What do you take when you’re away for 88 days?
All this:
In the picture are..
Duck Tape, because it’s versatile.
Hook and Loop magnets, for attaching to cruise ship cabin walls. This is something recommended to me as it lets you put up the ship’s programme for the day, hang clothes and also wrap paracord around them to create a clothes line.
Obviously my camera with a general lens, telephoto zoom and wildlife zoom, spare battery and charger.
My ‘hopefully wont get used’ spare camera with its spare battery and charger.
Two lens pens, because they’re awesome. Although also a squeezy air thingy.
My excellent power bank with its various cables. This can recharge my tablet, my phone, my kindle and my camera batteries at the same time, while also powering my travel fan.
Two travel adapters. Technically I only need one, but hey.
A USB powered travel fan. I’m going to be travelling through some properly hot territories that often don’t even have mains electricity, let alone aircon.
My tablet and (because I want backup to the power bank) its charger.
A solid titanium LED torch with a little cap that turns it into a small lamp, along with a spare solid titanium LED torch and a few spare batteries.
A small bag for clothes for my first and last nights on the cruises. Apparently you don’t get your suitcase for those nights, so I’ve emptied my dance bag and will use that.
Ten metres of purple paracord for use as a washing line and emergency rope, in case I need to randomly dangle a person from a balcony or something. It happens.
An itinerary printout and baggage labels.
A second itinerary printout, my passport, my yellow fever certificate, my International Driving Permit, spare passport photographs and travel insurance docs for my camera bag.
Ten days of clothing, including a jumper and swimwear. No towel though, sorry Douglas.
My favourite sunhat, which has already protected me in three continents.
A pair of dress shoes (for dress up nights on the cruises but also for dancing) and my offroad sandals (for beach use).
A water bottle with built in water purifier. In an emergency this will keep me healthy if I have to drink from murky rivers but I needed a water bottle anyway so it’ll do for normal use too.
My beard trimmer, shampoo, smelly, ear sticks and other items in my washbag. The wash bag has been on around sixty overnight trips away from home to around fifteen countries. It’s rather well travelled and still looks new.
A travel sewing kit that’s going on only its second ever trip (despite being older than the washbag) and a spectacles repair kit that includes baby screwdrivers and spare screws. I’m also taking my spare glasses.
Some post-it notes to put between the magnets and the cruise ship cabin walls. They’ll prevent me damaging the walls, make it easier to remove the magnets and you can always use post-it notes.
My latest toy, with over 4000 books on it and a portable hard drive that will start the journey with 40 films on it and end the journey with a back up of all the photographs I take on it.
A blue laundry bag so that I can do laundry, but also use it to keep clean clothes separate in the suitcase. But in case I can’t get to a laundrette I’m also taking a washing machine.
My small camera tripod. Normally I’d pack my normal tripod in my suitcase too but decided to go light for this one.
All of that fits neatly into my suitcase or my camera bag. The suitcase weighs under 18kg and the camera bag is easy to lift with one hand. Of course, there’s also a jacket, coat, phone and the usual stuff I carry around with me, including 7 multi-tools. Maybe I’ll photograph those tomorrow before I leave.