Comments on: Essential Items for a Flashpacker

By: James

James — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:21:18 +0000

Hey… nearing the end of our 18 month around the world. We did carry two 13 inch Samsung laptops, 1.3kg solid state hard drive model, so long batteries and light – great for my internet work and my wifes… well Celeb reading. Ditched the iphone in the first 3 weeks, they are too big for shorts in super warm climates, incredibly needy battery wise, yell ‘steal me’ and the WiFi on them is not good at evem small distances. If you can recieve and are willing to afford the worldwide 3G/4G service then this might be a different matter but at the end of the day you are on holiday right? There is WiFi EVERYWHERE around the world these days for free, use a proper screen laptop back at the hostel… more WiFi than in most parts of London.

Camcorder? Nah… HD video from your Canon S95 is all you need unless you want to be on the outside of the love circle at the Full Moon Party. Sorry.

My top tips.
1) Get a Skype.com account (paid one) super cheap calls home and to any other country, no phone card rubbish, topping up etc. Just a WiFi connection which are everywhere.
2) Get world wide car excess insurance http://www.car-hire-excess-insurance.com (reviewed) saves you a fortune.
3) NEVER buy around the world flights (RTW flights). We bought all our flights on the go usually 6 – 3 weeks ahead of time and we saved £2,500 so my spreadsheet tells me. London to KL for £220 (AirAsia) and Sydney to LA for £350 with Virgin.

Above all.. enjoy and remember you can buy almost everything you want electronic wise at decent airports or cities around the world.

Cheers
Brook

By: Michael Tyson

Michael Tyson — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:21:13 +0000

I notice you’ve even got a little tripod in there. I’ve been debating about getting one — do you use yours much?

By: Ian and Wendy

Ian and Wendy — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:42:30 +0000

We just bought a couple of iPhone 4′s, and we think they’d be a valuable addition to any “flashpacker”. They combine many of the devices you’re talking about in 1 – the iTouch, camcorder, camera, and phone. We reviewed it here:

http://www.ianandwendy.com/travel/travel-tips/top-5-new-iphone-4-features-for-travellers.htm

By: The Dame

The Dame — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:38:04 +0000

These days you can get a very good point and shoot that does great video, that reduces your space and weight problem straight up. I agree, the iTouch is a godsend and I have a $99 phone which I just put a new SIM card into wherever I am. Unfortunately yes, the chargers are what take up the space. Camera, iTouch, phone, laptop all have separate chargers!

Matt, what’s the best external hard-drive to have?

By: NomadicMatt

NomadicMatt — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:07:32 +0000

I have a power strip so I charge everything at once and I don’t unpack everything everyday.

By: Brook

Brook — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 07:03:49 +0000

Hey Matt,

Doesn’t the packing in the morning with all that gear get a bit annoying and the constant charging?

The DSLR is not coming with me on this leg. It’s a pain, Canon 350D (Rebel) with 3 good lenses is over 2 KG. yeah you get some great shots but really… it’s never in my hand when I want that good shot. Either go with a four thirds camera, new tiny DSLR or get a decent point and shoot like the Canon S90.

I travel with a Samsung X360 for portability and battery power and yes a Canon S90 with underwater housing and fish eye lens.

Have hit this site a couple of times while looking for stuff. I am a gadget kinda guy and have been world travelling for a long time with my wife, kinda 30 something and ditched the jobs in London.

Breakfree people but try to enjoy travel without ‘all’ the gear. Trust me you feel better for it! Full Moon is sexier without the video camera. But you knew that.

Cheers
Brook

By: AdventureRob

AdventureRob — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:04:56 +0000

Hmm the picture shows a lot more than the list describes, don’t underestimate accessories everyone! I spot tripod, big ass microphone, and a lot of spare batteries, chargers, adapters and cables there in addition to the listed items.

It’s possible to eliminate some bits. I used to use card reader built in my netbook for transferring photos but have gone back to cable now for for functions. I don’t carry a camcorder as I don’t video enough to justify it. Just replaced my 18-55 lens with a 18-270mm which gives a lot more useability but a lot more weight offsetting that bonus.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:26:33 +0000

@Ant:

This might be a little late, but I have a backpack from the German brand “Deuter” which a rather renowned travelling/trekking equipment manufacturer and they sell a model called “Traveller” which comes in to sizes (“70+10″ for guys and “55+10″ for girls – the numbers represent volume in liters). The “+10″ stands for the small daypack which is attached to the back of the main bag and cat be removed and reattached very easily. Other than that the main backpack opens differently than regular backpacks. You don’t end up stuffing everything in from the top. It actually opens like a regular carry-on bag, which makes packing and unpacking very easy. You can also make the shoulder and belt straps dissappear when you are checking in the bag for a flight. It essentially looks like a regular bag then. It has a shitload of extras as well which are too many to mention, but if anything comes close to what you’re looking for, it’s this. It’s not the cheapest but it’ll serve you a looooong time. Comes with 5 year warranty as well.

By: jan

jan — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:26:48 +0000

i love gadgets and these toys, but i feel that stuff just pulls me down when i travel. i wanna be independent and free. with a backpack worth of 3000 dollar of gadgets i would always have to worry to loose it.that would be in my head all the time. it probably depends in what places you stay. for hotels it’s almost okay. but guesthouses and stuff never really works. plus you end up having one bad only for these gadgets.
perfect packlist is only a toothbrush. that is not going to work, but i’m always trying to stay as close to that as possible. the less you own the better.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:49:23 +0000

Many of these “essentials” are only essential if your business is maintaining a blog during extended travelling. If you’re doing it for your own pleasure, cut back on the gadgets.

Any gadget that relies on power is a potential headache.

Consumer electronics firms have done a great job in making us want digital cameras – and to upgrade them every trip. One great way to make you upgrade is to have a ‘measurable’ improvement. People who know nothing about photography can still compare megapixels between current models and their existing camera and can convince themselves that more=better. Unless you plan to make poster sized prints from your images, you don’t need massive megapixels. If you DO plan to make big prints, you probably don’t want any of the consumer level digital cameras – they all produce boring looking images unless you spend time on post-production. Better to use a 35mm or APS film camera which you can get very cheaply second hand.

If you want your pictures to stand out use film: black & white film, very grainy colour film, very natural looking transparency film. Use it while it’s still readily available.

Digital has some advantages: eg you can take 10000 photos on your trip and, apart from lugging the hard drive and/or laptop, it won’t cost you a lot extra for the extra photos. But do any of your friends really want to see thousands of your average pictures? (“This is my Taj Mahal folder. As you can see, it was raining the day I was there.)

Post cards are often made by local photographers who know their craft, know the location and capture it at the best time of day in the best season. If you want to make your friends jealous of your visit to a major tourist site or scene, get a postcard. Make it personal and write something on it. It’ll cost you a dollar and it doesn’t need batteries.