Minimalism for the Long Term Traveller

Minimalism for the Long Term Traveller. Is that even possible?

If you find yourself planning a trip that will cover a multitude of climate and terrain conditions you might think that travelling in a minimalist way is sheer lunacy.

Well we've found someone who might disagree with you. Her name is Ellen Wayte and we abosolutely love her article on how to travel for 5 years across 5 continents with only a duffel bag for all your gear.

So, how did she do it? and what are the takeaway tips you can use from her experience.

Ellen explains that she was part of a two-person team leading overland camping expeditions around the world, and spent most nights in a tent and, most days, either adventuring with her clients or in their overland vehicle. Her job involved travel from the tropics to snow covered mountains in the same month.

Here is what we learned from Ellen's experience:

Top Tips for Packing Clothes

• Always pack layers of clothing that are moisture wicking. Thin layers will trap warm air and can easily be removed to cool down.

• Make sure you break in comfortable walking shoes before your trip (yeah - obvious - but how many of us have bought shoes at the last minute for a trip and not properly broken them in!)

• For commodity type clothes like t-shirts, buy locally so that you blend in with the people you are with. It also helps to support the local economy if you leave yourself some budget to add some clothes while you are travelling.

Top Tech Tips

• Camera, phone and laptop (if you need one) are all key pieces of equipment to take with you. In many locations you will find these sorts of electronic items are in limited supply and very expensive.

• Given the essential nature of phones these days,, and given some of the responsibilities Ellen had with her job, she recommends taking a backup phone - a robust simple handset that you can load with a local SIM.

• Ellen tells us that a big killer of electronics when travelling is grit and sand and she recommends keeping your electronics in airtight cases and where you might experience high humidity you can use silica gel in the airtight case to reduce damage from excess moisture.

• Backup everything frequently to the cloud, or if that's not available, use memory cards or a separate hard drive. We would add to that rotating your camera memory cards during the trip so that you have pictures from each location on a selection of memory cards rather than finding you lose ALL of your pictures from a single location because the card you used in Japan has failed and now you're in Australia you can never recover those memories! (this tip has saved us more times than you might imagine).

Don't forget Items

• Medications are of course very important. If you need certain meds you'll need to take enough to see you through the duration of the trip and maybe some in reserve. Ellen mentions that antibiotics are usually available wherever you are, but quality can vary and you may need to deal with the side effects - check out her detailed article tagged at the end for more details!

• If you are travelling for a specific reason, such as scuba diving, you'll need to take any kit that is personal to you, such as a dive computer, mask and snorkel etc. You also need to bear in mind that some locations may not have the same level of personal protective equipment that you are used to at home and that if you are intending to take part in potentially dangerous activities that you might want to bring safety equipment and clothing from home.

• Finally, Ellen tells us that she found a good pen and notebook to be invaluable, from filling in border crossing forms to recording your experiences like a true explorer, you will refer back to your journals in future years to be reminded of your fantastic adventures.

So there you are, some great packing tips from an experienced traveller. You really can travel as a minimalist long term.

To read the full article from Ellen you can click the link here:

What I Learned from Living out of a Duffel Bag for Five Years on Five Continents