Suggestions? Here are a few practical ones:
- get a good backpack, and travel light. Eagle Creek makes good backpacks. Rick Steves' ETBD bag is cheap but also ok. A backpack would be best since you will be going around by train, and walking around and to the hostel with your stuff. Unless you leave your stuff at the train station locker, you will be touring town with your stuff.
- don't overpack. i typically bring clothes good enough for 5-7 days, then wash at the hotel/hostel. Bring lightweight clothes that dry quickly. Jeans take more than a day to dry. Cotton shirts take long too. Check THIS out. Cabelas also has the supplex pants that zip into shorts. Supplex dries in 2 hours or less. LLBean has good pants too.
- I bring two pairs of Tilley travel socks. I prefer the ankle length version. They dry quickly overnight, are light, and wont wear out for years, so the cost is ok.
- The absolute best clothesline, with no need for clothespins. Also, get a stopper for the sink drain at a hardware store or such before you leave. Something like THIS would be more unversal, but you can also get the standard one, with chain. That is to plug up the hostel sink for when you wash your clothes.
- get a money belt or something that goes under your shirt, for your cash, passport, and important documents. Write down important phone numbers, your credit card numbers (and toll free numbers to report loss), your passport number, hotel/hostel numbers, etc. Include that inside the money belt. Also make a few copies - leave one at home with mommy, put one inside your backpack. If there is a secure url you can upload the info to, do that - you can access it from an internet cafe in case of emergency.
- look into traveller's health insurance, if your medical plan does not cover you worldwide.
- get a small combination lock, or at least cable ties, for your pack for when you leave it in the hostel. Do not lock your bag if you are checking it on the plane. I would not check it in if I were you since it would completely ruin your vacation if it got lost. Make sure you check your particular airline's carryon size and wt limits. The US carriers are liberal,but air france and british airways are stricter.
- Buy your toiletries there - shampoo, soap, shaving stuff, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. Plan to buy as you go - think of it as an opportunity to try the local brands. People in europe brush their teeth too.
- Consider buying tshirts as you go. That will save you the space and weight, and you will have some souvenirs at the same time.
- Consider bringing your oldest clothes - the ones that you will be throwing out soon. Like underwear and socks, tshirts with holes, and leave them in the hostels as you go. Less stuff to wash too.
- Bring a small flashlight for use in the hostels. I like the cheap LED ones powered by one easily available AAA battery.
- Check if your hostel provides beddings and towels. More than likely they will not. If so, bring along a lightweight set travel beddings: sheet and pillowcase, and a microfiber travel towel.
- When you eat in italy, do not sit down, the prices will be much more. Eat standing up at the bar, or take the food out with you. In the vatican, many places will not let you in if you are in shorts or sleeveless tshirt. Make sure you read up on local customs etc for each place you will be going to.
- Get THIS. Concentrate good as shampoo, body wash and to wash clothes. A 4oz bottle should be enough. Remember too that TSA will only let you bring liquids or gels as big as 4oz in quantitiy (in a one quart ziplock bag that you must put through the airport xray. You will need to take it out of your bag, but in general, airport security is not too bad these days compared to 1-2 yrs ago.
- Instead of always eating at restaurants, you will save money by buying cheese, bread, and sausages from the local stores/bakeries, esp in france. Pack a plastic plate, plastic spoon and fork (or spork), and plastic knife. Plan to buy a cheap corkscrew there for wine (you probably will not be able to get that through security).
- Bring individually packed hand wipes for after your "picnics" if you eat the bread, cheese etc in the park for instance (much better than at the hostel). Public bathrooms cost money to get into to wash your hands (bring loose change always, for this). Also, bring a small roll of toilet paper in your pack (you can buy there) since not all the public restrooms are stocked, or clean. Also, if you eat out, take the opportunity to use their bathroom (for free) before you leave.
- wrap a few feet of duct tape around your shampoo or camp suds bottle. There are infinite uses for duct tape, believe me.
- Bring a small first aid kit, with bandaids, tylenol/motrin, imodium. I also bring a small sewing kit in my toiletry bag, in case of emergency. You probably wont need to sew buttons back on (like i had to do with a coat) but a safety pin saved me when the pull tab of my pants' zipper broke off.
- If you are bringing electronics like your ipod and camera charger, make sure you have the appropriate plug adapters for the countries you are visiting.
- back to packing: Pack-mate vacuum bags are very useful. They not only cut on bulk, but also keep your dirty clothes from making your clean clothes smell. I got them at QVC for much less. Consider packing cubes too. They keep your stuff separate and easy to find, and also makes packing and unpacking easy, and you will be doing a lot of that.
- bring earplugs and the airplane eye covers for sleeping - good if the other people in the hostel room snore, talk late into the night, or keep the light on. Same for sleeping on trains. Be careful sleeping on the train - watch for thieves and pickpockets at night. Best to have your own compartment for you and your friend, and don't leave stuff hanging on the coat hook while you sleep. On the train, watch out for this guy.
- An item i have found useful is a carabiner. You can use that to secure your bagstrap to your chair while you eat, or to your beltloop when you sleep. Consider a small plastic whistle too, just in case you need to attract attention.
- Again, make sure you have lots of copies of your passport. In case all gets lost, you can have mommy mail it to you. Or else, you wont be able to fly home.
- Bring a small alarm clock if your watch does not have one. Hostels do not have wakeup calls, and you may have an early train to catch. Also, for popular tourist places like the Sistine Chapel/Vatican museum, you need to be there early (or go late, before it closes) or you will be in line for many hours. Remember, you will be there in the peak of tourist season. Also, whenever possible, get your tickets online or through a travel agent before your leave - especially the LOUVRE.
- When you get to a big city, make sure your go to the tourist office. Get free maps. Also, many of them offer 1, 2 or 3 day passes which will let you in all the museums. Same with trams, metro and buses. Otherwise, individual tickets are available at the Tabac shops.
- This is a good chance to use your small moleskine notebook! Keep a journal - if not, you may not remember the little details of your trip.
- Get a good guidebook and read when you plan your trip. Lonely Planet is good. Europe Through the Backdoor is a handy book. Lots of great little tips. Like what bus number to ride to see the sights around the Ring in Vienna. Or which tram to take to the top of the Prague Castle entrance, to bypass the tourists coming in by bus. Or that you can get tickets to the Colosseum at some other place up the hill and beside it (I forget the name, it may be the Palazzo Borghese) - or else you will be in line half the day. Also good suggestions about cheap places to eat, hostels, etc. Read the parts pertinent to your trip but do not bring the (bulky) book with you. Just photocopy or rip out the pages to bring, and leave it when you are done with that place.
- If you buy stuff and it starts to weigh you down, consider mailing a package back home midtrip. Even if you send it by the cheapest way, it will be there by the time you get home.
- Send postcards as you go.
Well, that's a lot of stuff. Damn, I should make this a blog entry.
Have fun.
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