放什麼在背包裡還是其次,最讓人頭大的決定是要一個怎樣的背包。
首先,要理清思想 ------ 去一個兩個星期的旅行和一個一年或以上的旅行,要打包的東西大有不同。
一個一年或以上的旅行,要帶的行裝應該更少,沒有聽錯,是應該更少… 因為你是在生活,而不是在旅行。在一個地方生活的必需品,難道在當地會找不到?人家就不穿衣服,不刷牙,不生病?
總不能什麼都買吧? 只要想一想你日常在家中生活買多少雜物衣服,我們又為什麼不能有需要時買呢? 在當地買的衣服用品,往往更適合在當地使用吧。
所以,這是捨得的第二階段。
還有就是,在家中很少用的物品,去旅行更不會用。例如,我是一個不戴帽的人,去旅行湊高興買過但沒用過….
在網上爬了很多文,有些是老生常談,但也有些頗為發人深省的。有人列舉了最不應該帶的東西,水瓶就是其中一樣,只要隨便一個蒸餾水瓶再用就可以了。
有人提出說環遊世界到底應該用背包,還是拉個箱子,他覺得最好還是用一個帶輪子的背包,他大部份時間是可以用拉的,必要時才背,根本不用把自己累壞。這還是有點啟發的,我也在想,是否真的應該帶個輪子。後來,我們的結論是,帶輪子的背包真有點累贅,也不好看,加上很重; 於是我們想改為外加一部手拉車,這一來背包還是背包,如果走下來覺得輪子還是太大負担,大可把手拉車送人,不用苦惱要換背包。
以保萬全,淘了一部最輕量級的手拉車,在陽朔之行試驗,感覺還真不錯!
把背包綑綁在手拉車上,包的前方靠手拉車的把手,這樣重量平衡,肩帶還是可以用。想背的時侯,把手抦按低,馬上可以背。當然這綑綁是暫時性質的,要托運行李時,要解除,但這一綁一拆,也是極簡單,這就是我們這一次的背包設計了!
by: Jo
Packing for a round the world trip is something to consider, but the
most important decision is probably getting the right backpack.
First of all, you need to clear --- packing for a 2 weeks’ vacation is different
from packing for a year long trip.
You should pack much less for a year long trip. Yes, it is less … because you are essentially
living, not travelling. When you are
living in a place, do you think you will be short of daily necessities? How can people there not wear cloths, not
brush their teeth and not get sick?
“well, you cannot possibly buy everything?” Think about that, when you are home, you buy
lots of stuff, cloths, groceries, why can’t we buy them when we live on a year
long trip? I bet things that you buy
locally will be suit local lives the best.
As such, this is the second level of “letting go”.
Also, things that you will not use at home, you probably will also not
use them when you are travelling. I
never wear hats, I have bought hats when I am on vacation, I end up not using
them at all after the first time.
I read a lot of articles online on how to pack for a RTW trip. Some of them are like what you would have
expected, but some are quite inspiring too. E.g. someone listed the top things
that you should not bring. One of them
is water bottle, you can just reuse any bottle from a bottled water.
One article discussed whether you should bring a suitcase (with wheels)
or a backpack. It kind of concludes that
you should really get a backpack with wheels because you end up don’t have to carry
it and can use the wheels most of the times.
We had some thoughts and decided that what should do is to buy a light
handcart where we can put the backpack on.
Backpacks with wheels are heavy and not flexible. If we find out later on that the wheels are
not worth their weight, I can just give away the handcart without having to
worry about the backpack.
So, we purchased the lightest version of handcart from Taobao and do a
trial in our Yang Shuo trip. It turned
out really well and this is how we are equipped for the trip now!
By: Jo
