There’s a funny scene in Romancing the Stone when Michael Douglas’ character meets Kathleen Turner’s character and agrees to take her to a phone booth hundreds of miles away. He simply refuses to help her carry her completely impractical luggage and a few scenes later goes even further by chopping the heels off her shoes so she can actually walk in them. This little fiasco encompasses the essence of packing for adventure travel. Less is most definitely more!

When in a foreign country it is usually pretty easy to spot the experienced traveler from the novice. The novice is usually dragging a giant suitcase or trying to lug a brightly coloured backpack that is even bigger than they are. They are dressed in the latest “must have” adventure gear from the most expensive adventure stores and have “trekking” shoes worth hundreds of dollars. This is not the way to do it for several reasons. The first is comfort. You will usually be doing a lot of walking whenever you go on a vacation and walking with 50 kg of luggage is both tiring and difficult. You will also, most likely, be getting extremely dirty and ruining whatever clothing you take (even if it’s expensive “adventure clothing”) and don’t forget that some of your gear may even be stolen (sometimes by other travelers). If you show up with all the best and most expensive gear you are also a walking target for hustlers and thieves. With all of this in mind here are a few tips:

Luggage – If you are going to be doing anything even remotely physical and walking any further than a few hundred meters, then a backpack is definitely the way to go. But not all packs are created equal! Think small and inconspicuous. Dark colours like brown and black will attract less attention than a bright purple or red pack. Make sure it is the type of pack that has a flap on the top that closes over the pack’s opening to keep out water (the types that zip up WILL get your stuff wet). You will also want to put your clothing in waterproof stuff bags – I use standard plastic shopping bags, but there are tougher ones that you can buy from disposals and camping stores. You also want your pack to be as small as possible. Especially if you are only touring (mountaineers may need something bigger). I use a 30 liter pack but would say 45 liters is an absolute maximum for general purpose use. You will be carrying it around a lot and if you cannot fit something in then you probably don’t really need it.

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Are you into adventure travel? Well, many of us are, and I have friends who have been all over the world and done some incredible things while on an adventure vacation. Some have gone to the ends of the earth, others have climbed mountains, and still others have gone to Third World nations to help the local populations there. There are so many great things you can do to see the world, and experience it as very few people ever do.

Yes, it does cost quite a bit of money to get heavy into adventure travel, but it is well worth it. Sometimes if you go with a small group and divide the costs you can end up saving a lot of money, meaning you can go more often and do even more things. Still, there is lots of adventure travel to do here the United States, and there are ways to do it on the cheap. Are you looking for something really fun to do in the United States, and get a little bit of education while on an adventure tour? If so, maybe I have a good recommendation for you.

There was a very good article recently on Homeland Security News titled “New Business: Guided Border Tours” posted in the Border Security section on their website on May 31, 2011. The article stated that since so many citizens are interested in what is going on at the US-Mexico border there are now guided tours sponsored by Arizona based company Gray Line;

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