If there’s one essential aspect of long-term traveller that many tend to overlook, it’s packing properly. This can make a huge difference in the experience that a traveller has: they might not have packed the right items, they may injure themselves due to how the weight is distributed, and they might battle to get a hold of items that they need at a given moment.

Any seasoned traveller will agree that learning how to pack properly can make the experience from start to finish that much more pleasant. With that in mind, this is how pack a bag for long-term travel.

Waterproof Bags

One thing to always keep in mind is that rain can be sudden depending on the destination that the traveller is going to. While most of the flight might be sunny skies and warm weather, local and sudden downpours are extremely common, especially in countries that are near to the equator.

Not all flights connect directly with the airport terminal, and sometimes the first thing a traveller will do is walk outside, potentially getting their belongings soaked just after touching down. This is why having waterproof bags is essential, and depending on their contents, they should always be placed near to the top of the bag to provide easy access to the fragile items inside, such as phone chargers or battery packs.

Make a List

While on the road, it’s easy to become distracted by everything going on, and this makes for a prime opportunity for items to be lost in the fuss. When getting to the hotel or Airbnb for the night, it doesn’t take long for the traveller to realise that something is missing.

Much of this can be mitigated by maintaining a packing list, which contains a list of all the various items that are initially packed before leaving home. In fact, it’s easy enough to find specific apps for a smartphone that can serve exactly this purpose, and that also creates the opportunity to check emails or play the best pokies online (subjected to the legality of traveling place).

Pack Clothes Well

Inevitably, the heaviest park of a pack will be the bundle of clothes inside. When combined together, clothes can make the pack that much heavier, and if they are not packed in the right place, they can quickly lead to back pain.

This is why it’s recommended to always keep clothes either near to the bottom or in the middle, allowing for a better distribution of weight for the traveller that may have to carry it for hours on end. Clothes generally don’t need to be accessed quickly, too, so having them slightly out of reach and below other packed items tends not to be too much of a hindrance.

Pack a Laptop Separately

If there’s extra space in a backpack for a laptop, it might be tempting to put it in there, but this can lead to disaster. A laptop that’s compressed for too long could see its screen permanently damage, which can be expensive to fix. It’s a much better idea to have a dedicated laptop bag instead.