I recently saw my friend, Uncle Zuan, list out the items in his travel backpack, so I decided to check my own to see what I actually carry. Why is my travel backpack so dang heavy?
1. all the things in my travel backpack
For the purpose of this post, I intentionally only took photos after I have arrived at my hotel room, to ensure that these are the things that I really do have in my bag, after I left my Ipoh home on a trip. So, what do I have?
1) ASUS Transformer
2) money belt
3) sunglasses
4) umbrella
5) windbreaker
6) tissue paper, wet tissue, hand sanitiser
7) notebook (accidentally hidden in photo) and pens
8) Panadol and Strepsils
9) bottled water
10) business cards
11) pendrives, USB on-the-go, memory cards and reader
12) earphones
13) pepper spray
14) Teddy Bear keychain (or some other small toy)
2. my ASUS Transformer
Strangely, when I have these items listed out, they don’t seem that heavy. The weightiest item is obviously my ASUS Transformer but I have the advantage of leaving the keyboard behind should I find that I do not have enough time to do serious work on my laptop when I am on the move.
3. pendrives, USB on-the-go, memory cards and its reader
Of course, water is heavy too. But then again, it is not something that I can live without. I don’t want to fall ill! Other items are really very light, their weight negligible, as you can see: pendrives, tissue, hand sanitiser, memory card, business cards and sunglasses.
4. windbreaker from an Ipoh-based online outdoor store, http://www.pttoutdoor.com
The fluorescent pouch looks bulky but it isn’t really. It’s my windbreaker, which I carry with me all the time, to not only protect me from the wind or drizzle, but basically from the elements. I got it from an Ipoh-based online outdoor store, PTTOutdoor.com.
Colours available are cool blue, jet black, metal grey, orange, sky blue, and lime green, as what I am wearing here. To purchase yours, use my special code Emily2u for a 15% discount! This code is applicable on all products storewide!
5. my short and light umbrella from H&M
I still do carry an umbrella, depending on the kind of trip I go on, with whom and the destination that I would be covering. Although I could make do with just the windbreaker, the umbrella is good to be shared with my travel companion should it rain or if the weather proves to be exceptionally hot. I bought this really small umbrella from H&M for almost RM40. It’s very light, so into the bag it goes.
6. money belt
The money belt is really useful for me, especially when I travel solo. I just clip it around my waist should I need to leave my backpack somewhere for whatever reason. In the belt are cash, personal documents and everything that’s important. Easy, right? Oh, yes, this is where the passport goes into should I travel overseas.
7. dry food
And then there is food. I usually have biscuits in my bag because I could hardly tell when my next meal would be. These biscuits saved the day during my participation in the Swiss-Garden Damai Laut Food & Fun Hunt, where my team had to forgo lunch for two days to ensure that we completed all our tasks within the stipulated time.
As you can see, these are essentials for me. What about you? What do you have in your travel backpack?
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