After questions about what RTW itinerary is best, the next most frequently-asked questions on most message boards about long-term travel have to do with gear. If you’re on a round-the-world trip, chances are good that you’re trying to travel as minimally as possible, so bringing lots of cool gadgets isn’t practical. As great as they might be, they’ll just add to the amount of stuff you’re carrying. It makes sense, then, to be concerned about whether you’ve got the right round the world trip gear.
Perhaps the most important gear decision you can make – whether you’re on a RTW trip or any length of backpacking adventure – involves the pack you get. It’s not uncommon to feel a little bit of sticker shock when you start looking at the best travel packs out there – they’re definitely an investment. You know that saying about how you get what you pay for? In some cases it’s not true, and a bargain find can be an excellent option. But when it comes to what you’re going to carry all your belongings around in for a long period of time, the investment is worth it. Absolutely hunt down deals on the best packs if you can find a sale or have an REI dividend burning a hole in your pocket, but don’t skimp on a lesser-quality pack.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a “flashpacker” or plan on bringing lots of tech gadgets with you, you’re probably going to bring along a camera of some kind to record your trip, right? Camera gear isn’t completely at the opposite end of the spectrum from backpacks, in that you do still need to invest a little bit of money to get something that’s good quality, but you don’t have to buy huge professional-grade DSLRs to take amazing travel photos. So many of the compact point-and-shoot digital cameras are of high enough quality that they’ll take exceptional shots – so long as the photographer has a good eye!
What do you think is the most important piece of RTW travel gear you can invest in before a trip?
photo by obscure allusion