Berlin: preparations

Only one week from now, I am going to start my sabbatical traveling the world for the next 6 months. I am a bit nervous but also excited.

Most of the organisational stuff is already out of the way (thank god, it is done. The past weeks have been really stressful) and now I can focus on seeing some friends for the last time this year and packing my stuff. As you probably know from my past, I did already some backpacking.

Nevertheless, I always felt that some things (I really needed) were missing and other things (although I thought they would be vital for my journey) I didn't use at all. Hence, I am reading blog entries like this one to come up with a good list of items to take with me: https://stingynomads.com/backpacking-checklist/

This is my backpacking checklist …

EDIT: after I have returned home, I updated the list with hints on what I could have left at home respectively, what I should have brought instead

the essentials:
- 6 pairs of underwear
- 8 t-shirts, half of them made from breathable fabrics that can also dry fast (I bought 2 more t-shirts along the way)
- 1 shirt
- 6 shorts, 2 normal ones / 2 for hiking / 2 for swimming
- 3 long trousers, 1 for normal use / 1 for hiking / 1 sweatpants
- 2 towels, 1 for laying down at the beach / 1 microfiber towel to dry off
- 1 toilet bag
- 1 travel medicine pack incl. malaria prevention etc.
- 1 pair of flip flops
- 1 pair of hiking boots

the stuff to keep me warm or dry (e. g. during Winter in Japan):
- 1 hoodie
- 1 pair of thermal underwear
- 2 jackets, 1 wind-proof / 1 water-repellent (I could have left the wind-proof jacket at home since I never used it in the whole trip)
- 1 rain-poncho
- 1 thin hat, thin gloves and 1 tube scarf

the tech stuff:
- 1 iPad and small keyboard
- 1 GoPro incl. waterproof case for snorkelling in Indonesia/Latin America
- 1 SLR camera incl. tele lens for safari in Africa (I forgot the charging cable and a means to transfer the photos to my iPhone or iPad which was really a huge mistake)
- 1 Powerbank
- 1 Bluetooth speaker
- 1 FireTV Stick (I should have left this at home since I never used it)
- 1 electrical toothbrush (I used it in the beginning, but in some countries I could not recharge it - so it was quite useless in the majority of time / I should have left it at home)

misc:
- 1 head lamp (never used it because I had the flash light already)
- 1 flashlight
- 1 lighter
- 2 padlocks (one would have been enough)
- 1 dry bag
- 2 storage bags (I wished I had more of them to organise the content of my backpack better)
- 5 zip bags, 2 medium / 3 small size (I didn’t really use them)
- 1 organizer with adapter, USB cables, chargers, …
- 2 money belts and a spare wallet (I didn’t really use the spare wallet and I gave one of my money belts away to another traveller)
- 1 summer hat
- 1 laundry line and 6 clothespins (absolutely should have been left at home - I never used it)Read more