Let's Go to In.!

Kind Sir,

 

I've had a few comments relative to my letters to you here, as well as some other conversations and it seems like it's worth saying just what one should pack for a trip like this:

 

First of all, the bag.  I use a (no longer made) Eagle Creek Transport II.  It has a front pocket that can zip off as a day pack.  The main pocket has tuck-away straps.  I could go on and on about this but if you do a search on this blog for "luggage" or "Eagle Creek," you'll see plenty.  The short version relative to a trip like this is: wheels are a bad idea and you need a day pack.  This bag is spectacular and may well be the best money I've ever spent in my life.

 

For clothing I have:

 

4 pair of underwear

4 pair of socks

3 long sleeve t-shirts of varying thicknesses

1 polo shirt

1 cabana shirt

2 pair of urban camouflage army fatigues (these are the pants you always see me wearing)

1 warm up suit (jacket and pants)

1 pair of swim trunks

1 wide brim hat

1 pair of sandals

 

The pants, shirts and warm-up suit have all been immersed in permethrin.  The socks and hat have been sprayed with it because immersing undergarments with something that toxic is a bad idea.

 

I normally wouldn't carry a pair of shorts/swimsuit -- I can't really tolerate the sun anyway and shorts are considered to be extremely poor form in In. anyway.  But I knew I was going to be in a swanky hotel and they'd have a pool -- it'd give me an excuse to wade the waves one day too.

 

The cabana shirt is something I typically wouldn't bring, but Darlene sent it to me express specifically to wear while playing -- if she's going to go to that effort, I'll certainly oblige.

 

Swapping the polo shirt for another long-sleeve tee is certainly acceptable -- I just like having something with a collar if the need suddenly arises.

 

I'm starting to incorporate a track suit as part of my standard travel gear.  It's absolutely the most comfortable thing you can travel in (especially for things like long plane, train rides), and the added insulation is far from over-kill when you consider how much air conditioning is used.  The nice thing about a track suit is it looks both dressy and casual at the same time -- it's hard to place your social caste when you wear it.  And since it's always a little rumpled, it's never truly wrinkled -- this means you can do something like sleep in it if necessary and still look fine.

 

 

For "Personal Items" I have:

 

1 roll of toilet paper

1 package of tablet Pepto Bismol

Malaria medication

Severe diarrhea medication

1 disposable razor

1 small bottle of citronella Camp Suds

1 tooth brush

1 tooth paste

1 comb

1 bottle of sunscreen/bug repellant

5 books

1 pen

1 bandanna

1 iPod

1 iPod adaptor cable

1 pair of earphones

1 pair fingernail clippers

Antiseptic hand wash

Antiseptic towelettes

Cash

Credit cards

Traveller's checks

Travel insurance documentation

Passport (with visa)

Airline ticket

Photocopies of passport, airline ticket and travel book pages

Ziplock bags

 

Toilet paper is an easy thing to forget and a killer if you do.  I get absolutely the fanciest stuff I can before I leave the States because if I run into "trouble," there's no telling how often I'll be forced to use it.  I'm not a believer in trying to stop things up if you have a case of the runs -- primarily because it's your body's way of clearing things out -- but it's possible to be in situations where you sort of need to.  The prescription stuff I wouldn't normally get but my travel doctor was fairly insistent, so I did -- this is for the really really bad stuff -- look up dengue fever if you want a hint of what's possible.

 

I shaved my beard off before I left for several reasons: you don't stand out as much (facial hair is uncommon, bordering on weird, in In.), it's a little cooler and you use less sunscreen/bug repellent.  The big one, though, is it's harder for bugs to just dig into you and easier to keep clean.  It's not unusual for me to travel with a multi-voltage electric razor (I actually prefer it because you can shave on-the-go), but I was carrying so extra weight (books, shirt and swim suit) that I wanted to reduce everything else as much as I could.  The downside of shaving with a blade is nicking yourself in a place like this is not a trivial matter and requires immediate attention.

 

Camp suds are a godsend.  You can use it to wash your clothes by hand (fresh or saltwater) as well as using it as body soap/shampoo.  The citronella version is hard to find (they have it at REI), but worth seeking out for its anti-bug properties.  As I travel, anytime I'm about ready to expose myself to insects in a more "severe" fashion, I always wash my body and hair with it.

 

In the bad old days, you used to have to figure out what the right combo between sunscreens and insect repellent was.  I've chemical burned myself a couple of different times looking for the right mix.  These all-in-one's now are great.  I use Coppertone Bug and Sun for Kids (SPF 30).  I bought a whole bunch of it on discount from Grocery Outlet years ago -- and even though it's seven years expired now, it still works great.

 

The number of books I have with me on this trip is a fluke.  I brought a copy of each of mine (in the event that I'd have to show them or talk about them to someone), in addition to the two Harrington Hold'em books and my signed copy of  Paris Trout.  Normally I jettison books as I go -- I just abandon them in places like train stations -- but that's not the case with these (I have given away my Hold'em book -- I'll give my Internet book away as well).  I'm travelling a little further from the ground than I normally do, however, so the extra weight isn't as big a deal as it could be.

 

A travel pen is a remarkably difficult thing to get "right."  I used to travel with an old-style hexagon Rotring, but this trip I've switched over to an ultra-thin Japanese ball point which I'm liking very much.  The good thing about the Rotring, and a possible reason to switch back, is you can do an emergency tracheotomy with the barrel if you have to.

 

As I've said before, I consider an iPod to be a cheat and a social hack.  If I was travelling with someone else, I probably wouldn't bring it.  I've also managed to lose the cable for it which means that I can't charge it at all right now -- so I'm just carrying a shiny little brick with me.

 

Antiseptic washes and towels are essentially must-haves.  If you wash your hands every time before you eat or brush your teeth, I'm convinced you can drop your sickness rate way down.  Clipping your fingernails, and keeping them short short, is even more important in this regard.

 

For cash, in the third world you need a mix of big bills and little bills.  The big ones are for exchanges.  US$25 in singles is not unreasonable because there are times when you want to just a buck's worth of local currency, or need to make a quick purchase on the run.  (I suspect you can't pull this off as well if you don't have an American accent -- but I can flare mine as much as necessary.)

 

Traveller's checks can get you better exchange rates than cash dollars (because the banks hold them as a hedge before cashing when inflation spirals), but are harder to pass.  A great unknown trivium is if you carry even one American Express Traveller's check, you are entitled to full American Express services -- including mail being held for you at their local offices.  I never come to a place like In. without at least one $20 check.

 

Traveller's insurance is not something I believe in as a rule, but I think it's necessary if you're in a place where the heavy diseases can hit (malaria, dengue, yellow fever, black water fever, parasites, et al).  For sure, if you get it you have to bring the documentation with you.

 

Credit cards are a bit over-the-top, but ATM's are starting to show up in places like this (I've used one twice now) and they come in handy if you need to do something big and very sudden ... Like buy a trishaw.

 

You need to glue your passport to you and make sure you have all the relevant government issues and licenses before you travel.  The amount of time you could be detained if you don't could easily rack up into the weeks. 

 

Photocopies of everything important, stored somewhere away from all those items, makes replacement of anything about one thousand times easier.  Making photocopies of travel book pages is easy and lightweight -- I also, very commonly, will tear a travel book apart as I go.

 

I keep my passport in a ziplock bag to keep the excessive sweat/moisture from doing ominous things to it.  Additional bags always come in handy and are nearly impossible to find elsewhere.

 

Ignoring money and ID, by far the most important single item in this category is a bandanna.  With a bandanna you have: a washcloth, a hand towel, a head covering, a fly swatter, a table cloth, a bag, a bandage (or tourniquet), a water strainer, a quick form of luggage ID, a small rope and a trail marker.  If you get a light colored one, you also have something to write on (my Green Beret scout master said the single most important item you could have in a survival kit was a paper and pencil).

 

 

Things I didn't bring, but could have:

 

1 medium sized camping towel

1 pair of binoculars

1 camera

1 pair of foam earplugs

Straight bug repellent

Postcards from home

Address labels

Money belt

Travel Journal

Liquid bandage

Water filter

Business cards

 

I bought a new camping towel for this trip and then forgot to pack it.  Ditto for plain bug repellent (I use Bug & Sun instead, which is fine, it's just overkill).

 

Binoculars are good not only for viewing wildlife, but also for seeing the tops of architecture.  When you're on foot you can save yourself several blocks of walking to see if you're headed the right direction.

 

Postcards of where you're from are good for striking up conversations with locals.  It helps give them a picture of where you're from and a better idea of what you do -- remembering that the average person where you're going has never seen a forest, a skyscraper, a bridge nor the car you drive.  They also make superb thank-you notes.

 

Address labels are a good way to keep track of who you've written to.  Unfortunately I ran out of time this time and couldn't monkey with getting the information out of my hiptop.

 

A money belt is an absolute necessity for a trip like this.  I bought one, but then rejected it, for this trip because it was too obvious.  $7000 is a just too copious an amount of cash -- I carried it in my cargo pockets instead.

 

A hardback travel journal is great, much preferable to this (because Internet cafes aren't everywhere, like you are), but I wasn't going to do both.

 

I don't like looking at my travels through a view finder, so I don't.  I also consider taking pictures of the natives to be remarkably invasive, almost to the point of being obscene, so I don't do it (what's odd is I enjoy seeing other people's snaps who do).

 

My brother is a huge believer in liquid bandage and probably saved himself some fairly serious trouble in Bali by having it at the ready.  I've never been as hardcore about it, but it's worth mentioning.

 

A water filter is the new green way to travel (the idea being that you're not adding to the enormous water bottle waste pile of the third world).  I understand the concept, and in fact, have travelled with them before -- they're just harder to use than they should be and it's difficult to not accidentally contaminate your personal water supplies you're dealing with.

 

Even if you don't normally have/carry business cards, printing them up for a trip like this makes sense.  You'll meet many locals of a certain station that will automatically give you theirs -- it's both proper and polite if you have some in return.  I didn't feel like carrying any more paper, so I skipped it -- I've needed them about half a dozen times so far.

 

For what it's worth,

b1