There are 3 comments for this post.

1. Serene on February 11, 2010 12:36 am

   Due to the fact that you were criticized for American condoms, I will have to add, as a woman: tampons. Istanbul and Saigon didn’t sell them at a reasonable price (and they were hard to find!), well, because apparently that’s a North American thing. Sorry men.

2. Kris on February 11, 2010 5:56 am

   Nice list, Rob. It really depends on where you’re travelling to, but in most developing countries, stuff is way cheaper than at home so if you can hold off on buying something until you arrive, it’s usually better. This especially applies to things like toiletries – maybe that toothbrush is looking a bit frayed but you’ll spend more replacing it before your trip.

   I would trade the coffee for peanut butter. I’m not a coffee drinker, but there have been countless times I’ve been stuck on a long bus and it seemed the only thing available (or edible) is bread. This gets tired quickly. Peanut butter gives you something to make that baguette a bit more interesting and also provides that necessary shot of protein.

   One of the most important items in my arsenal is a headlamp. Some people bring a small flashlight but I find a headlamp works better as you can strap it to your head if you want to read in a dorm room and not bother anyone else. Or in a power outage. Or if you discover a cave or dimly-lit site. So many uses!

   And I can’t believe you were criticized about the bringing name-brand, dependable condoms with you. Let me tell you (and everyone else) a very personal story about why you should do this:

   I was backpacking through Swaziland and met a gorgeous Swazi fellow. One thing led to another (as it often does while travelling) and during one of our romantic entanglements, the African-brand condom we were using broke. I suddenly was aware that I had made myself vulnerable in the country with the highest reputed HIV prevalence in the world. There was a 40% chance that the man I was with was infected. The worst thing about it was you cannot be tested for HIV until 6 weeks after suspected exposure…you better believe that I thought about that every single day until I got the results back (negative, fortunately).

   So next time you’re considering what to put in that backpack, I suggest you think carefully about it. Some things are more important than others.

3. Evan on February 13, 2010 1:28 am

   Totally agree. That’s actually weird; one time I was backpacking through Swaziland and totally banged out this Canadian girl and the condom broke. That was before all my facial reconstructive surgery and stuff though, so I normally don’t talk about it.