Tech and Gear for Long-Term Travel in Cities
Exploring the small city of Sonderborg on the island of Als, Denmark. Photo by Alison Travis
I discovered a new term that describes our travel style: flashpacking. It’s basically grown-up backpacking. A backpacker is traditionally younger, has a shoestring budget, and stays in hostels. Picture hauling giant packs through Southeast Asia in cargo pants and washing quick-dry underwear in the sink. On the other hand, a flashpacker has the same explorer spirit, but is typically in their 30s or 40s and slightly less frugal. Many are former backpackers now balancing adventure with comfort. They may prefer to stay in AirBnbs, take a train or plane instead of an overnight bus, and shell out for nicer meals. As opposed to a tourist, who is on vacation, both backpackers and flashpackers travel light, local, long term, and independently (vs. with a tour group). However, they have differing priorities and resources.
You can read about how we packed light with clothing and chased mild fall weather for this six-month sabbatical. One of the most common questions we got as we prepared was, “What are you bringing?” We made some tough decisions about what we though we’d need to make the most of our time. There were various weight and size restrictions to consider. Luckily, we were not digital nomads working full-time jobs or professional travel bloggers, so we didn’t need much gear. And we weren’t going to be anywhere remote, so we easily picked up things or restocked along the way. Each of us brought just one normal backpack - not an oversized hiking pack. Mine is an everyday 27L, Ben’s is the 39L expandable Knackpack. We also each brought one international carry-on sized duffel or suitcase (about 37L). I brought a two-wheeled suitcase because it is easier to pull down a city sidewalk or uneven ground than a spinner, more durable, and has more internal size. Ben brought a duffel bag, which is great for stuffing to the brim when needed, but his 30-something back and shoulders wished he had brought a wheeled suitcase about halfway through our trip.
Tech Trifecta: Laptop, Camera, Phone
Macbook Air, plus charger, adapter, and external hard drive (shared)
Mirrorless digital camera: Fujifilm X-S10 with 18-55mm kit lens plus memory cards and an extra battery (I was the primary photographer)
This mirrorless camera has been light and easy to use, although Ben’s Samsung S21 takes excellent photos too, like this one! Photo by Alison Travis
The best camera is the one you’ll use. We were ready to downsize from our DSLR (Canon Rebel T1i) with multiple heavy lenses. After extensive research, we chose the Fujifilm X-series for our trip. Our model was the newest at the time and had glowing reviews about a comfortable hold and improved features. One of my top priorities was small and light (the body weighs just over 1 pound) to encourage frequent use. It has an APS-C compact sensor, in-body image stabilization, great video, and lots of lens options (although we’re just bringing the one wide angle zoom lens).
If you’re a smartphone photographer who wants to venture into the camera world, you could try a “compact” mirrorless camera with a fixed lens. I was very close to getting the Panasonic Lumix LX100 II. The 24-75mm digital zoom lens retracts into the body, so it feels like a large point-and-shoot. It’s easy-to-use and super light, and will probably give you better images than what you’ve been using. On the flip-side, if you want a mirrorless camera that's a bit more robust than ours, my top picks were the Sony A6600 and the Sony A7 IV.
Smartphones: Some long-term travelers use unlocked phones and buy local SIM cards at each destination. We have T-Mobile specifically for their international plan, which connects us to the local network wherever we are with unlimited data up to 2G speeds, no roaming fees, free unlimited texting, and free wi-fi calling.
Check out this comprehensive list of online travel tools and here are our essential free apps on the road:
Google Maps: download an offline map of the local area ahead of time
Google Translate: download specific language dictionaries ahead of time
WhatsApp: text, call, or video chat anyone anywhere in the world via wi-fi, extremely widespread in Europe
Lightroom: powerful and quick mobile photo editing - there’s a free version!
Relax Melodies: white noise for better sleep
Too Good To Go: we discovered this app early on in the sabbatical from a German Workawayer. It’s popular in Europe and is on a few other continents, and has started to spread to larger cities in the US. Eating establishments that have excess or leftover food sell at a steep discount. It’s especially popular with bakeries that cannot sell pastries or bread the next day, as well as sandwiches and salads in refrigerator cases. But the variety is huge! We tried it in Copenhagen and it was a fun way to get food on the cheap, find places in a new city, and combat food waste. In Porto, an amazing bakery that only sells pastel de nata offered up a dozen for just a few Euros!
Overlooking the Kerry Cliffs in Ireland. Good outerwear, shoes, and accessories were invaluable! Photo by Ben Travis
Ben at Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland. This jacket and scarf, plus one of two beanies, were worn almost every day! Photo by Alison Travis
Fun, Creativity, and Wellness
Kindle Paperwhite e-readers: I strongly prefer paper books, but I can’t just stop reading while on the road!
Manduka Eko Superlite Travel Yoga Mats: We decided that keeping up our regular practice (shout out to Yoga with Adriene) was worth it. These fold up flat and weigh less than 2lb - a worthy trade-off for the physical and mental health benefits. They’re super thin at only 1.5mm, so to save our knees we cut strips off a cheap 5mm yoga mat to make DIY knee pads. We were actually very consistent in doing yoga together several times a week on the road.
I started teaching myself to paint and draw the year before our sabbatical. It’s been a relaxing hobby and good creative outlet, especially during a pandemic. I knew it was something I wanted to continue as we journeyed to enhance my travel experience and record what we did and saw.
The journal was a gift from a student and my friend Sam gave me her old empty travel palette that I filled from my own home watercolor tubes. Photo by Alison Travis
Small lined notebook: my analog journal, for notes and a day-to-day log. A student actually gifted me this personalized one at the end of the year before I left!
Small soft-bound sketchbook, three pens, and my DIY travel sketching kit (an Altoids tin filled with mini colored pencils, a golf pencil, a sharpener, and an eraser)
Small watercolor journal, two brushes, a water brush, and my travel palette gifted by a friend and filled with my paint tubes from home
Just-in-Case
Very few back-up items made the cut. They had to be as small and light as possible. We were in cities and small towns, and not camping or staying anywhere remote. Most things could be purchased and we were not “roughing it.” We did not need items typically found on backpacker travel blogs like water purification tools, laundry lines, soap sheets, mosquito nets, headlamps, duct tape, toilet paper, microfiber towels, etc.
Thin canvas tote bag (for groceries or a beach bag)
Ultralight fold-up day pack
2-in-1 whistle/compass (I always have this on me, for safety)
Super light digital luggage scale (to avoid surprise overweight penalties at the airport counter - we use this before each trip still now)
Ear plugs and eye mask
International driving permits (cheap and simple to get through AAA before you leave - some countries require them to rent cars)
Gadgets & Toiletries
Noise-canceling headphones and bluetooth earbuds
Universal international plug adapter
Portable power banks (our #1 most-used items - on us at all times)
Toiletries and super lightweight hanging toiletry bags with mesh internal pockets: we kept hygiene items super minimal. Months before our trip, I started keeping track of how long it took me to go through my everyday products and basic makeup. That way, I could estimate how much to bring of each. We kept daily staples only, and as many things in solid form as possible - no hair styling tools or extra skincare. We shopped at drugstores throughout our journey - it’s so fun to see products from other countries.
Ready to go at the airport with everything that we’ll need for half a year of travel - yes, everything you see here! Photo by Ben Travis
Travel Basics
Passports (US citizens fortunately didn’t need visas to visit the Schengen Zone, Australia, or most other European countries for up to 90 days within a 6-month period - I just needed to track my time)
Vaccination booklets and COVID vaccine cards (we also got the EU COVID digital certificate app when we arrived at a German pharmacy, which was used in many places over the physical booklets used in the US)
Face masks (these were easier and cheaper to source in Europe than in the US at the time. We brought 3 cloth ones, but ended up buying and using medical KN95 or surgical masks which were usually required)
Credit card with no international transaction fees and some cash for emergencies
A few key medications (although most non-prescription drugs were easy to find in European pharmacies)
Reusable water bottles (this handy infographic shows where in the world it’s generally safe to drink straight from the tap)
Health, Safety, and Security Considerations
Travel insurance: Not only did our policy cover mishaps like stolen property and canceled flights, but it also served as our health insurance. We chose SafetyWing because it was well-reviewed, affordable month-to-month, and includes COVID quarantines. World Nomads also came highly recommended.
VPN (Virtual Private Network): A low price to protect our data whenever we connected to unfamiliar wi-fi… which was always. All of our devices were covered by simply logging into a convenient app. We got NordVPN. It also allowed us to log into US websites that may not have been available when overseas.
STEP (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program): We updated our online profiles in each new country, so the US State Department knew where to find us in case of emergency. It will also send you relevant alerts. We also looked up the location of the nearest American consulate and jotted down the address and phone number on a piece of paper wherever we were. Since the trip, I do this every time I leave the country. You never know!
Sherpa: we traveled in 2021-2022, when the pandemic was starting to wind down but still a large part of reality. This was an extremely useful website that detailed current COVID travel restrictions. We plugged in the country we were departing from and the country we were entering, and it told us whether we needed proof of vaccines, negative tests, or both. It also included links to any online passenger locator forms or other documents to fill out.