Don't make the same mistakes I did

Remember when you could hop on a bus or catch a flight to almost any destination in the world? Yeah, me too. It was great. 2020 has been the year of realisation that we probably took our freedoms for granted, as they can be torn away in a flash of fear and quiet dictatorship.

As a result I have been actively avoiding anything travel related to prevent overwhelming feelings of despair, cabin fever, dare I even say it - “wanderlust”.

Even so, I regularly find myself absentmindedly trawling through photos and archives from the wonder days (aka, my brief backpacking stint), hoping that one day I can don my rucksack again.

Except next time I would do things a little differently.

Below you will find a brutally honest, somewhat painful retrospective list of the genuine mistakes I made as a “beginner backpacker.” I spent many nights tossing and turning wishing I’d better prepared myself, or in some cases, underprepared.

(Disclaimer: this is my experience in South East Asia and Indonesia, typically considered a gateway backpackers experience. Obviously if you are jungle trekking this advice probably won’t apply).

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DO

Buy Packing Cubes

Packing cubes: a feat of human engineering that enables the user to organise their belongings according to type, size, shape, weight. Naturally, I assumed they were just another money-making commodity thanks to incessant recommendations from Amazon. In a bid to outsmart the system (and save a few pennies) I opted instead for a single bin liner to hold my clothes. I am an organised person, I thought. I’m not buying into that.

I was wrong.

Having multiple small bags to organise all my things is obviously a really smart idea. Every time I needed a new pair of socks or a top I would have to haul out the entire bin liner, empty the contents and rummage around, before stuffing it back in. Eventually the bloody thing ripped and I couldn’t find packing cubes anywhere. It was a nightmare, and I looked upon my friends’ neatly packed rucksacks green with envy.

Pack your own face or body wash

You’ll be hard-pressed to find any body wash or face wash that isn’t riddled with some form of bleaching agent. “Whitening” agents can be found in almost every skincare product.

I was shocked to find how many major skincare brands still perpetuate the idea of “whiteness” as a standard of beauty (surely we’re challenging the white aesthetics ideology now?) despite the damaging physical and psychological effects.

Bring your own wash. They are awful for your skin, and also don’t help if you are pale like me.

Avoid your own Nationality

While I met and befriended some great British people along the way (including my partner) you should mix with as many different nationalities as possible. Coming from a small, predominantly White middle-class town (and a similar University), it was truly a breath of fresh air.

You share stories. You learn cultural perspectives. All the usual stuff. You unite under a common purpose, that we’re all there to just piss about and enjoy ourselves.

But more importantly, I can’t tell you how disheartening it was to move into a 32 bed dorm that is stormed down by 15 English lads screaming another rendition of ‘Kola/Yaya Toure’ when you have a 3AM tour of Angkor Wat. Does that define my culture? I hope not.

DO NOT

Buy moisture-wicking underwear

I soon learned that one of the worst things you can do is research “what to wear when backpacking”. Firstly, you will be inundated with articles about how linen cargo trousers, knee-length cargo shorts and moisture-wicking pants are travel must-haves. No.

Such items of clothing are more commonly associated with the “Make-sure-you-try-everything-once!” traveller - carries a compass, wears sensible shoes, centrist politics, and absolutely loves guided tours.

Instead you will find that almost everyone is dressed like they would be at home. I made the mistake of packing nothing appropriate for a bar or a nice restaurant, and was mercilessly mocked for wearing my old school hoodie on a cruise around Ha Long Bay. Pack plenty and ideally travel with mates you can share clothes with.

Buy or wear Elephant Pants

While I was sifting through articles on what to expect in SEA, I came across some helpful advice on avoiding a backpacking cliché. Unless you want a huge sign over your head declaring “I am a tourist, carrying lots and lots of cash hidden in a secret money pouch” then don’t wear printed elephant pants. I’d rather have the linen cargo trousers, thanks.

Bring water purification tablets

For some reason I thought that having access to clean drinking water was going to be a real problem, so I armed myself to the teeth with water purification tablets.

I can promise you these still lie unopened and gathering dust in the bottom of my rucksack. Pretty much one in every two pieces of litter in SEA is a plastic water bottle, so unless you’re venturing deep into the Vietnamese jungle for a considerable length of time, leave that valuable room for something more important.

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So there you have it, my advice on how to avoid a few easy and simple backpacking mistakes (or maybe I was just incredibly naïve). If you’ve made it this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it.

Last week a friend gave me some inspiration to write a list of stuff I have seen, read, made or watched. Kind of like a diary entry, it will hopefully be nice to look back on.

10 Things I Absorbed This Week

1. A podcast with Charlie Brooker on the film Airplane! Charlie joins the Rule of Three podcast (guys who wrote Touch of Cloth) to discuss the comedic genius of Airplane - very funny and had me laughing hard.

2. Twining's Cranberry and Pomegranate tea. I love fruit teas and I’m making the effort to try all the different flavours

3. There Will be Blood. Daniel Day-Lewis plays an old-fashioned oil tycoon, and he does so brilliantly. A poignant film and harsh reminder of the repercussions of oil mining.

4. A phone call with two best friends from home. It’s easy to forget that I have a life outside of my apartment, and it was the nicest feeling to catch up with my oldest friends. Love u.

5. An episode of Gordan, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip around America. I watched them travel down into Mexico to eat the best voted breakfast in the world. Gino is hilariously Italian along the way.

6. Fleet Foxes new album ‘Shore’. Another beautifully crafted album that lulls you into a dream-like state of serenity from gentle lyrics and a cacophony of wonderful sounds (you can tell I don’t write music reviews. I just love it).

7. Finished my 800g jar of Peanut Butter. Keep telling myself it’s a healthy addiction but I’m munching my way through a scary amount every week.

8. Finally completed a 1500 piece puzzle. I’m a puzzle freak usually around Christmas but lockdown brought this on early, and this one has admittedly taken a while.

9. The Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. I’ve got a lot of thoughts on this, as most people probably do. May do a blog post so watch this space.

10. A very nice bottle of Penfolds wine.