Which gadgets to take on a backpacking trip?

So I am going to travel... alone. I know, you'll never actually be alone, since there are many solo backpackers who you'll meet along the way. But it's nice to have at least some gadgets to enjoy yourself while on long train rides or when you can't sleep at night, like an e-reader. Also, I'd love to take pictures of the amazing places I visit, so a camera is kind of a necessity. Furthermore I'd like to keep in touch with the home front. In short: I have a list of gadgets which ideally would all get a little spot in my backpack. Let's take a look:

GoPro | Epic

First of all: I'm sorry it has been a while since my last blogpost. Summer has finally arrived, so I've been enjoying the weather quite a lot over the last month. I didn't use my computer at all, except at work. After an 8 hour work day behind the screen, I don't really feel like spending another few hours behind it to make some blog posts. But here I am, with a little update about something I'm pretty enthusiastic about.

Backpacking wish list: Lush

When I'm going on my backpacking trip next year, I can't take my usual hair care products. The bottles would take up way too much space, so I have to come up with an alternative. Well, I found the perfect solution: Lush.

Lush is a brand which uses mostly natural ingredients. This is great, but the best thing is that they sell solid shampoo bars which, according to Lush, last as long as three 250 ml bottles of conventional shampoo. If that's true, it is a great substitute for liquid shampoo when going on a 5 month backpacking trip. Also quite nice: Lush is known worldwide, so when I'm out of product I can easily pop by a store in Singapore to buy the same product again. How great is that?

Backpacking: the backpacking make-up bag

 

The stereotypical backpacking girl is often portrayed as a 'look, I didn't take a shower for a week' kinda girl with dreadlocks and an outfit that screams 'I don't care how I look because I am a backpacker and I'm freeeee!'. Now let me tell you that I'm not that kinda girl. I'm the girl that selects her outfit thoughtfully and puts on make-up almost every day. Not excessively, but the regular tinted bb cream, powder, blush, eyeliner, eyeshadow (very natural though), and mascara seem to find my face every single day.

 

So now we get to the subject I would like to discuss: Do you take makeup on a backpacking trip? And if yes: which make-up do you take with you?

Backpacking gadget: Leatherman Juice CS4

Sorry, it's been a while since my last post. But I'm back again with a nice little gadget which, according to my boyfriend, I really need to take with me on my backpacking trip. He wanted to give me a practical backpacking tool as a gift (for no reason, did I already tell you I have the best boyfriend in the whole world?). So he gave me a Leatherman.

Backpacking Itinerary when travelling through Asia

Let me tell you something before I will present to you my backpacking planning.

I. Am. A. Lousy. Planner.
I truly am. I can't even plan a trip to the grocery store without freaking out, since I am very easily distracted and... hey look, a bird in the backyard.... 

Angkor Wat in Cambodia. So beautiful. 

Anywayz, back to the planning. So it took me a while (and some serious headaches), but I've finally decided upon a planning which makes me happy. The schedule is not too busy, but it still allows me to see a lot of the country. Perfect, you would say. Yes, but sacrifices were made. India is out of the route. No India, no Taj Mahal, no nothing. On one hand I find it a bit sad, since I am going to travel to that side of the planet I could easily make a little stop in India, but on the other hand I want a relaxing trip and that's impossible with India in the planning. Bye bye India. 

But what does the route look like right now? Well... here it is!

Backpacking: The Final Destination

It's been a while, so I think it's time for an update. Travel buddy and bestie G. and I finally decided upon a final destination for our trip. At first we wanted to chill out on the Maledives before going back home. Just doing nothing, laying on the beach, drinking cocktails... I think you will get the picture. Unfortunately the Maledives are relatively expensive and since backpacking is kind of surviving on an ultra low budget, 'expensive' is not in our dictionary. Bye bye Maledives.

Our new travel destination... can you guess where it is?

A couple of days ago, G and I got together over coffee and decided upon a new final destination. It was a brief 'meeting' because we both felt the same way. Are you curious? Well, it's still not a 100% certain yet (Indonesia is still a possibility), but for now we will end our backpacking trip innnn.....

Backpacking budget: don't forget!

Money. It is always an issue. It's the one single thing that has the most influence on my backpacking trip. According to the first planning, I want to travel 5,5 months and I would like to visit India, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and maybe Indonesia to finish. I'm currently busy setting a backpacking budget for this trip, but there are some things I kind of forgot about.

So here are some very important budget related matters which you absolutely cannot forget when planning a trip like this:

Backpacking: The ultimate backpackers guide

I truly have the best boyfriend in the entire world. Not only is he okay with me going on a 5,5 month backpacking trip, he also wants me to be well prepared so he bought me an amazing book as a gift. May I present to you the ultimate backpacking bible: Southeast Asia on a shoestring from Lonely Planet. As a backpacker you cannot live without a Lonely Planet book. It's known to be the most complete and updated backpackers guide out there.

Here it is, the only backpacking book you'll be needing while travelling through Southeast Asia. First some things you might want to know when taking this book on a trip: it's 19.7 x 12.8 x 3.9 cm and it weighs 743 grams. Not really a pocket book to put in a backpack, but I will take it with me anyway. The book covers eleven countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. You could say this is the perfect backpackers book for me, since I'll be visiting eight of these countries (according to the planning thusfar).

So what kind of information can be found in this backpack book?

Backpacking: planning the main route

So I have decided to go backpacking. It has always been a dream of me to travel the world and now I finally get the opportunity to do it. Next year (July 2014) I will start my trip and I thought it would be fun if I would update you about all the preparations. Of course it depends on the duration and destination of the trip whether you need to follow all the steps I am going take, but it might give you an idea of what planning a backpacking trip like this actually entails.

Picture via here

Well, the first item on the agenda is: where the heck am I going? Planning a backpacking route sounds more simple than it actually is. There are many places to travel and there is only limited time to do so, in my case probably 5,5 months. I already decided that I really would like to visit South-East Asia. How to create a route? Like so: