In the last two blog posts, I listed the 10 most useful and 5 least useful things I packed for my round the world trip. To finish the series, I thought I’d cover the things I didn’t pack – but wish I had. Here’s a list of 5 thing I regret not packing for my RTW trip.
For the completely list of all the things I packed, see: What Did I Pack for a Round the World Trip? – The Complete List of 106 Items
The pen might be mightier than the sword, but fly swatter beats them both when you’ve got bugs to smash.
5. A Fly Swatter
I’ve missed plenty of sleep battling flies and mosquitoes at night. Swatting the bugs with bare hands and bottles is hard, especially when those little buggers hang around in the ceiling. So yes, there have been times when I’ve really wished I had a flyswatter (or any fly-killing device, as Wikipedia frankly calls them).
However, my craving for a flyswatter is not as strong as it was. The reason? I’m discreetly transforming into a stereotypical travel hippie, so I’m consciously trying to kill less insects than I used to. If they don’t cause any trouble, neither will I.
By the time I reached India, I had learned to cover my skin.
4. Light Clothes with Long Sleeves and Legs
Before I began my trip, I booked a guided tour in Iran in the middle of summer. I knew it’d be hot and I packed accordingly, but I didn’t take the local dress code into account. As sandals and shorts that don’t cover knees aren’t allowed in many places, I had to hunt for new clothes in Eastern Europe.
Besides cultural rules, I’ve found light clothes that cover a lot of skin handy for other reasons as well. First of all, they protect you from the sun. And the second reason is the classic one: the mosquitoes. Of course.
This is how you wear them, right?
3. Convertible Zip-Off Cargo Pants
Now that I’ve bought comfy pants from India, I rarely use shorts or more traditional cotton trousers. The shorts and trousers aren’t exactly lightweight, so they feel like extra weight most of the time.
If I’d buy new trousers now, I’d buy Zip-Off cargo pants. These pants have zippers in the middle of the pant legs, so you can convert the pants into shorts by removing the lower parts. These sort of convertible pants are very popular with hikers and other backpackers, and I can see why.
There’s no such thing as too many extra bandages.
2. More Bandages
If you’ve ever read any travel guides, you know how they warn about packing too much. If you’re not sure about some item, you can just leave it out. This rule of thumb works very well most of the time. However, there are times when throwing something away can do very little good.
My most stupid packing decision? Leaving out extra bandages to save space. Yes. Bandages. Those small strips of paper and glue that weight a few grams at most. I didn’t know how many scratches and wounds I’d get on my trip, so I left out a set of bandages of different shapes and sizes.
Well, now I know. Just don’t ask for the exact number of all the scratches I’ve had, because I’ve lost count.
Top things I wish I had packed for a RTW trip? I bet you weren’t expecting this.
1. Banana Case
Oh, how I wish I had a banana case! Yes, a cheap plastic banana guard that would protect my bananas in my shoulder bag. I’ve got no idea how many bananas I’ve accidentally crushed (and forgotten) at the bottom of my shoulder bag. Way too many,that’s for sure.
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