What to Bring: Entertainment

No matter what kind of trip you’re planning, you can’t “GO! GO! GO!” the entire time – you’ll burn yourself out and end up missing some great opportunities.

So whether you plan on climbing Mt. Everest, clubbing in London or laying on a beach in Brazil, bring something to entertain yourself along the way.

There will be points when you’re stuck doing nothing and it won’t always be by your own choosing - sitting in an airport or recovering from that extra shot of Jagermeister “that seemed like a good idea at the time”.

So here’s a list of things you might consider bringing along…

Books

What better time to catch up on some reading, than while you’re on vacation.

Depending on the length of your trip, you might want to bring a book you can leave behind – this saves you having to lug around a bunch of novels. Most hostels have book swaps and you’ll more than likely find a few used bookstores along the way.

However, on the subject of book swaps, I’d like to let everyone know that after having visited many bookstores in my travels, there are officially enough books available for you to read by Dan Brown, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Danielle Steele & Stephen King, as well as the Harry Potter series, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Eat, Pray, Love” and anything that’s been on Oprah’s Book Club.

Kindly bring something different to leave behind.

Deck of Cards / Mini Chess Set / Skip-Bo

Perfect for long waits in a ferry terminal when the 3:00pm departure has been delayed to 4:00pm, 5:00pm and 6:00pm because they’re waiting for “one more person”.

Camera / Carrying Case / Charger

I love film, but for travelling, digital is the way to go – you can organize your photos, edit them down and then save backups to a CD or DVD.

Plus it beats having to pay a massive processing bill when you arrive home and then spending hours trying to figure out which waterfall is which.

Ipod / Headphones / Charger

Bring a good mix of music for whatever mood you might be in.

I’ve also downloaded a bunch of free podcasts from iTunes – documentaries, interviews, etc. – which has been good because I feel my brain getting stronger.

We’ve also downloaded a number of the TEDTalks seminars, which are awesome… watch Stefan Sagmeister’s speech “the Power of Time Off” – very cool.

www.tedtalks.com

Computer / Carrying Case / Charger / Mouse / USB Cable

We have a small “Netbook” with us and it’s been great – we use it to sort out our photos, tap into free WiFi to check our emails and Skype our parents.

Of course, bringing along a computer also means there’s something else you can lose or have “lost” for you, so think about it before you bring one along.

Spare USB Cards

A great way to store back-up copies of your photos, as well as keeping scans of important documents…

See “What to Bring: the Necessities”.

Spare Camera Memory Cards

No one likes to run out of space on their camera’s memory card and then be forced to delete photos.

Journal / Address Book

Well, an address book is a good way of storing addresses, so you can send your parents – who by the way miss you dearly and can’t understand why you wouldn’t just want to spend a week visiting them – a postcard or two.

A journal is a good way of remembering where you’ve been, what you’ve done and which waterfall is which.

A Scratchpad

Perfect for jotting down bus schedules, email addresses, directions, phone numbers, prices for comparative shopping and “getting it in writing”.

Pen

Or a pencil.

Plug Adaptors

Your fancy camera with its rechargeable battery won’t last too long if you can’t plug it’s charger into the wall, now will it?

Good news – a lot of gadgets & gizmos, such as camera battery rechargers, computer plugs, etc., now automatically convert 110V & 220V so you don’t have to worry about a power converter.

However if you bring a hairdryer, you may still need one… just ask Robyn.

Your Passion?

Whatever your passion is, see if you can bring it along.

I mean, isn’t that the point of a trip? To be able to do what you love?

I brought my comedy book so I can keep writing, Robyn brought along a small paint kit and we each brought our basic climbing gear. Throughout the trip we’ve had opportunities to pursue all of them and it’s been great.

Condoms

You saucy little minx, you…