Am I an Ultralight Backpacking Person

Note, I hate traveling with Tourist or other Travelers.

All they do is borrow or try to borrow things the are too lazy or too stupid to carry. I have to say, I use this, go buy one.

Some things you did not mention.....

Ultralight, in whatever fashion it is done, is a great idea. But for a traveler, weight is not the only issue. Size is almost as important. For example, your hairbrush is about 4 times the size and weight of what I brought back when I had long hair. At a dollar store I bought a folding hairbrush with a mirror. Throw away the mirror portion and you have an ultralight, ultrapackable flexible brush that you use in the palm of your hand. Like this:

http://www.promopeddler.com/08-37/folding-hair-brush-mirror-combination-qqp426170.htm

You could cut the majority of the rest of the handle off your brush and cut it's size and weight in half.

In the US, I find the best place to get stuff to cut up is at the town dump where they have a room where people put things there for free. Also, people who have tag sales put all their leftover stuff out for free at the end of the day.

Of course, that's about the only thing cheap about living in the US.

I look at your stuff and think about how heavy and large some of it is compared to what is really needed. But then, I am sure you are always modifying your kit as you travel.

Bob L

Andy,

I have two pencil containers with a built-in durable medium density padding for shock absorption. The inside is a slightly harder shell. I doubt it's available worldwide, but it keeps contents from beating up other stuff inside well enough. I even have metal items in there too.

I'm pretty sure the idea was spawned by your tips and suggestions from the past to compartmentalize a pack. So a big thanks is in order. It rendered most all those little pockets inside my pack as useless.

I agree that the more gear you have the less expense you will incur. But what are the real expense groups you can hope to cut by carrying more gear?

Here's the main broad expense categories in my mind...

1. Transportation
2. Rooms
3. Food & water
4. Internet
5. Gear
6. Forget tours
7. Forget beer

The guy with just a passport & an ATM card could conceivably spend the same on transport, rooms, and the internet couldn't he? He'd spend anywhere from a bit more to a kings ransom on food depending on the location and choices.

The crux of the matter would be the gear itself. Can the passport/ATM guy find what he needs at a reasonable price, but more importantly WHEN he needs it? Probably not.

If I read you correctly, optimized means ultralight items within the confines of the truly necessary travel gear.

I think "necessary" gear is relative to the individual and where he wanders though. To optimize costs and maximize the extent to which travel is possible one must have all the "needs" at hand. You as a total 100% traveler has everything he owns on his back. No limits on where you can go at reasonable cost.

A serious difference with the passport/ATM guy would be limitations in his destination choices. The mosquito net is a good example here. He ain't planning to go to Sub Saharan Africa in other words.

He might be so restricted to a point where he would not be considered a traveler at all. But more a rover on an invisible leash of sorts.

Where then do we draw the line?

One mans paradise, is another mans hell,
This way we do not all go to the same place. - Andy Hobotraveler"

Some may prefer to stay clear of hell. Some live there and can't leave.

I'd say Andy that you are the white on one end of the spectrum in this regard and a tourist is the black at the other. Most of us (even those considered real travelers) all fall within the various shades of gray.

Great topic as there are times when all we have, is all we have.

Eric

To travel on a budget, wisely and smart is only for the 1 in 100 tourist or traveler.

1. Transportation
2. Rooms
3. Food & water
4. Internet
5. Gear
6. Forget tours
7. Forget beer

These are all correct, they are the major categories.

Beer normaly equals the cost of Transportation, Rooms, and Food and Water, excluding airfares.

The biggest expense that is very easy to cut is Food and Water, yet you see 99 percent of people walking around with a bottle of water and in a restaurant, does not matter which country. A person that is too lazy to save money in the USA by cooking is too lazy to save money cooking while traveling.

Hard to give advice to 99 percent of the population because they are always making bad decisions and believe they are not, so in a way there is no point in writing tips.

Trust me, you always need a mosquito net except maybe in the USA. The worst time of my life in a Hotel was in Brugge, Belgium and the second in Costa Rica. The only country that normally has screens is the USA.

Misery versus enjoyment of travel, I make all my gear ultralight, however I carry the most amount of enjoyment of life in my backpack possible. I am not going to stop reading books just because I am traveling, I would rather stop traveling. I am not going to stop playing on my computer just because I am traveling.

The cost of carrying these backpacks and the necessary gear to save money is this.

2 dollars per week for taxis,

I am not going to walk around carrying a huge backpack for two miles for 1 dollar. I can save five dollard per day by cooking in my room, or eating at the grocery store.

I purchased a 2 wheel cart in the Chicago Airport, it cost me 20 U.S.

Carrying large amounts of weight in packs is easy, I really never need to pick up the bags in the developing countries. I can go months without carrying my bag more than from the Hotel to the street to catch a taxi.

EUROPE is where maybe a person should go ultralight. There is nothing as expensive as Europe, it is three times more expensive to travel in Europe than the USA, the enchange rate means nothing. The cost of products are three times more for the same amount of Dollars or Euros.

Shopping around, find people that are shopping around. If a writer says they purchased something, they must put the prices, or the advice is worthless.

Cheap, what is cheap, no way to know unless you can compare prices.

Ct Bob,

A good traveler will modify they kit or gear as they go, just exactly what your are saying.

Volume is a problem and must be taken into consideration constantly.

I think people should look at each piece of gear and see if it is light and does not take up much volume.

But think about cost, does a 20 dollar water bottle make sense?

I think a Water Purifier that cost 10 dollars and is very small would be a great idea. When it goes over 10 dollars, I think it becomes a bad idea.

There is always a price where the gear becomes to expensive to use effectively.

*But think about cost, does a 20 dollar water bottle make sense?*

Never. Water bottles are free.

*I think a Water Purifier that cost 10 dollars and is very small would be a great idea. When it goes over 10 dollars, I think it becomes a bad idea.*

Cost is not the only consideration. Cost to benefit is better. A $15 water purifier may be a great idea if it is small, light and you are particularly susceptable to waterborne illness (elderly etc). But if that $15 purifier also also requires frequent replacement of expensive, unobtainable filters, it stops being such a good idea. Things are seldom black and white for everyone. What would never make sense for one, may make a lot of sense for another.

But it is always better to go with free, cheap or homemade if possible. And using/consuming what the residents do is usually the best way. The exception might be in modern western cities where everyone is drinking bottled water and Starbucks coffee.

Bob L

why the butter knife,steak knife,one type of screw driver when you could get a quality SWISS Army Knife that has all that and MUCH MORE plus a cork screw that is so important if your not 27 years old anymore.

8. Forget Souvenirs

The "8. Forget Souvenirs" makes me think...

I am designing a professional traveler bag, not for the tourist, a bag for the thinking person who really understands travel.

A Swiss Knife is about worthless, I am not on a short trip where a short annoyance of using a Swiss Knife to eat is not a problem. To me a Swiss Knife is a day annoyance, it just is uncomfortable to use as a tool. I cannot clean this knife easy, full of tons of small crevices that become carriers of junk after long use. A Swiss Knife is the perfect toy for a weekend traveler.

8. Forget Souvenirs

There is a difference between a long-term traveler and a tourist. I am painfully aware as I the majority of comments on the blog are from non-professional, causual tourist who who buy Souvenirs.

I do not buy souvenirs because I am not on vacation, I am a traveler.