Clothes:

• T-shirts/tops (3x)
• Shorts (2x)
• Leggings/long thin pants (for cold days, protection agains mosquitos, night time, …)
• Dresses/skirts (2x)
• Sweater/warm jacket
• Underwear & socks (for about 5 days)
• Swimwear/bikini
• Cap/sun hat (optional – I didn’t take one)
• Thin scarf/shawl/cloth (e.g. to cover up in temples, protection agains sun, to lay on the beach)
• One pair of good walking shoes (e.g. tennis shoes – I took my Nikes)
• Flipflops (e.g. „Hawaianas“ – basically wearing them every day, if the weather allows it)
  (Take some old t-shirts and pants, so you can throw them out and buy new clothes at night markets etc.)

Equipment:

• Camera
• Cell Phone
• Chargers & adapter (Skross World Adapter)
• Head light (always comes handy when you walk into your dorm room and everybody’s sleeping already and you don’t want to switch on the lights)
• Pocket knife
• Little padlock (for lockers at hostels)
• Cable tie (to lock your backpack on flights, etc.)
• Backpack: mine is from the brand “Adventuridge” (65x38x32cm; about 55l – the heaviest it ever got was 13kg) and I got it from ALDI for about 30€ and it worked out fine for my 3-month Asia trip and other shorter trips through South America. However, if you plan on travelling more often, and you’re looking for more back support, you should probably look for a better-quality and more expensive backpack.
• Sleeping bag lining (if you’re only travelling in warmer regions, a lining should be enough and it takes up less room than a whole sleeping bag)
• Little extra bag/backpack for flights/daily use/tours & trips

Wash kit & medicine:

• Wash bag with hanger (it can get a little dirty here and there and then it’s always nice to just hang up your bag)
• Travel towels (1x big, 1x small, Outdoor Trends)
• Mosquito spray (I use “Buzz”/”AntiBrumm” and they both work very well)
• Sunscreen
• Shampoo/shower gel (always put liquids in a ziplock bag! My shampoo spilled over my whole backpack once – let me tell you, it’s no fun)
• Scissors, tweezers
• Band-aids
• Medicine for: headaches, stomach aches, diarrhea, flu/fever, colds, skin infections/rashes/allergies (medicine is never as effective as the one from home)
• Cooling Bags for medication, e.g. Insulin (Frio Insulin Cooling Cases are really easy to use: just soak them in water, and the crystals inside will turn into a cooling gel that keeps the insulin cool for up to 2 weeks; after the crystals have formed again, you can simply reuse it as described above)

The important bits:

• Passport & pictures for visa
• Flight details/boarding passes
• Credit cards (a second one is useful in case the first one doesn’t work or reaches its limit)
• Emergency cash/Euros to exchange (many countries accept dollars additional to their own currency)
• Shot record
• Insurance confirmation sheet/insurance number
• Emergency information/number to put somewhere in your backpack & little bag (in case your bags get lost or something happens to you)
• Travel guide (e.g. Lonely Planet GuideBooks – really optional though, the best tips and recommendations you’ll get from other backpackers anyway)
• Sunglasses
• Tissues or toilet paper (restaurants and public restrooms often don’t have toilet paper)
• Journal & pen
• Entertainment: book, iPad, magazine, …