Backpacking during a world trip

An open-ended question :-)

I suggest you read through a lot of trip reports and gear lists here, and form your own opinions, to suit you.

My wife and i have done quite a few 2-month long walking trips in Europe, and we kept our pack weights down. But we carried almost no change of clothing. That’s fine for the mountains, but might be a problem in the cities.

Cheers

I don’t know how many nights you would plan on spending in the BA FC UL2 but as the owner of one, I don’t consider it to be a 2 person tent unless you really like to snuggle. Being as you’re a couple, this may be fine for you, but just be aware. You might find the UL3 to be more of a 2-person tent in reality.

The BPL article series “The Global Test” by Kristen Tennesen and Danny Milks (subscription required) would seem to be the ideal place to start.

Off the top of my head, I’d consider a cuben shelter to minimize weight, possible a single walled version that opens wide and closes down tight for storms, with something like a 2 person Sea to Summit Nano net for bug protection. Look at MLD, Zpacks, Yama Gear etc.

A combined sleep/clothing system is essential – lightweight merino or synthetic shirts and leggings that you know you’ll wear anyway, and light down jackets/pullovers. The latter are fantastic for cold weather sleep layers, enabling you to carry a much lighter sleeping bag or quilt than you would have done without the jacket.

On sleeping bags/quilts – go light. When camping with my partner, we use bags or quilts that zip together, which again keeps us warm and helps us keep our gear minimal. If it’s hot we just leave our bags/quilts open. It’s very flexible.

Depending on your budget, a lot of basic things can be picked up along the way.

Christine( THE GERMAN TOURIST ) has a nice website she has hiked and traveled all over the world and occasionally posts here

Some ideas that might help you:

1.  I’d take a pair of UL Thermal Underwear tops and bottoms, so that you can wash those frequently rather than your sleeping bag (much easier to wash than your sleeping bag).  The Long Johns will keep your sleeping bag cleaner for a longer amount of time.
2. As Dena said, The Big Agnes FC UL2, won’t work that well, especially with a tall guy like you.  I’m 6’2″ and the tent is even too short for me.  However, the FC UL3 should be long enough, but of course, check it out for yourself.

Here is a LINK to general info I give to new members, it is mainly for backpacking but it might have more general, useful information for you

Stoy – It can be quite easy to incorporate camping gear and clothing into your setup and keep the weights down. My wife and I traveled for two years, from the Russian arctic to Tierra del Fuego, up to 5-6,000 meter elevations in the Andes. I would suggest:

• TarpTent Double Rainbow, at only 2.5 pounds, but with two doors and two vestibules it is very roomy and comfortable for a couple. This might not be waterproof enough for NZ, but like you said, there are huts there so you can take advantage of that. I think the Double Rainbow is the best all around tent, and it’s not crazy expensive like cuben fiber.
• Inflatable air mattresses. Foam mats are cheaper and lighter, but the air pad packs down very small (and can be more comfortable). Make sure you get an insulated pad. Klymit makes some very reasonably priced mats, and then Big Agnes is probably next cheapest. Thermarest NeoAir is the lightest (but also most expensive and lightest).
• I would suggest sharing a down quilt since you’re a couple, but I wonder if the dramatic height different would make that more challenging. Maybe someone else can weigh in on this? If you can share a quilt, this is by the far the best way to stay warm at night.
• Get a good 1-2 oz canister stove and a small titanium pot (.9-1.5 L). We actually used the pot quite frequently when cooking in hostels because it was clean and available. Bring two folding bowls, two sporks, and a small knife / swiss army knife.
• For clothing, there are a lot of travel pants, rain shells, merino shirts and down jackets that look good enough for city use and perform well enough for backpacking. Like Roger, we too didn’t bring extra clothing, but we made sure what we had would work for both worlds. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best compromise.
• Don’t go crazy with non-essentials. Keep the electronics, toiletries, books, and creature comforts to a minimum. Avoid buying souvenirs, or if you must have them, collect them at once and then ship them home.

Another advantage to Klymit mats is that (in my experience) they are quick and easy to deflate – check out the Klymit video which shows a quick preliminary rough roll, before proper rolling up – the technique works really well. Buy them thru MassDrop – they are regularly listed.

You might consider a Cuben pyramid tarp, they are very weight efficient and secure in high or blustery wind, and by varying how closely you pitch them to the ground, and opening one or both door flaps, they offer some flexibility; they are also great for psychological centering, which personally I consider very important for global travel. I love my Khufu, but that size is too small for two. Use a DPTE (Locus Gear) to get the pole supports out of the interior space. That or a good dome, but domes weigh more. But if a pyramid, you might want a mesh inner as well, to confine gear within, and keep the undesired ants/spiders/cockroaches/rats/dogs/budgerigars out…

I’d check out a titanium combined fuel stove – wood/Esbit/alcohol, Vargo hex or possibly firebox (?), or Emberlit (my favorite), together with a very compact and light gas burner (from AliExpress). You ought to be able to get burning alcohol from pharmacies in more remote areas without difficulty, e.g. rural Japan. I also like the Evernew polythene (?) water “bottles”/containers, that fold up when not needed.

How exciting! I am so jealous!

shoes: one pair lightweight trail running, one pair lightweight water friendly. I had merrells, Danny had flip flops or crocs.

Double rainbow: only downside is that it is not free standing. Only had difficulties when setting it up indoors (once). Definitely seam seal.

Sleeping: share a quilt. It is so much warmer and so much for weight- and space- efficient.

Underwear: lightweight wool. Dry super fast- heck can even wear a little damp and they will dry. Way more breathable than any other fabric. When you take a shower at night, hand wash your underwear! It dries overnight.

Fuel: we couldn’t find alcohol a lot of places because of the risk of alcohol consumption abuse.  Esbit smells disgusting and takes forever to boil water. Fuel canisters are easy to find everywhere. And a lot of people leave their partially full canister at hostels.

I wore a sports bra and tucked my money/cards in it under my armpit.

have fun! Can’t wait to hear more!

“ESBIT smells disgusting…” (OK, it smells fishy when in storage so keep it in a foil lined coffee bag.)

“…and it takes forever to boil water.” (ESBIT is actually a bit hotter than alcohol and if you use a Brian Green Blog tablet holder you almost double its burn time.)

As you can see from the above I’d far rather use ESBIT than alcohol. I can get carry more days of fuel for less weight than alky and boil at least as fast. I’ll deal with the messy pot bottom for those advantages.

BTW, I use a Trail Designs Sidewinder stove which is 3 fuel capable (Alky, ESBIT and wood) so you always have a fuel option. It’s made of titanium and is very light and stows small (in its own pot). Other than using a heavier multi fuel stove (and heavier fuel), like the MSR Whisperlite Universal, the Sidewinder is the most versatile.

Wow, thank you all for the responses! It’s very good to hear that others have done city/wilderness trips with success, this was a big sticking point in our planning originally. I will be going through the linked articles and accumulating knowledge as fast as I can. Thank you for the advice on underlayers – I had not considered that they would double as sleeping gear, though it seems obvious now that I’ve heard it.

As a starting point I will look at quilts and maybe an extra wide mat instead of two mats. I will likely be keeping my legs on various pieces of gear rather than try to get a mat that’s long enough.

Thank you Danny for the tip on using the pot/stove in hostels, I had not considered that at all! This makes it much more likely that we will bring a small set of cooking gear. In my mind I had planned on sandwiches and dried foods – not the most comforting on the trail, but as light as can be.

I am certain I will have more questions as I read on, and I’ll be sure to post updates on the gear list as it comes together.