Ever wondered what you need to pack for full time or long term travel? Or maybe you’ve seen those crazy backpackers walking around with heavy packs and you’ve simply wondered what’s inside. Wonder no more, I’ve put together a list of what’s in my pack.
You can consider me a do-everything traveler. I don’t mind spending the night in a fancy hotel, but I also like to set up camp in the middle of the forest, I have packed for both scenarios. Our current traveling patterns are putting us in monthly rentals, AirBnB’s and apartments. We do expect to be on a few long distance back-country hiking trails in 2016.
My full 50L pack weighs about 28 pounds, and my 30L weighs about 15 pounds. At the moment I am planning to upgrade my 50L pack to a 65L, this should allow me to reduce the weight in my daypack and only carry electronics and camera gear during airport visits. I have found that my daypack is very awkward to carry around when I have my 50L pack on my back, so I have recently bought a small rolling carry-on suitcase. I simply put my full daypack inside the rolling luggage when traveling to and from the airport, it has made things so much easier. The only time I have both the 50L and the 30L backpacks on me at the same time is when we go to and from the airport.
Since I’m only one half of this traveling duo, Curtis has created a separate list of his own. A lot of the camping gear we are traveling with is shared between us and Curtis carries all of our shared gear.
Some of the links below are affiliate links so I earn a small commission if you click and buy. It is greatly appreciated if you do! It helps fund what we are doing and encourage us to review more gear.
Backcountry Camping Gear
My pack isn’t big enough to carry a lot of gear. Which is why I don’t recommend my pack for multi use traveling. My Osprey Viva 50L works fantastic as a backcountry camping pack, it also works fantastic as a backpack Europe type pack. It does not work if you intend to carry camping gear while backpacking Europe.
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Clothing
The list below is not a good example of minimalist packing, but it is a great “have everything” list. Since I’m not packing extra camping equipment, it appears that I have filled that space with clothing. I love yoga pants…and yoga tops. I have nothing more to say about that. The only thing that I have found lacking in my clothing is a winter jacket, in the future I will switch out one sweatshirt for a North Face Thermoball winter jacket. For backcountry camping, this clothing list gets significantly smaller.
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Summer hiking socks (2) humid weather, anti-blister |
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Trail runners For everyday use or easy hikes, waterproof, breathable |
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Vibram 5 finger shoes For mainly water use (swimming, SUP, etc.) |
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Sandals |
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Hiking boots For scrambles and wet or cold hikes |
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Bikini (3) |
Electronics
For backcountry camping trips most of my electronics are left in storage. I only take my cell phone and E-reader.
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Photography
My camera gear is fairly minimal. Curtis carries most of the specialized lenses. We switched to the Olympus micro 4/3 system just before our travels started. It was an intentional switch from the bulky DSLR’s to this system. It has turned out to be a fantastic choice. Less weight and top quality lenses have allowed us to continue producing top quality photos. I recently switched from the 12-50mm kit lens to the pro 12-40mm f2.8, but I still carry both lenses until I can sell or store the original kit lens.
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Miscellaneous
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All packed and ready to go! Cindy (the cat) made it as far as Florida with us.
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Jill is the founder, writer, photographer and travel agent at Chasing Adventure Travel. An adventure travel blog that has morphed into a travel agency, specializing in Active and Adventurous Travels.
Jill has traveled worldwide and spent almost 2 years traveling continuously with her husband. She has traveled to resorts, crossed an ocean on a cruise ship, motorcycled multiple times around Europe and experienced self-guided long term travel.
~ Dreamer, doer and energetic go-getter. Curiosity has inspired adventurous world travel. Imagination is everything ~
*Chasing Adventure Travel is in affiliation with Nexion Canada.
- Hiking Provence: Montagne Sainte Victoire - May 23, 2017
- Lyon, France: My Favorite Little City - March 29, 2017
- Adventure Guide: Hiking on Gran Canaria Island, Spain - February 16, 2017
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4 Comments
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I was debating between 50 and 65, so glad I read this and I’m planning on getting the exact same Osprey backpack. I have the Daylite backpack which is a great day pack, but it’s too small unfortunately. But I love Osprey so I’m definitely getting the 65 one. Great list!
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Author
Definitely go with the 65L, also check out the Osprey Aura 65, it has an extra front zippered pocket that I wish mine had. The biggest problem I have with the 50L is that it’s only 11 inches wide and about 8 or 9 inches deep. The narrow-ness of it makes it really awkward to pack. The only other thing I would like to have is an extra side zipper for the main compartment. Having only top access makes it really hard to just grab something from the middle of the bag.
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very nice post .
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[…] a list that represents virtually everything that I travel with. Jill has created her own gear list HERE. Below is just the stuff that I carry. Â My full 70L pack weighs about 36 pounds, and my 30L weighs […]