baggage in a wheelbarrow in front of colorful huts

Trip Planning and Packing Tips

Optional Items

In addition to core items, there are optional items we take depending on the kinds of places we're going and what we will be doing.

baggage in a wheelbarrow in front of colorful huts

Urban Areas

If we’ll be spending a lot of time in big cities, we might bring some or all of these items.

  • Money belt: If we’re going somewhere pickpockets are common we have money belts and pouches to stash passports, credit cards, and spare cash if needed. We often carry about $200 for emergencies.
  • Urban Hat: When spending lots of time in cities I take a more urban sun hat in addition to my all-purpose hat.
  • Small bag: I may take a smaller bag to hold my phone and a room key if we’re staying at B&Bs, at a resort, or on a cruise.
  • We research planned activities to see if they require specific items, like water shoes for wet hiking, modest attire or head coverings for places of worship.

Weather and Wilderness

We try to fit some hiking or walking into all of our trips. How much we plan to do, and how involved it is, influences how much gear we take.

  • Gore-Tex Jacket: If there’s any chance of rain, and also good for wind.
  • Umbrella, rain poncho, rain pants: Usually, we count on our Gore-Tex jackets to keep us dry and take a cab if needed when moving with baggage from place to place. But if we’re going someplace known for wet weather, like Great Britain or New Zealand, we’ll take additional rain protection. We even have homemade rain jackets for our carry-ons. PHOTO
  • Puffer jackets if it will be too cold for light layers alone.
  • Bug spray: It can be both necessary and difficult to find in the wild!
  • Mesh bags: If we think we might be toting damp clothes.
  • National park pass: The numbers usually don’t make an annual pass worthwhile, but when hitting five parks on one trip (Utah) an annual pass made sense. And now that Steve qualifies as a senior, we have a lifetime pass.
  • Nalgene bottles
  • List of options, maps, other info: We try to identify potential hikes or hiking areas before we leave and take along any information we can find to get us started, then get more specific and detailed once we’re there.
  • Binoculars: We have compact binoculars that we take especially if we anticipate wildlife viewing opportunities.
  • Bug nets: We have inexpensive bug nets to wear over our hats in especially buggy areas. They paid for themselves in the Australian outback alone!

Beaches

If we plan to do any swimming we’ll bring gear for that, depending on the environment.

  • Swimsuit (1-2): Depending on how much time we’ll spend at the beach.
  • Swimsuit coverup: ideally something dual purpose.
  • Dry bags: To keep electronics and such safe from getting wet and so we can take them in the water with us if needed. We purchased 10L and 20L and they’ve worked very well for us. In Thailand we picked up a 3L bag too so we have a range of sizes depending on what we need to put in them.
  • Beach chairs: If we’re planning on a lot of beach time where there aren’t any sun loungers to rent, we’ll bring our own chairs. We have some very portable KingCamp chairs. I was skeptical but they’re surprisingly comfortable, lightweight, and easy to set up, breakdown, and carry.
  • Shade shelter: We try to avoid direct sun so if it sounds like there won’t be palapas, umbrellas, or convenient trees where we’re going, we’ll take our Coleman shade shelter. It’s very lightweight and easy to carry. Though difficult to put up if it’s windy!

Snorkeling

We enjoy snorkeling and especially like snorkeling from the beach. While most snorkel excursions include equipment and you can often rent equipment, we did the math on our second trip to Hawaii and determined the equipment would pay for itself in that one trip. Plus we avoid the extra errand of picking up and dropping off rental equipment. Listed below is the gear we bring with us for snorkeling in addition to anything for the beach itself.

For more information on snorkeling gear we recommend Tropical Snorkeling, which was very helpful to us in figuring out what we needed.

  • Mask: It’s highly recommended to try one in person, but we didn’t have that luxury so we rolled the dice and bought ours online. My mask fit well. Steve’s prescription mask that cost extra did not.
  • Snorkel: We have dry snorkels, which help avoid swallowing water if a wave hits. It makes for a more relaxing snorkeling experience.
  • Fins: We heard travel fins are useless so we bought the real deal. They’re awkward to pack, but it’s worth it.
  • Snorkel vest: An inflatable snorkel vest is a requirement in some places, so you’re less likely to stand on the coral, which damages it. Even if not required it keeps you afloat, which is good if you’re not a confident swimmer or become tired, injured, or ill.
  • Reef safe sunscreen: Reef safe sunscreens are based on titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. They help keep coral safe and are also annoying and unsightly. Rash guards are a good alternative since they limit the exposed skin you need to apply sunscreen to. One advantage of the stinger suits we wore in Australia was that we didn’t need any sunscreen!
  • Rash guard: We each have a long-sleeved rash guard. I have knee-length shorts and Steve has long pants. (Outside of snorkeling, rash guards could function as a base layer or leggings, and my zip-up rash guard could act as a light jacket.)
  • Mesh bag: We have mesh bags to carry our equipment in.
  • Waterproof belt packs: These small packs can hold keys, cash, or other small items without added bulk. We also use them inside a daypack to protect phones and such if we’re out in the rain.
  • Swim cap: It helps protect bald heads from sun (him) and protects long hair from getting yanked and tangled by the snorkel mask (me).
  • Toothbrush for mask cleaning
  • Anti-fog bottle: Anti-fog solution is generally available on excursions. For beach snorkeling I carry a small spray bottle with a drop or two of baby shampoo mixed with water.

Photography

These days we mostly get by with our mobile phones. The cameras have improved so much that we don’t feel the need to lug our other equipment along. But we enjoy photography for its own sake and have accumulated equipment over the years, some of which we may bring along if we plan to use it a lot.

Camera(s)

Years ago we bought a Fujifilm FinePix 120 waterproof  pocket camera to use in wet conditions. We still take that on trips where we might not want to carry a phone all the time, like to the beach or on a snorkel trip. We now have a newer pocket camera that we haven’t had a chance to use yet.

We have two Pentax DSLRs because both the camera and lenses are weather and dust resistant and the price was within our budget. We wanted a DSLR that wasn’t fragile for wildlife photography in Costa Rica. We take one of those only if we anticipate lots of wildlife. It’s a lot to lug around.

Accessories

  • Backup drive: We carry a backup thumb drive so we can back our photos up from the card to the drive. It also makes it easier to download the photos when we get home.
  • Batteries and chargers: We have a Wasabi spare battery and charger for each camera so we can be charging a battery while still using the camera.
  • Memory cards: We have multiple memory cards for each camera so we aren’t trusting all our photos to one card.
  • Camera bag: We have a bag for our DSLR that holds an extra lens and can be worn as a waist belt or a shoulder bag. It has a built-in rainfly.
  • Additional filters and lenses, tripod: If we anticipate a lot of good photo opportunities, especially wildlife or astrophotography, we’ll take additional equipment with us. This is much more likely if we’re going on a road trip.

Road Trip

When you have a convenient vehicle to put all your stuff in it’s easier to take more. We still try to travel light. If we’re road tripping that probably means a lot of time in remote areas and/or we’re traveling within the continental USA. (Because otherwise we’d use public transportation.)

  • A phone car charger. Navigation chews through battery.
  • Plastic storage containers: For carrying food from one location to the next.
  • Utensils: If we think we may end up cooking or getting lots of takeout.
  • Cooler: We actually were able to fit a cooler into a checked bag once! Another road trip only item.
  • Maps: We often rely on Google maps or pick up any maps when we get there. When we rented a car in Costa Rica we saw advice that you couldn’t always trust Google maps and to buy a good map before going because good road maps were hard to find once you got there.
  • Auto insurance card and international driving permit: If renting a car. An international driving permit isn’t always required.