One of the trickiest things about travelling is knowing what to pack. The length of your trip, which countries you’re going to, what activities you intend to do all make a huge difference in the choice of things to bring.
And you always seems to end up with too much stuff, at the same time as missing stuff you really need! SO I thought I’d do a little post on my top equipment tips: the things that are always good to have! (FYI – We’re not being paid to recommend anything, unfortunately )
1. Klean Kanteen.
Light-weight, strong, available in heaps of different colours, styles, and sizes. We love them so much we bought 3!
Made of BPA free stainless steel, so its safe to drink from and doesn’t make the water taste funny Such a brilliant way to reduce our plastic consumption, and they even make a thermos too (perfect for cold water or coffee)
2. Morakniv.
I can’t overstate how useful it has been to have decent knife with us when travelling. If you want to buy any fresh fruit or veg its an essential thing to have with you! (Just try cutting up a watermelon, with a regular butter knife. . .) Ours is a Morakniv 2000: designed for the forest and mountains of Sweden, its perfect for building fires or cutting wood, but works just as well for food and other emergencies!
3. Merino Wool blend T-shirts.
Wool t-shirts are traditionally heavy, itchy things only used when the temperature drops. Merino Wool on the other hand is: Lightweight, cool in the warm, warm in the cold, and best of all (for dave) doesn’t smell when it gets sweaty! They also keep their warmth when wet, which can be a real lifesaver.
We have been wearing them in temps from -20 to +35°C
They can be a bit pricey, but more than make up for it, when you can wear them day after day and still feel, kinda, fresh. Best of all are the merino wool blends, that use another fibre for strengthening, extending the life of the clothing. Can’t really recommend them highly enough, its pretty much all I (Dave) wear these days! Perfect for: Hiking, Skiing, running, kayaking, biking: pretty much everything! Some good brands are: Houdini, Mons Royale and Icebreaker.
4. Microfibre towel.
These little beauties are something we can’t do without. Traditional towels take up heaps of space and take forever to dry. Our microfibre towels, pack down to next-to-nothing, dry in no time and are super lightweight. Available everywhere, it’s normally pretty easy to find them cheaply.
5. Dry bags
Something I would always recommend to take with you is Dry Bags, even if you have a waterproof cover for your bag it doesn’t hurt to have that little extra insurance, there is nothing worse than opening your bag after a long bus trip to find damp or dirty clothes!
We have several different sizes and they make sure all of our clothes are wrapped up nice and dry, no matter what conditions we end up in!
Available in all different sizes, colours, types and levels of waterproofing – depending on the activity (for example Kayaking) you might want to consider something a bit more expensive. Heaps of different companies out there, our favourite ones so far are from: Silva (Swedish outdoor specialists).
Happy travels!
❤️
