resistant) because we don’t sweat much on our legs and we do lots of stuff outside.
Our recommended brands are Icebreaker, Exofficio, and other major outdoor brands.
Choosing Outerwear for Travel
The general idea is to use three-layer system (base + insulative + shell). This system can handle everything down the sub-zero temperature to windy nights.
For insulation layer, goose down is the best material. You should invest your money in buying lightweight down jackets. A heavier down jacket is bulky, not sturdy and makes it hard to layer a protective shell over it. It the insulation layer jacket to keep you warm.
For the shell, look for anything** durable, packable and breathable**. Every major outdoor brand has a good shell that you can look into. Unless you are going on a specialized trip (mountaineering), you can avoid esoteric alpine options. Remember it is the shell layer that handles everything other than insulation(rain, wind, etc. ).
How to Choose Shoes for Travel?
We have already written about best shoes for travel. A little advice would be take anything you can be comfortable in walking and going to restaurant etc. If you are going on a specialized trip like hiking or trekking, then choose trekking shoes.
If you are on an urban trip, then bring a pair of flip-flops/sandals/thongs with you.
How to choose Phone for Travel?
Most people prefer a phone with a good camera while others bring a good camera with them and use a basic phone with extra battery.
The thing more important than the phone itself is the service provider you choose. You should choose a service provider based on coverage and type of service and cost. Most countries around the world have prepaid SIMs easily available. These are very cheap.
A caveat is that you’ll have a new number in each country. If you need a stable number, then you can look into your home country service provider based on their international roaming rates. (For folks from the US, T-Mobile and Google Fi are most recommended).
Keep your Old US Number while Traveling Internationally
Choosing Toiletries for Travel
We have written an entire article about toiletries for travel. Short advice would be to buy stuff you can easily get on arrival. If you are buying in the home country, then check with airline restrictions. Bring enough not to stink.
Other Stuff
You will save more money in the long run by buying something made for life rather than something cheap. The essential gear will get replaced much quicker.
We have also written about esoteric stuff like (laptops, routers and other electronics). But in general, they tend to be dependent on specific work needs.
Written By Kate Mark
Kate is a mid-lifer who quit a growing corporate career to reawaken her passions and her lifelong dream of traveling the world.
