The gear and tech you travel with, especially on a year-long trip, can make a huge difference to your comfort and enjoyment. Here is some of the gear that I’ve found essential to me on this adventure.
Backpack
I am travelling with a hybrid backpack-wheeled luggage. It’s the Sojourn 80L by Osprey. I read many reviews of travel bags and decided to go with a wheeled pack as there was no way I wanted to carry my bag on my back. I did that when I was 19 and went to Europe on my first overseas trip up until I was 27 and spent six months in SE Asia. These days, rolling luggage is the way to go for me.
Osprey wheeled packs have two, rugged wheels that will go over just about any terrain. And you can whip out the very comfortable backpacking straps if you do need them. Honestly, I haven’t had to use them. Yet. The Sojourn is also very sturdy and strong. I wanted my pack to be able to last a year’s worth of baggage handlers throwing it on and off dozens of planes.
I’m very happy with my Osprey backpack in red (easy to spot when picking on the airport carousel). I love Osprey – they make durable, quality gear. My only (slight) regret is that maybe I should’ve gotten the 60L instead of the 80L to prevent me from overpacking.
UPDATE: After more than a year of travel, I’ve never had to use the backpack straps. And I think I would’ve gotten a 60L and packed lighter, buying supplies along the way, especially clothes and jackets for cooler climates.
Daypack
The daypack I chose was the Jansport Watchtower 28L in silver. It zips open at the top rather than down the sides. I found this preferable as it was easier to close. My daypack ended up being essential to carrying everything that couldn’t go in the backpack, like medicine (malarial tablets, prescription), contact lenses and tech gear. And of course, I also used it as a day excursion bag.
It was my carry-on luggage on flights, when I also always packed a change of clothes – when my daughter was an infant, she vomited on me on a flight from Sydney to Vancouver. Luckily, a lovely fellow mum had a spare pair of leggings to give me; the same thing had happened to her a few years back.
I like that the material of this daypack is tough and abrasion resistant. It has pockets to organise your stuff and a zipped pocket at the top to put my sunglasses in. I am very fond of this backpack and it lasted me the whole year we were away. In fact it’s still in everyday use. The only criticism I will give is that I wish it had a better harness structure, like Osprey packs, as it was uncomfortable when the pack was very heavy.
Camera
I bought the Canon G7 X Mark II especially for this trip because I wanted a point and shoot camera that I could also use in manual mode, excellent reproduction of images into large, full colour prints, and decent photos and videos for the blog. After six months of use, I feel I’ve hit the jackpot as far as cameras for travelling are concerned.
The G7X is compact for a camera with this many bells and whistles. It has a fantastic sensor, which helps in lowlight conditions and when capturing sunsets, and a good zoom, which has helped to capture these images of orang-utans in Borneo. It also allows me to capture fast-moving animals without blur. The zoom reacts super quick, too.
A great feature is also the tilt-able and flip-able LCD screen, which helps when taking selfies. You can capture full HD video with the touch of a button. The flash sits flush, so you pop it open when needed. I totally love this camera!
More gear and tech coming soon, including:
- Laptop
- Tablet
- Smartphone