By this point in my travels I think I’ve tried it all when it comes to carrying around my money and credit cards while on the road.

Sitting here right now I can only chuckle and shake my head as I recall my inexperienced and frightened traveling self carrying around a money belt during my first trip abroad. That money-carrying option lasted only six months, until I realized that my money belt actually made my life more complicated. I happily discarded it one day while in the town of Mae Sariang in Thailand.

With the money-belt gone, I immediately switched back to the standard method of money-carrying – the wallet. And over the following two years I went through a variety of wallets, mostly cheap ones found in local markets around the world, in an attempt to find one that fit my needs perfectly. Of course, this mission was never successful, although, I still preferred any old wallet over a money belt. But the wallet was bulky, especially when keeping it in my side pocket in the hopes of deterring pickpocketing folk in some of the countries I visited.

Anyway, I certainly didn’t quit my search for a better option.

A SIMPLER METHOD

While working on board a cruise ship in Hawaii, a fellow crew member and good friend of mine once told me that he had faced a similar money-carrying issue as myself. His solution was remarkably simple – a rubber band. I loved the idea and immediately ditched my wallet. My bulky pockets vanished and my money and credit cards never got in the way of my movements. Unfortunately, this only lasted for 2 days, at which time the rubber band broke.

Luckily, all I needed to do was find another rubber band. And even though they broke on a somewhat regular basis, I stuck with this method of money-carrying for just over one year. I eventually gave it up after spending an unsuccessful 2.5 hours searching for a new rubber band one day while in Montego Bay, Jamaica, with my cash and credit cards bouncing around like wild, misbehaving children inside of my shorts pocket.

By the end of those 2.5 hours, I simply wanted nothing to do with rubber bands and so I made the bold decision to abandon all types of money-carrying equipment, to rebel against every method that had ever failed me. Now, when Earl the Rebel would go out, he would just grab his pile of cash and credit cards, chuck it into his pocket, any pocket, and proudly flaunt the chaos and disorganization that resulted.

For two years I carried on in this manner.

UPGRADING TO A HIGH-TECH SYSTEM

It was not until I was backpacking through the Hindu Kush mountains of Pakistan that I started to question the usefulness of my ‘pile of chaos’ method. After all, I was about to cross the border into Afghanistan and certainly such a trip warranted a money-carrying system far more secure than any I’d ever tried before. So a few days before making the overland journey to Kabul, I bought a tough velcro wallet, two rubber bands AND a small chain in the ‘thieves market’ in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

This high-tech wallet system did prove useful in Afghanistan. My cash and cards remained secure at all times as everything was in one bundle, attached to my belt with that chain, allowing me to quickly and safely pull out money while standing on a street corner buying a bag of raisins.

However, the problem occurred when I flew to Delhi a few weeks later, where I decided not to use the chain any more. And on my very first night, someone pick-pocketed my wallet as I walked through a market.

With wallet gone (along with several hundred dollars in cash and all of my credit cards), I didn’t know what to do. So I bought a cup of tea from a street vendor using the change I found in my other pocket. And then I drank that cup of tea.

And as I sipped away I noticed a man buying a hand towel from a street stall next to me. When it came time to pay for his towel, this man pulled from his pocket something that I knew existed, but had never thought to use myself. The answer to all of my problems shone brightly in my face in the form of a well-polished, silver money clip.

THE MONEY CLIP

My first money clip – a narrow, thin, yet sturdy, clip – was purchased in a shop in the town of Savannah, Georgia the day after returning from India. And from the moment I inserted my money and credit cards into this clip, I knew that my long search for the ideal money-carrying system was closer to an end than ever before.

This clip had just enough flexibility in its curve to effortlessly handle both a small pile of cash as well as a large stash of bills and credit cards and so, together we went across the world, this money clip and I, visiting places such as Hungary and Croatia, Argentina and Uruguay, Myanmar and Thailand and Egypt and Jordan.

For 3 years we traveled the globe, during which time we were inseparable, with my long-dreamed-of goal of keeping my money well-protected and organized at all times finally having been achieved.

It was not until 2009 that our bond came to an end. We were at the beach on the island of St. Thomas and as I added a five-dollar bill into my money clip after paying for a Corona, the clip just snapped, too weak from years of dedicated service to carry on any further. Heartbroken, yet thankful for the time we had spent together, I had no choice but to lay that money clip to rest in the white sands of Emerald Beach, leaving it free to relax to the soothing sounds of the gentle waves forever.

THE PRESENT DAY

I have a new money clip now, but it’s not nearly as reliable as my old one. This one often refuses to hold my money tight if I only have a few dollars to hold and sometimes I’ll reach into my pocket and discover that my credit cards are sticking in every possible direction. With that said, we somehow manage, and I still find that a money clip is the most useful method of carrying money while traveling around the world.

But the reason I’m writing this post is because sometimes, the challenges of my current money clip become too much to handle. Today is a good example. While trying to pay for a half dozen bagels at the supermarket this morning, I pulled out my money clip and found that it had failed me yet again, leaving my cash and credit cards and driver’s license all tangled up in one giant mess. Money soon fell to the floor, credit cards were scattered on the counter and I stood there helpless, never before having felt so unorganized in all my life.

The young woman at the cash register looked straight into my eyes at one point and tried to comfort me with her smile. She then shook her head ever so slightly, as if to provide an answer to the question bouncing around my head at that very moment.

That question was…“What is the point of using a money clip if that clip doesn’t actually clip anything together?”

Never did I think that I would actually write a post about how I pack for my travels. It’s not that I have anything against such posts (in fact, I always read them all with great curiosity!), I just never felt that my packing style could be of any interest or value to anyone else. It’s really nothing exciting. I normally just take my pile of possessions, stuff them into my trusty Kelty Redwing 2900 backpack that I’ve been using for the past 11 years and be on my merry way.

However, while sorting out my current pile of possessions this morning, I had what could only be described as a brilliant revelation, although now that some time has passed, I guess it was really just an interesting thought. Regardless of it’s classification, this idea has set me off on a mission that I have now become obsessed with.

My goal is to travel to the Middle East with less stuff, and carrying less weight, than I’ve ever carried before at any time during the past 11 years.

What does this mean?

Well, typically my backpack weighs about 13 kg (28.5 lbs) when fully packed for a trip, but this time, I’m aiming for no more than 8 kg (17.5 lbs). I’ve even gone back and forth toying with the idea of abandoning my Kelty Redwing backpack altogether and only traveling with my tiny REI Flashpack instead.

To travel with only a daypack would be a dream! But at the same time, I’m not so sure I really need to go to that extreme.

All I know is that when it comes to packing, the less weight I pack, the easier it is to travel. There’s a huge difference between hopping from bus to bus, from guesthouse to guesthouse and from town to town with 17 lbs on your back as opposed to 50 lbs worth of stuff crammed into a backpack the size of a larger-than-normal hippopotamus, such as the hippopotamus that keeps popping up in my dreams as of late for some strange reason.

And so right now I’m about to see if I can make it all happen. It’s going to take some effort but I’m feeling quite confident that I’ll be able to reduce the weight I carry and reach my goal.

Below is the pile of stuff that I’m about to tackle…

UPDATE!

Well, forty-five minutes have now passed and in the end, after a most painful process of saying goodbye to many items I had previously not planned on saying goodbye to, I managed to end up with this….

Yes! Weighing in at 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs), my Kelty Redwing is the lightest it has ever been and it’s practically half empty! I just wore the packed backpack around the apartment for a few minutes and I barely even noticed it. This is going to be pretty sweet!

And in case you were wondering exactly what a permanent nomad takes with him on an open-ended trip, here’s my list:

(Keep in mind that I will be wearing some of the clothes each day, so what’s listed below is more than what I had in my backpack photos above.)

CLOTHES:

3 shirts
1 pair of pants
1 pair of shorts
1 pair of hiking/athletic shoes
1 pair of sandals
3 pairs of socks
2 pairs of Ex-Officio boxers
1 North Face jumper

ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT:

Acer Aspire Timeline 1810 (the 11.6 inch laptop that I love!)
Panasonic Lumix FZ-38 Camera
Blackberry (which is not in the photo because I can’t find it!)
Chargers for laptop, camera and phone
Plug adapter

MISCELLANEOUS:

1 book (“How Proust Can Change Your Life”)
1 pair of sunglasses
1 “Tek Towel” travel towel (20 x 40 in.)
2 boxes of extra contact lenses
1 bottle of contact lens solution
1 sarong
1 box of Nag Champa incense (will buy in NYC tomorrow)
Basic toiletry items

So there it is. I’m about to embark on a trip that could keep me away from the US for a year or more, and a total of approximately 30 items, weighing a reasonable 16.5 lbs, is all that I need. And even that amount is starting to sound like too much! Perhaps I’ll reduce the weight some more before I leave on Monday.

As always, I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Do you think I’m still taking too much? Or perhaps not enough? How do you pack for your trips?

At the moment, I have the above Canon PowerShot S5 IS and I’ve generally been a big fan of this camera over the 2.5 years that I’ve owned it. However, it’s once near-perfect photo quality has started to show some blurriness, the rotating LCD screen keeps on shutting off and the larger-than-compact size is quite awkward to use, making it nearly impossible to take quick photos.

I once believed that the larger the camera, the better and so I opted for this Canon assuming that I would one day move up to an actual DSLR. However, I’ve now realized that I don’t want a DSLR and I have no interest in carrying around larger pieces of equipment. And since all of the features on my current camera (plus much, much more) can now be found in a smaller, more compact camera, that seems like the best route for me to take.

I’ve already done a good amount of research and of course, my perfect camera simply doesn’t exist. With that said, the leading candidate seems to be the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7, a camera that seems to offer very strong performance and quality – not necessarily excellent quality, but much better than average – while offering the features I find most important.

Apart from being able to take high-quality photos, two must-haves for me are a longer-than-average zoom (at least 10x optical zoom) and the capability to capture excellent HD videos. Ever since the night I met the Taliban, when I didn’t have a video-capable camera with me, I’ve vowed to always have one by my side in case such a thing were to ever happen again.

I’ve thought about buying both a compact camera just for photos and one of those small hand-held video-cameras. But if I could squeeze all of my needs into one, then I’d certainly prefer that over carrying around (and worrying about) two separate devices.

So I’d love to hear any recommendations you may have and any help would be much appreciated!

Is there anything I’m forgetting to think about when it comes to finding the ‘perfect’ travel camera? Do you have a favorite camera that might be exactly what I’m looking for?

Have you been to an REI store lately? (For those who might not be familiar with REI, it is a large chain of outdoor recreation/sporting goods stores located throughout the US.)

Well, I went yesterday for the first time in about three years and I must say that I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The store was filled with an endless variety of very cool gadgets and travel accessories, all of which cause travelers, such as myself, to wander around wide-eyed while trying to fend off the temptation to put everything we see into our shopping basket.

Luckily, however, I am now skilled in the art of restraint, so by the time I walked out of the store some 45 minutes after I had arrived, I had spent a total of $0 dollars.

But that’s not to say that I didn’t spend the entire visit seriously contemplating the purchase of an Osprey Flapjack Laptop Pack, a portable shower, collapsible water bottle, self-inflating travel pillow, citronella wilderness soap, floating camera strap and a full towel that folds into the size of a credit card.

There were many moments during my visit when I simply wanted it all (yes, even the backpack waterproofing spray!) and at one point I even convinced myself that spending several hundred dollars was a most necessary investment.

But in the end, and I believe this has something to do with the fact that I’ve now traveled for so long without any of these things, I found myself asking the same question over and over again: Do I really need this?

I’ve always traveled with a small backpack and only a handful of belongings and have never needed anything more than that. So it was natural for me to question whether or not a travel hammock with mosquito net would really make my life any easier.

While I’m certain that some of REI’s products would be neat and fun to use, I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase anything in the end. I’d personally prefer to keep the $100, $200 or $500 that I could easily spend in an REI store and use it to extend my adventures for another month or two.

But that’s just me. And so now I must ask… What am I missing out on? I’m curious as to what REI (or similar) travel products you recommend and your thoughts on how they improve your travel experiences.

As a side note: I don’t want this post to be viewed as a negative review of REI. They are a wonderful organization that is run as a consumer-cooperative and it is always ranked as one of the best companies to work for in the US. If you are going to purchase any travel-related products, a visit to REI would be a must.

Moments later I walked out of the store carrying my new friend, a Kelty Redwing 2900. At the time, my only hope was that the backpack would survive a few months of traveling around Asia. I expected nothing more than that.

Grayish in color with a bold black trim, my Kelty Redwing 2900 has more than proven itself over the years. At the time I bought it, I had absolutely no way of knowing how dependable, practical, fearless, faithful and wise this backpack truly was. And now I simply refuse to go anywhere without it.

Since that first day, we have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles. We have journeyed together by plane, bus, train, jeep, camel, elephant, taxi, tuk-tuk, rickshaw, bicycle, motorcycle, metro, helicopter and a variety of different ocean-going vessels to almost 60 countries.  From Australia to Afghanistan, Croatia to Chile, Jamaica to Jordan, our strong bond has held firm through every challenge and every obstacle we’ve faced.

I remember when we were both kidnapped late one night by a gang of taxi drivers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was Redwing who actually saved us. Here’s what happened. While we sat locked up in a crumbling, cockroach-infested room in the slums of Dhaka, I refused to sleep as my mind raced back and forth, trying to come to terms with the situation. But when I looked to Redwing for advice, he just sat there on the floor in silence. At first I was frustrated by his response but before long, I understood the complexity of his message. So I concentrated on quieting my mind as well, a tactic that did in fact help me fall asleep and get some much needed rest.

And I believe that it was this rest that kept my mind sharp enough to take advantage of the first opportunity we had to escape two days later.

After we did escape, I decided never to travel without Redwing by my side.

And this past May, after my backpack suffered two violent knife slashes at the hands of an Austrian customs official, it still refused to quit traveling. (As a side note: I am offering a $500 reward to anyone who can bring me the official that attacked my backpack. It happened on May 25^th, 2009 in the Vienna airport.)

In fact, this backpack is by my side this very moment right here in Mexico after surviving our recent travels through Central America.

I now wish to raise my glass for a toast to Mr. Kelty Redwing 2900, a travel companion, protector, guru and friend. As long as he is willing to accompany me on these adventures, into no other backpack shall I pack my possessions.