How to look good… whilst backpacking

By admin on July 6, 2010

You’ve set a date for departure and your flights are booked, and now the decision of what to pack into your rucksack becomes your main focus.

Travelsupermarket.com recently conducted some research into what celebrities men and women would most trust to do their packing. For men the top pick was Daniel Craig and for women the top pick was Gok Wan, and unsurprisingly nearly a third of Brits voted Katie Price as the person they would least trust to do the packing.

Gok Wan and Daniel Craig are very stylish and no nonsense, whilst Katie Price is known for travelling with a mountain of luggage, no doubt containing a pick of several outfits per day! Katie Price backpacking? Never going to happen, not without a 10 man crew behind the camera anyway.

This research is a bit of fun, but there is an important take away here: Less is more. Whether you are going for a month or a year, there is no difference in the things you need take. A fortnight in Europe is easily done with a 25 litre rucksack, and by packing sensibly there is no reason you couldn’t do a longer solo backpacking trip anywhere in the world with a 40 litre rucksack. Whether it’s a month or 18 months would make no difference. A 40 litre rucksack isn’t too cumbersome to carry around, and you won’t find yourself digging out unused items and paying to ship them home half way through your trip.

Top packing tips from travelsupermarket.com:

· Make a check-list of your items, and don’t forget about liquid restrictions and banned items such as razors, scissors and knives. Toe nail scissors and Mach 3’s are lethal weapons.

· Plan your holiday wardrobe in advance – think about the climate and what you’re likely to be doing and then lay everything out and before throwing it in the bag ask yourself whether you really need it; Gok Wan is the king of the capsule wardrobe which is all about having items you can mix and match. Will you really wear those smart shoes and tailored shirt?

· Consider taking lots of thinner layers so you can wear several at once if it gets cooler or easily shed layers when it warms up – this saves valuable space and weight

· Where possible put heavy items at the bottom of your bag so they don’t make everything else creased.

So how big and how heavy can your bag be before you get charged extra?

Hand luggage allowances

Rank	Airline	Hand luggage weight allowance	Hand Baggage size	Volume cm squared
=1	easyJet	No limit but must be able to lift into the overhead locker unaided.	56cm x 45cm x 25cm	63000
=1	British Airways	No limit but must be able to lift into the overhead locker unaided. Pax may take one bag plus either a handbag or a laptop bag	56cm x 45cm x 25cm	63000
3	bmi	No limit but must be able to lift into the overhead locker unaided. Pax may take one bag plus either a handbag or a laptop bag	55cm x 40cm x 23cm	50600
=4	Aer Lingus	10kg	56cm x 45cm x 25cm	63000
=4	Ryanair	10 kg in one bag	56cm x 45cm x 25cm	63000
=4	Jet2	10 kg in one bag	56cm x 45cm x 25cm	63000
7	Monarch	10 kg	56cm x 45cm x 25cm	56000
8	bmibaby	10 kg	55cm x 40cm x 20cm	44000
9	Flybe	10 kg	50cm x 35cm x 23cm	40250
10	Virgin Atlantic	One piece up to 6kg plus a handbag	56cm x 36cm x 23cm	46368
11	Thomson (Flight Only)	5 kg	55cm x 40cm x 20cm	44000
12	Thomas Cook (Flight only)	5 kg	43cm x 28cm x 23cm	27692

Hold luggage allowances

Rank	Airline	Economy Bag Allowance 1 bag	Cost of 1 bag Pre-booked	Max Number of Hold Bags allowed	Pooling of Hold Bag Allowance allowed?
=1	British Airways	23kg	FREE	Varies by route – minimum is one bag. Maximum is 5 – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	No
=1	Virgin Atlantic	23kg	FREE	Varies by route – minimum is one bag. Maximum is 5 – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	No
3	BMI	20kg	FREE	Unlimited – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	No
4	Jet 2	22kg	from £7.99 to £15.99 one way – varies by route	Up to 3 per passenger – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	No
5	Thomson	20kg	from £8 to £15 one way – varies by route	5 per passenger – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	Yes
6	Flybe	20kg	£8.99 one way	Up to 3 per passenger – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	No
7	easyJet	20kg	£9 one way	Up to 8 per passenger – different charges apply for 2ns and extra bags	No
8	Monarch	20kg	£9.99 to £15.99 one way varies by route	Up to 5 per passenger – different charges apply for 2^nd and extra bags	Yes
9	Aer Lingus	20kg	£10 or £12 each way	3 bas up to the 20kg limit	No
10	Thomas Cook	20kg	Short haul £10 one way Long haul £17.50 one way	1 per passenger	No
11	BMI baby	18kg	from £12.99 to £14.99 one way – varies by route	Up to 5 per passenger for the 18kg weight limit	Yes (up to 18kg per person)
12	Ryanair	15kg	£15 one way (apart from July and August 2010 – £20 one way) N.B.You can also book a bag to weigh up to 20kg – cost £25 one way – £30 July – August	Up to 2 per passenger. 2^nd bag costs more	No