You are heading out on Safari in East Africa. You’ve dreamed of this for years. You’ve saved for months. And now you’re headed off to see the Big 5 in the wild! You are so excited. Then you receive the information from your tour company and you find out that you are limited to 1 bag weighing no more than 25 pounds. Yikes! I’m going to tell you now, this is not a crisis. But it does require preparation. You cannot pack for your African Safari the night before you leave. It will take weeks of research into what specifically you need, and more importantly, what you can safely leave at home. The best news is, once you successfully pack for this trip, you can pull off any kind of global adventure. Here are the packing basics surrounding hoe to choose a suitable bag.
No matter where you are travelling, what activities you’ve booked, or what weather you are expecting, there are some basics to follow.
The Bag
What bag you choose to take on your adventures is important. So many people make the ultimate mistake of not buying the lightest bag possible that suits your needs. When you are packing for a trip like an African Safari, ounces matter. Don’t waste them on the bag. Use the same mantra those building spacecraft employ – when you want to launch something into space, every ounce lifting off Earth costs fuel. Make every ounce count.
In the 21st century, we have the benefit of high technology, lightweight, water resistant, strong fabrics. We also can find good rolling bags. My go to choice is something like this REI Ghost Cruiser Bag pictured above. At 39 Litres, it’s not huge, but it is roomy and it weighs next to nothing. 4 lbs, 2 oz is the exact weight of this bag. Compare this to the rugged Samsonite Omni PC hard-sided 24” rolling bag. It’s a travel work horse and is completely indestructible. It also weighs over 8 pounds. Don’t get me wrong, the Samsonite bag is fantastic as are a host of other similarly sized bags by Osrey, Tumi, and a range of excellent brands. But always check the weight of the bag you are purchasing.
Another option is the Osprey 65. It’s very lightweight at 3 lbs and is also a work horse. It does not have wheels, but it does have convertible straps. So you can carry it as a back pack if you wish. Not as flexible as the REI roller, but a great option in places where rolling bags are impractical.
I’m not endorsing any particular bag or company. Nor am I trying to guide you away from any brand of luggage. These are purely types of bags. What’s important is the general type of bag you purchase. My ghost cruiser has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles across 4 continents. It’s crossed the Equator and the Arctic Circle. It’s a work horse in the luggage category. Shop around, find what works for you, but always remember that bag weight matters.
Packing Cubes
There’s only one way to say this – packing cubes rock! Why? If you are on a trip where you transfer hotels every night, it’s much easier to find what you need by pulling out the cubes. If you’re going on a cruise or headed to a resort where you only unpack once, it’s still so much easier than putting all your clothes in drawers and fishing through items on a daily basis. Just drop those packing cubes into the drawers and hit the pool.
Have you ever been on a trip where you constantly pack and re-pack? Don’t do it! Invest in some packing cubes.
What kind do you want? Whatever works for you. Shop around. I recommend 2 smaller ones for undies and socks, and then 2 medium sized ones for shirts, shorts, etc. Small ones also come in handy should you need a tuque, gloves, or scarf on your adventure. Beyond that, you can choose different sizes, different colors, different shapes, whatever you like.
When I pack, I bring an extra small cube for dirty socks and undies. That way I don’t have to guess which ones are clean. With a packing cube my bag doesn’t become a dirty clothes hamper. When I return home, I just grab the cube of dirty undies and socks and toss it into the laundry. Bonus!
Again, shop around and find what works for you and your bags. A variety of small and medium work best for me, but I rarely travel with lots of fancy clothes that need extra care. If you do a lot of cruising or other trips where dressing up is part of the fun, you might want some larger cubes for shoes, dresses, or a man’s blazer.
In our next blog we will discuss how to effectively pack for a trip. Any trip. We will discuss how to best coordinate your wardrobe, minimize your shoes, look at the most resilient fabrics, and, most importantly, how to get away without any white clothing. Why? Because if you look at a white shirt it’ll get dirty. On a trip, that’s a wardrobe liability you don’t want.
Happy Shopping!
