On what to pack for an overland—travel light and don’t forget your toothbrush (and charger)

People often ask me what I usually take on an overland trip.

Almost two years ago, I wrote a post on what I took for the six-month jaunt from London to Sydney. We travelled across great swathes of remote Asia, so I carried more than I probably needed, just to be sure.

So now, having done road trips in Africa (twice), Asia (once), South America (twice) and Australia (lots), I realise that I can buy almost everything I need along the way, so there really is no longer the pressing need to take a three or four-month supply of things.

For our most recent South American trips, with one lasting six months, I took a 65-litre Berghaus backpack with its attached 15-litre daypack. I also took a 15-litre MacPac daypack and my camera case, which held a 600D Canon with two lenses. Poor John takes a similar size backpack and daypack, but no second daypack. So he gets to carry the camera. 🙂

Last time, my Berghaus combo weighed in at 14.5 kilos. Tucked away in it was seven packets of TimTam biscuits (1.2 kilos) for presents, a glass jar of Vegemite (500 grams plus weight of jar), a plastic tub of peanut butter (375 grams plus tub) and 6 paperback books. So my actual gear probably weighed less than 12 kilos.

It weighed 14.5 kilos when I headed home, but a lot of that was Libby’s skirt.

What to take to India

We’re heading out soon on a six-week road trip in central India, focusing on national parks and plenty of camping. We’re also spending a few days with a dear friend in Delhi, so I am taking at least one dressier outfit.

Here’s what I’ll be taking for that trip. I’ll note anything I’d do differently for a much longer trip. Tents and all meals are provided for this trip and I haven’t yet decided whether to take much/any Vegemite.

• 1 three-season sleeping bag (need a four season for more extreme temperatures)

• 1 Therm-a-Rest sleep mat—buy the best, you won’t regret it

• 1 merino sleeping bag liner for the cold (take a silk one too if it will be super hot)

• 1 travel pillow

• 1 pair rubber thongs—flip-flops, not underpants

• 1 pair runners/sneakers/whatever you call them

• 1 pair sandals or dressy flats

• 2 bras (3 for longer trips)

• 4 underpants

• 2 pairs long pants, one with zip-off legs (3 for longer trips) (no jeans because they take forever to dry)

• 2 pairs shorts (3 for longer trips)

• 2–3 sleeveless or short-sleeve merino tops

• 3–4 long-sleeve merino tops of varying weights

• 1 thermal leggings

• 1 skirt

• 1 blouse

• 1 sarong (indispensable, follow link to see why)

• 1 bathers/swimmers/swimsuit

• 1 belt (to hold up my shorts)

• 2–3 pairs sport socks

• 1 pair thermal socks (2 for longer trips)

• 1 travel towel

• 1 Goretex rain jacket with hood

• 1 travel umbrella

• 1 pair lightweight but warm gloves

• 1 lightweight but warm beanie

• 1 head torch with 1 set spare batteries

• 1 electric toothbrush, extra brush and charger (indispensable)

• 1 tube Colgate Sensitive toothpaste (this is something I take with me)

• 2-month supply of blood pressure tablets

• small selection of antibiotics, water tabs, cough lollies etc

• handful of plasters (bandaids)

• minimal toiletries (easy to buy replacements)

• 1 small notebook (easy to buy replacements)

• 1 Swiss Army knife (with scissors)

• 1 heavy-duty nail clipper

• 1 sunscreen

• 1 bug repellent

• 2–3 pens

• 1 soft-pack tissues

• 1 sewing kit (with rubber bands wrapped around it)

• 1 packet zip-lock bags

• 3 waterproof bags in various sizes

• 1 Canon 600D camera with 2 lenses, case and charger

• 1 Kindle and charger

• 2 plug adaptors (both 2-pin round)

• 1 external hard drive (for back-ups)

• mobile phone, iPod, MacAir laptop (in Hard Candy case) and chargers.

Some basics

All my merino tops are black. My shorts and pants are khaki. People probably wonder if I ever change clothes, but I swear I do every couple of days.

Obviously, with such a limited wardrobe, I need do laundry along the way, or ‘send it out’. I have to be careful because my merino clothes will shrink if run through a dryer, so I tend to do my own washing at every opportunity.

I’ve done laundry in bathroom sinks, bathtubs, showers, buckets, washtubs and in rivers. I never take any white clothes and I try to avoid buttons. Snaps are good.

When we’re in a little hotel or hostel, I always ask where the clothesline is. There’s almost always one—somewhere.

Every overland truck I’ve ever been on has had a clothesline and often a selection of clothespegs. I’ve always been able to buy laundry powder and a scrub brush en route. I think it was on the border between Mauritania and Burkina Faso that I got rid of the last of my small change by buying six small sachets of laundry soap.

Sunscreen and bug repellent are sometimes hard to find or are super expensive, so it’s worth taking a good supply. Same goes for women’s hygiene products.

On the other hand, most toiletries are for sale everywhere, so if you don’t have a brand preference, you’ll always find something appropriate. I take small bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I use large bottles at home and decant into small bottles that I buy at a hardware store. Cosmetic stores and pharmacies charge way too much for what they call ‘travel bottles’. My main must-take item is Colgate Sensitive, which is sold everywhere in Asia but almost nowhere in South America. That said, Bolivia has the cheapest toiletries in South America. Buy up big when you’re there.

My toothbrush confession

Electric toothbrushes are an anomaly. I can’t live without my electric toothbrush and I rarely have to do so.

One of mine (an Oral-B) conked out in Namibia during our 11-month overland in Africa. This was a serious setback, but I managed to buy a replacement the next day in a smallish shopping centre in South Africa. Eighteen months later that one conked out in Kazakhstan and I bought a replacement the next day in a huge market.

Last year and at Poor John’s suggestion, I upgraded to a schmick Phillips that is dual voltage and holds a charge for three weeks. I took both two bases to South America, but forgot the charger on the most recent jaunt.

The only thing that could have been worse would have been to forget my passport.

Seriously, my electric toothbrush is an important part of my life. My mother drummed the you-only-have-one-set-of-adult-teeth-in-your-life mantra permanently into my head.

So I went toothbrush hunting in Rio. I spent hours and days hunting and finally found, in a small shop in a huge shopping centre, a battery-operated one for $22 and an electric one for $140. These were the only motorised toothbrushes of any kind I found on the entire continent.

Reluctantly I bought the battery-charged one and then followed Poor John’s advice. He’s a true lateral thinker and offered a brilliant suggestion. I had two bases, each with a three-week charge for two brushings a day (or a total of 84 brushings of two minutes each). We were going to be away for 75 days (or 150 brushings), so Poor John said use the battery-operated version in the morning and the heavy-duty Phillips at night.

You know it worked. I even got back to Australia with a couple of brushings left in the Phillips.

You can bet I’ll never forget the charger again. I firmly believe you can buy most things in most places in the world. Electric toothbrushes fall outside that theory.

P.S. Remind me to tell you how I worked around losing my camera-battery charger out of the back-end of a 4W-drive vehicle as we bounced across the Sinai desert.

P.P.S. Sorry if I got side-tracked on the toothbrush. Happy to answer questions on what to take.

P.P.P.S. And if you’re feeling hungry, please check out my food blog Cooking on page 32.