You made the decision to go on a world tour, nice! What should not miss on your packing list for the trip of your life? There is no universal packing list, because it depends on your own needs. Check out our advice to be well prepared.

Less is more

In general, people tend to pack too many clothes and items, but less is more! This is more difficult than it seems. It is not necessary to take everything you might need, because you travel to a country not the moon; it is possible to purchase the items you need during your trip. For instance, we will start our journey in Patagonia (cold), which is unsuitable for relaxing at the beach and snorkelling. If we would bring our beach towels and snorkel set, we would have to carry them without being useful for a couple of months. Therefore, we decided to buy these items where we would need them.

How will you travel?

Firstly, you should think about your upcoming trip; how will you travel? This is very important while preparing the packing list for your tour around the world.

• Will you go on multiple-day hikes?
• Will you be in cold or warm areas?
• Will you do city trips?
• Will you spend most of your time at beaches?
• Will you discover the jungles?
• Or do you want to do a bit of everything on your trip?

If you …

• Go on multiple day hikes,
  you probably need hiking boots / trail runners, a rain jacket and functional clothes (fleece, merino wool shirts and socks, zip-off pants). Also, you should think about a layering systems (base layer for its moisture wicking ability, mid layer for heat retention, hard shell to keep the wind and rain out; especially if you hike in areas where the temperature can drop rapidly.

• Go to warm areas or tend to stay at tropical beaches,
  you probably don’t need hiking boots, long outdoor pants or a really warm fleece jacket. Enough sunscreen, a hat or a second swimming pants might be more important in this case. If you want to go snorkeling most of the time, you should even think about taking swimming googles and a snorkel with you.

• We will be in warm and cold areas, will do multiple day hikes and also tend to go snorkeling and diving at paradise beaches.
  That means, that we need clothes for all weather conditions, but we don’t want to pack too much (weight, hassle…).

Our packing list for the world tour

This is how we packed for the trip. It can serve you as a good inspiration for your own packing list!

Tops, t-shirts & pullover

Pants / skirts

Jackets

Shoes

Underpants

Others

Cosmetics & medicine

Backpacks, daypacks & others

Documents

• Passports
• Booking confirmations (flight, bus, accomodation)
• Vaccination certificate
• International driver license
• Scratch pad
• Pens
• Very small address book
• Credit cards (master and visa)
• Global health insurance
• Passport photos

Electronics

• Laptop (1x)
• Tablet (1x)
• External hard drive (1x)
• Camera (2x)
• Tripod (1x)
• Go Pro Hero Black 5 (1x)
• “Spotify Premium”
• Headphones (2x)
• Powerbank (2x)
• Travel adapter (2x)
• TAN-generator (2x)
• E-reader (2x)
• UV water filter (1x)
• Chargers
• SD cards

We hope that the packing list for a tour around the world will help you while packing. If you follow these three aspects, you will be able to create your own perfect packing list:

• Think about what kind of travel you will do and how the weather circumstances in your destinations will look like.
• Try to pack as light as possible.
• Take our packing list as an inspiration.

Do you go on a multiple day hike and don’t know what to pack? Then read our post about ‘Torres del Paine packing list: How to pack for the W-trek!‘

Which items do you think should not miss while writing a packing list for a trip around the world?