Are you a flashpacker?

Travel is the eternal struggle between packing light and bringing enough electronics to operate a small NATO command post. Pam Mendel recently photographed the contents of her luggage for a trip to Antarctica, perhaps inspired by Frank Chimero’s own exercise in exposing his worldly possessions to the Internet. There’s something strangely fascinating about seeing what other people consider absolutely essential when leaving home.

It reminded me of an article I read a while ago, I Wanna Be a Flashpacker by Amanda Kendle, in which she describes her gradual evolution from traditional backpacker into that slightly more technologically burdened creature known as the flashpacker.

One man on a lonely platform.

Her description sounded suspiciously familiar. Particularly the Belgian chocolate. I rarely leave the country without an iPhone, iPod, digital camera, Moleskin notebooks and an increasingly ridiculous collection of adapters, cables and chargers. If I expect to do any serious writing, I’ll usually wedge a laptop into the bag as well. At that point I’m no longer packing for a holiday. I’m transporting a small electronics department across international borders.

There was presumably a time when travelers carried a toothbrush, two shirts, a paperback and perhaps a questionable amount of cash hidden somewhere unpleasant. Now we need enough lithium-ion batteries to concern airport security.

Going uphill in Kiev with a heavy backpack.

Of course, it depends entirely on where you’re going. I thrive in big cities, where forgetting something usually means walking three blocks and buying another one. But I’ve also traveled through sufficiently remote corners of the world to appreciate the value of equipment that serves a purpose beyond entertaining me while waiting for a train.

Even so, I’ve fortunately never been completely dependent on any of this gear. The batteries die. The network disappears. The expensive gadget becomes an attractive paperweight. And somehow the journey continues. Which is probably worth remembering.

So, what’s in your backpack?