How do we pack for six months on the road?

We’re often asked how we pack everything we need for six months travelling. We decided to share how we manage it, and a few other things we’ve learned in our five years of long-term travel.

We’ve heard digital nomads brag that they travel fulltime with only carry-on. We suspect those are the obnoxious people who board planes with their oversized carry-on case, a big laptop bag and a couple of other “personal items”, then bitch to the flight attendant that there’s no room in the overhead compartment.

That’s not us. We need more than carry-on to hold our hiking gear, electronics, cameras, raincoats, running shoes and clothing for all occasions and seasons. We each travel with a full-size roller case (70 – 90 litres) and a carry-on size backpack that does double-duty for trekking. We’ll often store our big cases at hotels and use just the backpacks for short sidetrips.

Even with two cases, space can be tight. We don’t have any magic trick to offer you. Mainly, we just don’t pack many sets of clothes (as anyone who pays close attention to our travel pictures knows!). Except for spare eyeglasses, we don’t pack any “just in case” items. The downside of packing light is that we have to do laundry frequently (more on that below).

We’ve given up carrying travel guides. We avoid carrying papers or books of any kind. We scan any documents we might need (eg travel insurance certificates, proof of vaccination) and upload them to the cloud. In case we don’t have internet access in an emergency, we carry a single plasticized page listing all the critical information we might need (eg international numbers for health insurance, emergency family contacts).

There are lots of articles and videos recommending efficient ways to pack. We do all that. We use packing cubes; we neatly roll and fold; we stuff items inside each other. Realistically though, after about a week on the road most of that goes out the window. It becomes a battle stuffing and re-packing everything into whatever empty space we can find.

Some of the unusual items we carry

Over the years we’ve learned that there are a few indispensable items we hadn’t originally thought of.

Some other things we’ve learned

Which credit card should you carry

Choose your credit card carefully. Most credit card companies, in Canada anyway, charge a hidden fee of 2.5% (on top of their already outrageous “benchmark” forex rate) on all foreign currency transactions. Why? Because they can. The fee disclosure is buried deep in that booklet with tiny print that you get with your card. Most people are unaware they’re being charged. It’s pure profit for the credit card company.

A handful of specialty travel cards do not charge the foreign transaction fee, and typically give more reasonable forex rates. Most have annual fees, but between the 2.5% saving and other incentives they offer, you quickly recoup those fees. Shop around. The Nerdwallet website gives a good overview.

Local Currency or Home Currency?

Credit card readers will often give you the option of paying in local currency or your home currency. They sometimes display a message like “Avoid the uncertainty of exchange rate fluctuations” or some similar nonsense. Unless your own credit card company really rips you off on forex rates, always choose the local currency. We frequently note the amount in Canadian dollars offered and compare it to the actual charge that comes through on our bill. The amount the machine offers is usually about 10% higher than what our own bank charges, sometimes more.

Hotel Bookings

Whenever we can we book direct with hotels. If there is a glitch, like booking the wrong date (George has done that) or your flight is delayed, the hotel will try work with you if you’ve booked directly with them. If you’ve booked through Booking.com, too bad for you. We learned that the hard way.

Big chains sometimes have rates better than shown on booking sites. However, you have to get behind their loyalty club firewall to see that rate. Joining hotel loyalty clubs is almost always free. We belong to at least a dozen. The rate is sometimes better and you always get better treatment at the hotel. We’ve often been upgraded or given perks when we book through loyalty programs. That’s rarely happened when we’ve used Booking.com.

And That’s It

There you have some of the travel wisdom we’ve acquired in five years on the road. Safe travels!