Gear

Backpacks 

There are so many pack options and sizes available, depending on your traveling style. We prefer traveling light, which has some definite advantages. It’s cheaper on travel as you don’t need to check your bags which can save hundreds of dollars. There is less washing to do as you only have 3 sets of clothes and this is all beside the main pro that it is much much lighter!

Cyclone 35L

At home while packing, an extra 5 kilo or so may seem a small sacrifice for some seemingly must-have items - however after a month or two on the road you start to re-evaluate just how must-have they seem to be when you have a mile long walk ahead and your back is starting to hurt.

To this end we decided to go for packs within the 30-40L range. There are two main styles of pack within this size - the Backpack style - which zips all the way to the bottom with varying pockets, or the Hiker pack style - which fills from the top and is usually just the one pocket. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages - personally I prefer the former as it is much easier to locate the item you're looking for when it's stuck at the bottom of your pack. Also I like to segregate my items in separate pockets.

In Australia there are several reputable companies that produce backpacks, however within our size and style requirements we found ourselves with two main contenders: Black Wolf and Caribee. Most websites suggest Osprey backpacks, but from our Melbourne location, they are very hard to source, without sourcing online. And as much as I support and frequent online shopping, your pack needs to sit just right, and that’s not something you can tell from a picture.

Monashee 40L

Case in point, for my pack I was deciding between the Tsunami, Titanium or Cyclone, all 35L packs. When testing them at my local Anaconda superstore, I made sure to fill out the pack with girth and weight to give them an honest appraisal. Whilst most stores carry weights and stuffing for this very reason, I used my handbag which was the correct approximate size and weighed 5 kilo, half of our expected weight. When testing the packs I found the Tsunami felt flimsy and had poorly designed pockets. The Titanium I actually really liked, the pockets were well structured, padded, and it had more padding on the straps for maximum comfort, however when I tried on the pack with weight, I found the straps cut into my neck – A slight annoyance that would become a major irritation and fault a little way down the line. All in all I settled on the Cyclone. It had similar design to the Titanium just slightly more compact, with wider straps to solve the neck issue. Moreover – like a perfect wedding dress there was a feeling, a sense that this is the one.

Alex decided on the more practical and slightly larger Monashee with its fitted waist belt and helmet pocket perfect for storing our packable daypack. Whilst these packs did not end up being our most expensive purchase - coming in at a conservative $172 for the pair - they are definitely the most important. These packs will be our life for two years, we want them to be as comfortable, functional and...admittedly pretty as possible. You do NOT want to lose track of this pack!

Electronics 

Many backpackers choose to travel electronic free, and I definitely understand the appeal. There's something about losing yourself in the wild streets being completely untraceable, un-contactable and free. I however am a technology-whore and will take any excuse to trade in my lovely old technology for shiny new smaller technology for the road. As such all our tech items must be considered for function, size and weight. We need them to play music, hold data, upload blogs, take and process photos and to keep us entertained on infinitely long bus rides. 10 years ago that would be a huge ask for such a small amount and small sized items, but luckily in this golden age of technology we not only have the ability to take these items on the road, we have lots of choices! We have limited ourselves down to a tablet, a notebook, two phones, a gameboy, two external hard-drive and a digital camera.

Some of these items we own already, some we have purchased and some we have received as gifts from some really awesome people. Our choices in brand and model are as follows:

Tablet

Lockscreen photo credit Kim and Clark

As we are not and never will be apple people, there are a lot of options on the tablet market. Our personal favourite is the Samsung Note (more recently the Samsung Tab), which comes in two sizes, 10.1 inch and 7.0. Alex was lucky enough to receive the 10.1 inch for his 21st and has barely torn himself away from it since. We love the easy scroll menu and the great range of apps, including an awesome blogger app! Whilst some many see it as superfluous to take both a tablet and a notebook, we find that traveling with two people, taking two devices that can blog, and access Wi-Fi (not including our phones), is a great advantage as we don't need to take turns using the computer and the weight added is fairly negligible considering the practical gain. Also if one items dies or gets stolen, at least we will have a backup and won’t be stranded.

Notebook 

Acer Aspire One

A small laptop is a necessity for tech heavy travellers as it not only allows you to access wifi hotspots but also allows us to be constantly uploading photos, and posts – meaning we have a lot more freedom as we travel. The main concerns for our travel laptop is size and weight – a 15inch screen is lovely to use – but doesn’t fit into a 35 litre bag. 
We originally planned to take a little 10inch Acer Aspire One, however due to it’s untimely demise we are instead taking the 11.5inch Asus S200E – a newer laptop with touch screen. I seriously adore this laptop! Even with Windows 8’s limitations, the laptop is slimmer and of the same weight as my previous notebook, and is quite a bit smarter and faster. And it’s not Apple – so I’m good!



Camera

Canon EOD 1000D

The aim of any photo junkie traveller is to take iconic pictures worthy of the beauty in the world we have found. When I travelled through Spain originally, I took a cheap nasty camera as I didn't really want the responsibility of such an expensive item when I'm a chronic drop-a-holic. I didn't really notice while I was taking the shots, but when I downloaded them back home they were all out of focus, shaky, badly coloured and dark, and I learned my lesson. I may still be a terrible drop-a-holic however I know the extra-caution ends with b-e-a-utiful photos.

Nikon Coolpix S9100

We originally planned to carry a heavy bulky SLR - the high-esteemed Canon EOD 1000D with two additional lenses. It takes truly beautiful photos and is relatively easy to use with a simple design that even I (as a camera-illiterate) could follow. However we found that most of the time we left the camera in our bags due to the extra heft and worry about carrying it with us daily - completely defeating the purpose!

Instead we have traded our awesome SLR for the more compact and ritzy Nikon Coolpix S9100. I must say - I'm in love! This little legend is around the size of my smart phone and yet takes brilliant beautiful photos with instant photo editing and some nifty features such as Panorama Shots, High Contrast, and Colour Splashing.  Check out our Flicker page for more awesome examples from these cameras.