Is certain the question people ask us more : for a world trip, what do / don Art of subsidiarity about » just enough » and not always obvious. To help you, in that post we will dream your our gear, our tips, our favourites, our errors and our secrets after many months around the world.

BEFORE GET INTO IT – WHAT YOU GOONNA FIND ON THIS POST
We have left home with our backpack for an indeterminate time, some cold and hot countries are on the list, mountains and oceans, jungles and cities, and some bivouacs.
Kind of adventure who put yourself in front of a tricky challenge : the one to fit many kids of gear in only one backpack !
In that post we will list All we have brought but share with you our advisories, tips and experiences after 5 months travelling : methodology, clones, camping gear, medic, hygiene, personal stuff, important documents... From the light technical jacket to the swimsuit through our sleeping bag 0°, mosquito spray or soap we use for everything, you的ll find here a wide panel about things you might not forgive for your trip, we promise you, there are many details!
In any case, don It So the best person who can evaluate your needs, and you. .
This is complete inventory : adjust it to your travel and pick what is seams necessary for the countries / adventures you will cross.
We translate our website / articles on our own, sorry for missakes we have done, please feel free to give us some feedback (how, email ...) to help us improve our English writing
ARE YOU READY? Here we go! MAKE A BACKPACK FOR A WORLD TRIP : D-DAY.
You are in front of a moment you feel: you will leave for many months (years) and it Soon you will make it also time to put the word » useful » gold » vital » in practice and face the facts: we don. So this is two important things to spread trough your head before doing something (make post-it):
Travel light, travel free
Dons put to much pressure on you! ![]()
If it « important » but if there is only that traveling will teach you is... to travel minimalist and love this way ! This is true: after few months some gear will seams useless ( contrary to the excessive weight of your backpack who gives bread to your muscles, back, shoulderers and force you to do shorts and efficient distance when you move ).
Keep in mind that your backpack should be 15% to 20% of body weight. You want to know the limit you should not excel? Multiply your weight by 0,2! For example if you weigh 55kg : 55 x 0.2 = 11kg.
And Finally... Don的t put to much pressure on you ! Except some medicine, few clothes and your valuable objects, we find everything almost everywhere. For the rest, calm down: we have already sorted to think about everything, for you! 😉

« THE ULTIMATE LIST »
1 >> BACKPACK 2 >> TEXTILE 3 >> SHOES 4 >> BIVUAC 5 >> HYGIENE 6 >> ELECTRONICS 7 >> MEDICAL 8 >> LITTLE EXTRAS 9 >> FOR THE GIRLS 10 >> IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
1 – BACKPACKS
where everything start
Of course the unmissable n°1. You got a house, an apartment? Now you的ll get backpack, just a backpack. We give you advice to choose yours Here, for us this is the one we picked and we love them:
- Maxime: Forclaz Trek 900. Capacity: 80 L
- Delphine: Forclaz Trek 900. Capacity: 60 L
- A small additional bag both: Quechua NH 500.
Pick your additional bag light and waterproof (by a cover if it doesn't come with), especially, do you take to big: 20l is totally enough to ring all your need without hood yourself. (more it
What we think about our additional bags / why you might take one : for all these moments you will leave your backpack in your room, to wish on the way with only your need, to keep your valuable objects with you on the transport, to take on the plane. At the beginning we have hesitated, but found them useful everyday. Our NH500 from Quechua are very practical (with many accommodation) but beware, we you add to much weight on them they get uncomfortable.

2 – TEXTILE – PANTS, JACKETS, ACCESSORIES...
our rock solidwardrobe
We need a little part of everything: to face cold weather, hot weather, to go up to 4000m but also to the beach, doing sport or walk in the city.
Our advisor, because we can not bring everything: take all you will need first to do cart carry stuff you will only need in 5 months.
Starting with cold countries (Siberia, Mongolia, Nepal) we have favored technical / warm gear instead of shorts, dress or tiny t-shirt, which we found for a cheap price in Asia! When we have done these countries, we feel back our warm clones in France.
| Maxime | Delphine | |
|
BOTTOM
|
|
|
|
TOP |
|
|
| WARM / TECHNICAL |
|
|
| ACCESSORIES |
|
|
|
UNDERWEAR |
to manage 5 days without laundry | |
And to pack this...
Cubic compression. Honestly: The best idea we got during our preparation. Quechua or Nordkamm, these cubes we use to pack our clones, compress them and who organized our backpack revolutionize our backpacker!
You will find them here as love it, the good news is you get 10% discount on the all website of the band Nordkamm with the code between 10poles .

3 – SHOES
do you have world trip
No secret! There is not only one magic pair of shoes who will bring you around the world. But, 2 or 3 peers will give you the perfect combo:
- Hiking shoes mid / trail shoes
The perfect shoes to on the same time hold and Protect during the treks while give you freedom of movement for the rest of the time. But especially they will give you some comfort duration long walk in the city or in the mountains... Anyway, its kind of shoes you can almost do everything !
Our pick: Knowing that we will hike a lot (sometimes in high mountains), we looked for a good compromise between comfort / lightness / solidity / waterproofness / support. We chose the Merrell All out blaze 2 and we are not added: they are light, comfortable in the mountains (and all time)! Leather guarantees us solidity and they are waterproof.
- A light pair of basketball (like Free Run) Good or bad idea?
Maxime gave up his pair, for myself i still have it and i It could be useful for walks under 30°, workout session, be comfortable in the transport (plane, bus, train...) Is the good compromise to don的t have to switch between the two extremes : flip-flop or riding shoes
- Currently: Flip-flop
Flip-flop, sandals... Choose the team you prefer, even if you do not like it an mandate accessory : we don on the beach but also about all of the suspicious tolets, bathrooms you will experience.
Hiking or trail? Is only asked about ankle support... and clothes! We get use to mountain environment and we normally wear riding shoes which support well our ankles, especially when you want to make you down more funy. But most of them are usually heavy take place (specially in the backpack): opt for a mid size, lighter and less numbersome. On the other hand, if for you wearing riding shoes is really unpleasant and you-re not gonna do long technical hike (most of the famous treks are well maintained) you should opt for low size or trail shoes.
Is waterproof really necessary? You can think whatever you want but for us, after few months travelling and in all conditions... Yes, with any doubt!

4 – HYGIENE
to keep you fresh in (almost) all conditions
One toilet case for both is fully enough, you can find some really practical one on internet or stores : we chosen for one in Decathlon who got lot of compartments,a small mirror AND a hook which is so useful to hold it everywhere (think about it, that change your life)
Inside:
- Toothbrush
- Small toothpaste tubes
- Nail clippers
- Tweezers
- Cotton buds and cotton (also useful for pharmacy)
- All In One soap from Dr Bronner (body, hair, wash fishes, laundry and ... Toothpaste! We didn-t try the last one but everything works)
- Natural deodorant . Our advisor : buy it online (stick) it
- Wipes intimate wash add body.
- Cleaning gel (also use like make-up backup)
- Hydrating cream
- 2/3 Make-up basics ( small and gift take to much place )
- Reractable airbursh (this model very basic but very useful and cheap with Sephora, allow you to get hairbrush and compartment to put your elastic and hair grip )
Tip
Wipes are useful when trekking / shipping / transit when you can You » intimate wipes « , but to refresh your body no better than ... baby wipes ! Most of them are made up with 90% of watter : just enough to refresh and clean. Method tested and 100% approved during our 7 days in Gobi desert!

5 – BIVUAC
portable house of adventurers and everything who comes with
In light of our program (and our desires) we left with camping gears to survival few days in the nature. If you do not plan this kind of adventure, to give importance to this equipment. And no worries, for the » just in case » one day you would camp, you However, some of these accessories would be useful in daily life, you » Little extras « .
- Tent Quechua Ultra Light 3 people (to get enough place for us and 2 backpacks)
- 2 down Sleeping bags Forclaz 0°
- 2 milk sheet Quechua
- 2 air mattress trek 700 Forclaz
- 2 helium pillows Quechua
- 1 campsite light BL40 Quechua
- 2 headlights Onnight 700 Quechua
- 2 sets of plastic cutter
- 1 foldable food box
- 2 stainless steel cups
- 1 bottle thermos 400ml
- 1 Life Straw (filter bottle)
- 1 water bottle 700ml
- micropur tabs (useless if you don't plan any long adventure)
- 6m of rope 5mm Simon (tiny and useful in many situations)
- Carabiner
- Swiss army knife
- Lighter / firestone

6 – ELECTRONICS
minimalist or real digital nomad?
If there is one category which list of equipment different, it For the basics : smartphone, usb cable, powerbank, adaptator and maybe a camera. For us who got a blog and want to share many adventures on social media, this is how looks our technical staff:
| SUPPORT & STORAGE |
|
| PHOTO & VIDEO |
|
| OTHERS |
|
It could seem it the minimum (except the drone which a « Big plus ») and for the future it Our advisor would be to buy a specific bag to pack everything and keep it safe, things we haven

7 – PHARMACY
Only a box of doliprane and let
We wish to take only this, but in fact on the other side of the world reality is different and could be hard times to find some medicine.
Again, it depends where you get go. Keep it mind it could be simple and cheap (sometimes free) to get medicine in your own country, then it will be hard and exciting in some countries!
This is what we have in our pharmacy:
- General breads: Doliprane and Ibuprofen.
- Stomach ache and digestion: Spasfon, Tiorphan and Betaine citrate.
- For infection who comes with bread and high temperature, like ear infection, throat infection... : of broad-spectrum antibiotics such as amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid.
- Plasters
- Survival blanket
- Small splitters
- Disinfectant (Betadine)
- Compress
- Strap
- Sun screen
- Nok cream (bread from bulbs, don
- Tiger balm (magic balm! you
- BalmDr Pawpaw (nourishing balm for lips, hands)
- Mosquito Net
- Mosquito spray
- Roll-on to connectve mosquito cock
- Malaria treatment
- Contraceptive pill
Then, gift forget : medicine is one thing, but they will never substitute that two necessary for travelling :
Blabla
→ Vaccines : It https://www.pasteur-lille.fr. For more details we prepare one post about everything you know to be ready the d-day.
Blabla
→ Travel insurance: The one who will cover your medical expense if you need (we don For us, we picked Chapka Insurance : after 5 month they help us with our hospital expense for an ankle injury, very reactive and helpful.
Tips
To take lot of place, remove boxes and put medicines in small food bags.
If you are afraid to forget how to use them and the posology: Download instructions online and store them on your phone!

8 – EXTRAS LITTLE
These things you gotta love it every day!
It » they are amazing! «
| Why they are amazing: | |
| Cover for your backup (waterproof, light) | Since the first month, in light of their condition after plane / bus / jeeps / tuk-tuks / horses, we are so happy to get them all time we move to protect our backpack we are in perfect condition |
| Night mask | For transport or sleep room. |
| Ear plugs | Dot need to spell it out |
| Microfiber towel | The must have for all travelers! There is more comfy but they are tiny and dry quickly. |
| Hydroalcoholic gel | Perfect if you don |
| Waterproof smartphone case | To take photos when you are kayaking, or on a canoe or paddle, tube, pink flamingo ...Imagination will the only limit of your craft. |
| Box of elastics | To pack your cables, tidy up your clones, fix something, keep close your cookies pack, dry fruits or the other smalls things which their only goal is to open themselfves all time on your bag. |
| Freezer bag | To protect your document from water, separate your liquids at the airport, tidy your soap / toothpaste / other liquids who could open themselfes in your bag. |
| Small wood board | Essential to cut the food you |
| « Sausage » | Sorry, we are French! |
| A diary and a pen | Notes, drawings, memories about people / cat you meet on the way. |
| Portable speaker JBL | Because it的s life to dance with high quality sounds and give you more motivation during your workout (or your long motorbike journey). |
Don » bivouac » Which could be useful every day:
| Why they are amazing: | |
| Travel pillow Quechua | Sleep well without bread everywhere on earth. They are small, brights and incredibly comfy! |
| Stainless steel cup | To get tea / coffee when you go camping, or on the train to eat your noses (Trans-Siberian experience) or even to help you cooking with the measure. |
| Headlight | To walk through the dark and let free your hand when you come back for sunset or on the way to sunrise. |
| Camping silk sheet | To keep your sleeping bag clean or protect your body from the dirty backpacker |
| Folding food box | To keep the rest of your dinner / lunch or bran food when you go camping. |
| Life Straw | This is the revolution, make our life easy and limit expenses / plastic us ! It allows us to drink kind of everything and almost everywhere, what else? |
| Thermos Bottle 400ml | Except bivouac, these moments you-ll need hot drinks between your hands, like these mornings on top of the mountains waiting for sunrise. |
| Swiss army knife | We may say something about the tiny saw, but bottle-opener and the corkscrew are so useful, they will save your life 🙂 |

9 – FOR GIRLS
because we don't talk about details...
Intimate hygiene, toilet bag, menstruation, accessory, contraceptive pill, clones... You already got all the list of my stuff on this article, but because you have so many questions (and sometimes so accurate), i will tell you more in a future article dedicated to this subject.
If you have questions or topics that you would love found in this future post, don 🙂
10 – IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
you can forget everything ... Except this!
«Anyway now, its to late »
You might get this feeling of fate at the moment that some people consider like » No return « . The one you have said goodby to your close family / friends just before get into the customers at the airport, the one your train is leaving the platform, the one your boat is leaving the port... Anyway your transport, we talk about this moment that your travel start, after days (weeks) think about if you » anyway, its to late » You may feel this sense of fatality at this moment that many consider to be « no return ».
We insist on: Don
Except the lucky charm given by your grandma 10 years ago, antibiotics and your pricey stuff, you can by everything kind of everywhere... except this:
- Passport
- International driving licence
- Your license from your country (its not practical, but your need both)
- Certificate of vaccinations (copy or scan)
- Your credit Card
- Identity pictures ( could be done at all airport but sometimes pricey)
Our advise : don’t forget to do scan or picture of all those documents and send it to your mailbox : that way, whatever you are, even if you loose your paper AND your telephone, you can get everything just with your email and that could save your life sometimes.
Do the same with medical prescription (if you need to justify) or insurance justification : it will takes less papers.


FEW WORDS TO CONCLUDE
» WEIGHT OF OUR BACKPACKS (WITH EVERYTHING ON THE PICTURE) :
- 13,5 kg Delphine
- 18 kg Maxime
For both it’s 3kg more than our limit weight ! Fortunately we planed to send back our bivouac gear and our warm clothes when Siberia, Mongolia, China and Nepal will be done. Now our backpacks are lighter, but it still could be better !
» WHAT WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ADVISE BEFORE LEAVING :
If you have a passion / something you love especially but you are hesitating because it’s not on the perfect list you’ve seen on internet … Take it !Even if you give up some clothes. For exemple : your guitar (make it shorter and take ukulélé), your favorite camera, your drawing … If it’s part of you, you’ll miss them one day for sure in this kind of long trip !
Finally, n’accordez pas tant d’importance au contenu de votre sac, il ne conditionnera pas votre voyage :
→ si vous vous apercevez qu’il vous manque quelque chose, vous l’achèterez ou il y aura toujours quelqu’un pour vous dépanner
→si vous avez pris des affaires qui vous embarrassent : vous les donnerez ou vous les renverrez chez vous.
» 3 THINGS WE ARE SO GLAD TO HAVE BROUGHT :
1 – Packing cube who enable ourselves to tidy and compartmentalize our backpack : it’s only backpack but when open the main zipper it’s almost like cupboard and easy to grab
2- Our water bottle LifeStraw who enable us to get access to drinking water everywhere and limit plastic use
3 – Our Speaker because we love add music in our daily life and our Headphones, to keep listening on transports or watching movies without disturb somebody else.
» THOSE WHO HELP US :
Decathlon Ruaudin, who give us to possibility to test some of their materials in exchange of feedback, and run everywhere on the hiking aisle to make this list easier.

Philippe Petit, who avoid us leaving without sunglasses and give amazing pairs to protect our eyes everywhere , in all condition, thanks a lot !
Quechua who give us the possibility to get our home and set it up everywhere, from Baikal lake coast to the great wall of China..
Nordkamm , they make every kind of high quality outdoors equipment and especially the packing cube which saves our life every day ! . You can get 10% discount on all website site with our code between 10poles .
» FINALLY… WE WANTED TO TELL YOU
List everything we got the d-day is nice / useful, but talk about our experience, mistakes or favorites it’s better !
We are writing this article after 5 months on the road , that allow us to get steps back and advise you. But, we never stop learning and we will do updates and keep on sharing or feedback and our genius idea.
Meanwhile, if you have suggestion or questions : DON’T HESITATE to comment below ! Aim of this article is to get more feedback, advises to help as more as possible travelers.
We can advise you to read this French article (an other list) : « EQUIPMENT: WHAT EQUIPMENT IS IMPORTED FOR A TOUR OF THE WORLD? » from the website Tourdumondiste which help us a lot during our preparation.
We wish you a wonderful preparation, we wish you to forget many things and realize they are useless, we wish you to get more time drinking beer with your friends / family instead of make research on google, and we wish you most of all take pleasure and … don’t forget on your wall : 2 post-it ! 😉
Delphine & Maxime.
Have you enjoyed this article ? Don’t hesitate to rate it !
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