berghaus v samsonite: should I use a rucksack or suitcase?

This all depends on what you are planning to take with you.

the Samsonite (suitcase)

If you must take heavy items (like, for example, six computer manuals and a replacement power supply), seriously consider some sort of wheeled contraption. Suitcases with stiff, centre-mounted racks are much more manageable than suitcases with "leashes". The leashed suitcases have a tendency to wobble, tip, get stuck, fall over, etc. The leash is always too short for your height, so you end up walking hunched over anyways. Leashed luggage is exceptionally ill suited for those lovely, picturesque cobbled streets that your charming little pensione with no elevator is on. A good, hard-sided suitcase with a rack can be a bit pricey - up to £180. However, consider that this is much cheaper than back surgery.

the berghaus (rucksack)

There’s a multitude of rucksacks on the market, which may range from a £20 nylon purchase from Lidl (It survived a stint round Australia) to an expensive (£200 upwards) specialist sack-of-spuds, which is so specialist that it weighs more than it’s contents. Many long-term travellers are using small internal-frame backpacks that distribute the weight to their hips. These have wide, well-padded waist belts and shoulder straps. In my opinion, choose something relative to your trip. If you’re doing a few months in the outback of Oz, then you can probably get away with a basic 60-litre option. A longer trip, which takes you to all extremes requiring you to travel on the backs of trucks and mopeds, may require something a bit more expensive. My ideal purchase was a Berghaus which you could unzip suitcase style (which meant you wouldn’t have to unpack everything to reach your toothbrush at the bottom) and also had a separate mini backpack (which you could attach when travelling and then use for day trips). Some airlines will put rucksacks in large plastic bags to help keep things from tearing off. Otherwise, make sure that anything that you have attached to the pack (sleeping bag, tent, roll) is securely fastened. You can purchase carts that can fold up and go inside the rucksack or even purchase ones that have wheels – but of course this adds to your weight. Do not pack the good china in the backpack.

what to pack

You wonder what’s in those huge backpacks that Aussies like to lug around London. Jars of vegemite? Samples of their finest cross-stitch? Their favourite pet kangaroo? Or enough clothing to outface any weather the world can throw at them? You see their dilemma: how do you pack for a safari in Botswana, hiking in the Alps and beach-bumming in Thailand, all in the space of three months and all in just sixty-five litres-worth of garish nylon rucksack? Novices pack everything they own, while well-weathered travellers make out that you need nothing but six feet of catgut, a squash-racket press and a pair of child’s plimsolls. Of course, there’s a middle way and it goes something like this: take your favourites and pick up – and later drop – anything specialised on the way.

Any bit of clothing that’s got more than one use is a winner. Trainers that are cool enough to go clubbing but tough enough for a day hike. A thermal T-shirt, if it’s the high-tech modern sort, just about doubles as a trendy top, and it’s a fraction of the size and weight of a second jumper. An anorak that packs away small is worth a dozen coats. Socks can always be worn as gloves if you get desperately cold. Crown the backpacker look with a hat, which keeps you warm in the cold and shades your face in the sun.

However well you pack, you can’t always be prepared. When you’re tramping in the Southern Alps and it suddenly snows, when the fog descends as you cycle across the Golden Gate, or when a tropical downpour catches you on a Cuban beach, there’s not a lot you can do about it. Except grin stoically and think of your co-workers back at home! Okay, clothing isn’t everything you’ll want to take. How about a short-band radio to stay in touch with the outside world as you’re trampling up those ‘inclines’ also known as the Himalayas? Then again you may want to leave all that technological garbage intended to isolate you from the very places you want to experience, such as CD-players, fancy cameras, etc.

Remember that your pack should not be full, as you will probably acquire things along the way, and you will need room for extra water and food in remote areas. There are only a few important things, as most items can be obtained overseas (except X-Large clothing). This includes guidebooks and destination information – don’t even think about buying them for all of your destinations!! Only pack information for the first few destinations, then have the rest mailed to you, or better still, buy used guides along the way. In Bangkok, Khao San Road is the famous backpacker's area, and there are lots of used travel books. You can even buy fake press cards and student ID cards, the latter being useful back in Europe. India and Nepal are also good places to purchase second hand books. You can buy and sell, or rent, cold weather-gear as you need it, so don’t pack it if you don’t have the space. As a general rule, the longer you are going the less you should take.

For a suggested list of items to consider click here.

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