How to Pack for Backpacking Travel: Camping

Over-packing is your enemy. This is the most important principle to remember when packing for any trip. Whether you're just backpacking, just camping, or both, you must not pack more than needed. Failure to apply this principle can indeed ruin an entire trip.

That being said, the second most important principle is very similar to the first; you will inevitably end up packing more than you need. Face the facts. Unless your day job involves routine backpacking and the like (in which case you probably wouldn't be reading this article), you will almost certainly pack too much. There is the extreme possibility that you'll pack too little, but, assuming that you actually care about your trip-which is probably why you're reading this-this probably won't happen. Like most people, you're in all probability almost as anxious about packing as your mother was on your first day of school.

Therefore, be prepared for a slight disappointment. While you most likely won't get the perfect score in the game of packing and preparing for your trip, you can (and will) make the discrepancy between what you need and what you actually put into your backpack (or suitcase) as small as possible. How can you do this without forgetting things? You can do this by exercising control over what you don't bring. Read on.

First, determine what you need. Nobody else can tell you this. I can't, and neither can other people who are going on your trip with you. They can give you guidelines to follow, but you need more than guidelines. You need a precise and exact list of needs. The failure of these much too general "guidelines" is evident in the existence of the packing problem.

Make a list of all the things that you "might" need on your trip. For the moment, pretend that you *can* take it all with you. This does sound like I'm contradicting myself, but do it anyway. It is important to take time at this stage. Do not cut corners. Make sure that you get every single thing that you can think of that you might end up needing. This of course includes things specific to your trip (e.g. propane, if you will be using one of those fancy little grills to prepare food), but this also includes items, such as clothes, that should be included for every trip (unless you'll be exploring the local nudist colony).

Note that this process will probably work best if you actually get up and look and stuff. You can make a satisfactory list just sitting at the kitchen table, but it will work much better if you actually rummage through your closet, garage, etc.

Next, take your trusty list and cut it down as much as possible. This can be difficult and, perhaps, even painful for some people, but you are different. This is where the kiddies get separated from the men (metaphorically speaking, of course).

First, get rid of the obvious things. (Do you *really* need two family size bottle of ibuprofen for yourself?) If necessary, negotiate and bargain with yourself to get rid of that dead weight from your list. Then, try to cut down on the size/quantity of stuff that you really do need. Again, bargain if necessary.

The best example is clothes. Yes, you'll probably need more than one change of clothes, but resist the urge to pack a new outfit for every single day. On most trips, you'll end up coming home smelly with a strong yearning for your own shower no matter how much of your wardrobe (and deodorant) you pack, so don't think that more clothes equals more comfort. Pack as little as possible. Shirts are less reusable after you've worn them once or twice, but pants can and will go a long way (especially since people notice it less when you wear the same pants 4 times in a week than when you do the same with a shirt).

In the end, apply and adapt these principles as needed to your own individual experiences. Remember, it is by cutting down on your "everything" list and getting it as close as possible to the ideal, yet imaginary, list of bare needs that you can assure yourself that you have a list that is as small but useful and complete as possible. This way, you are able to exercise control over what you aren't going to bring.

Good luck, and happy camping.