The first time I left for Europe it was for a 5 month trip. I spent about a year saving and planning my trip. I read and re-read all the messages here and had a huge list of things to take. I cut out everything I could, made sure I packed light, and brought every little thing that might be usefull. I spent weeks worrying if I’d brought enough, what I might forget and if I was taking too much…

The second time I left for Europe (a month in Eastern Europe and another month in Eastern Canada) I took 30 minutes to throw some clothes and a few odds and ends in my pack and left without a worry and a lighter pack.

The first time I had a sewing kit, cold medicine, medi-kit, maps of major cities, swiss army knife, compass, mole skin, sleep sheet… All of these things I didn’t bring the second time. On the second trip I lost a button so I went out and bought one and borrowed a needle/thread from someone at a hostel. Got a cold, went to a pharmacy and bought some medicine…

Basically, as long as you’re not in some jungle somewhere you can buy everything you /might/ need when you need it. And in a lot of places in Europe, it’s a lot cheaper than at home. Why carry all that stuff all over the world when you can borrow small things (knife, corkscrew, moleskin) when you happen to need it. If you find you need something a lot just buy one.

I also learned to travel with the knowledge that everything I own might get stolen, and then tried to realize what would actaully be a hassle. The two important things I ended up with were access to money and my camera. Both of these came even before my passport (I’ve seen people have them stolen. They aren’t too hard to replace. You just get a police report filled out, head to the embassy and wait awhile – of course depending where you are your milage my vary. I’m not saying it would be FUN to lose your passport, just not the End-Of-The-World). Access to money is the only real killer problem. If you have your credit cards/traveler cheques stolen you would be in bad shape. So, I had two credit cards: one in my wallet, one in my money belt. Then photocopies of it in my backpack and at with my parents so I could have them fax it. That as well as about $500US in TC’s…
Anyhow, just some thought for everyone to discuss…