How to pack for an overland trip
I feel there are two
approaches to packing for a long overland trip.
Method 1
(the one I used)
-
Lay out everything that you think you will need or would be nice to
have along on the trip.
-
Take out everything that weighs more than 15 kg or is larger than 1m
in any direction (includes things like bicycles, fridge, gas cooking
equipment. Exceptions will have
to be made, e.g. the high-lift jack.
-
Take out half of what is left.
-
Now take out everything that does not serve at least two functions.
-
Pack what is left into your Landy.
-
Add a rather large crate or trommel onto your roof rack.
This will allow you to store all those items that, after 2-3 weeks,
will become obviously and irritatingly superfluous, even though they were
indispensable before you left. These
items can be traded off along the way or sent, in the trommel, back home to
yourself.
Method 2
(the one I wish I’d used)
-
Pack a backpack as you would for a long hike.
-
Put the backpack into your Landy and leave before you can fill the
empty spaces.
I have discovered that
South Africans are masters of overloading and showing off kit that looks
good but is not necessary. We
get inundated by ads in outdoor & 4x4 magazines and overenthusiastic
salesmen at adventure shows and outdoor accessory shops that make us feel
inadequate as travellers if we do not have the latest and greatest stuff.
There is an unspoken competition to see who can outdo whom with their
gadgets. I spoke to a (unnamed
accessory shop) salesman who told me that the biggest single swipe of a
credit card for accessories was in the region of R 87 000.- (no trailer
involved but extra suspension strengtheners, no doubt).
Using method 2 for packing, this fellow could have financed a
six-month trip for two to Ethiopia and back.
Or he could have bought three old Landies and taken some friends
along.
I have met travellers that
have flown into Cape Town from Europe, bought a vehicle (to be resold at the
end of the trip) and departed on a five-month trip of southern Africa with
only the weight of equipment allowed on the plane.
So they don’t have a fold-out kitchen and they wear the same
clothes more often. So recovery
takes a bit longer with only a high-lift jack.
But they get to see the same places and probably more of them because
they spend less time packing and unpacking.
And anyone wishing to cook gourmet meals in the bush needs his/her
head examined anyway.
The question to ask of
every item while packing is not “will I need this?” but “will I get
away without this?”
Anyone need a 2-way radio?
A fishing rod? An extra
fuel container? A camp shower?
Yours in Africa,
Riff-raff
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