Ari's Planet

This is my list of equipment for my round the world trip. There's a detailed item list, including weights for each item, and a summary of each of the main categories (e.g., camera, clothing, etc.). I am still adjusting the list prior to my departure. The main items list contains all of the items I think I will need for any segment of the trip. From this, sublists can be compiled, such as for colder climates (Mongolia, Nepal), trekking (Nepal), and camping (AU/NZ). For the summary list, I distinguish between gear carried on my back, which weighs about 17 kg (37 lbs) for the cooler climates, and the gear that is worn (boots, 1 pair pants, etc.). The trekking list saves about 10 lbs by leaving some of the equipment behind, such as camera gear that I won't need on the trail. My choice of backpack was restricted given that I need to carry about 20 kg (40+ lbs). The ultralight backpacks, weighing about 2 pounds, do not have sufficient suspension or good enough hip belts. The best backpack I could find was the Osprey Aether 60L. There is also a women's model and a 70L version that weighs almost an extra pound.

My backpack weight would not be so bad if it weren't for the camera equipment, which comes to 5.3 kg (12 lbs). This is a pretty minimal configuration with one SLR (Nikon D200), two lenses (18-200VR and 50mm f1.4), data storage, tripod, and point-and-shoot backup camera. The biggest contributor to weight after the camera and lenses is the tripod at ~1.3 kg, and this is about the lightest carbon fiber tripod and ballhead I could find and still get a reasonably stiff tripod with a panning ballhead.

Some equipment I will have mailed to me and will mail home when it is no longer needed. For instance, my prescription diving goggles will only be useful when I get to countries where I will be diving (e.g., Thailand, AU). The cold weather clothing can be mailed home once I leave northern India. The camping gear (tent, stove) will be used in AU/NZ, and some of the cooler weather clothing as well in NZ. The United States Postal Service will mail packages for about $30. At least, this is the plan to help reduce the weight I have to carry.

I will be carrying at least 42 GB of CompactFlash memory for my camera. This will allow me to travel lighter and to be less dependent on Internet cafés for backing up my images. Each image takes about 10MB (compressed RAW), and I estimate an average of 150 images per day, so 42 GB gives me a month of shooting before I have to clear out space. I will have a portable 120 GB hard drive in a HyperDrive SPACE to backup my memory cards; this can copy up to 100GB on a single charge. I will use a portable DVD burner at Internet cafés to burn DVDs of my images and mail them home. Once the DVD is burned, I can clear out the CF card, and still have a backup on the disk drive. When the DVD is received at home and backed up, then the disk space can be reclaimed if necessary. I may increase the number and carrying to 64 GB. CompactFlash memory is running about $10/GB with rebates from Kensington, so 64 GB will cost about $US640. Originally, I was going to carry two disk drive units for redundancy, but each one weighs 250g, so I will make do with only one.

My medical kit is quite heavy at ~800g, excluding malaria prevention and personal prescriptions. I've looked at the item list and cannot really figure out a way to make this a smaller kit. Part of the problem is carrying various liquids, creams, and pills (eye drops, benadryl, immodium, etc.), sterile needles and suture, etc. The quality of medications in many of the countries I will be traveling is not reliable, so I do need to provide my own supply. From personal experience, when one is injured or suffering from some kind of rash or infection, running out to a pharmacy is about the last thing one wants to do. In the US, though, it is a trivial matter. In a foreign country, it may be the middle of the night, I won't know where a pharmacy is, the nearest pharmacy could easily be quite a distance if I'm in a rural area or on a trek, and then I will have to figure out what to buy. At best, anyway, perhaps I could reduce the weight by 1/2, which would save 400g, (~ 1lb, ~2.5% of my carry weight). So, I guess I will just have to deal with it.