Here is what Nicholas Crane took with him when he started out on his 10,000 km trek across Europe:
- one pair cotton trousers
- one cotton shirt
- jacket
- cotton windbreaker
- thermal underwear
- two pairs of socks
- trilby hat
- down sleeping bag (well past its prime)
- bivouac bag (with 24 holes)
- stainless steel mug
- plastic teaspoon
- two-blade pocketknife (smallest Swiss Army knife available)
- 38mm-long can opener
- maps
- compass
- notebook
- pen & ink cartridges
- airmail paper & envelopes
- list of addresses
- cuttings from books (!)
- Spanish dictionary
- passport & money
- picture of his wife
- scallop shell (symbol of Santiago de Compostela)
- vitamins
- 4 band-aids
- glasses and case
- boots
- rucksack
- umbrella
Sheesh. I probably take more for an hour long hike! I'll bet my first aid kit (which can handle anything from splinters to fractures) weighs more than his entire kit. But I guess you can't walk 10,000 km if you're a packrat. Cycling is another matter, though. For comparison's sake, here is what Dervla Murphy took when she cycled from Ireland to India in 1963:
- 2 wool vests
- 2 pairs wool long-johns
- 1 pair gabardine slacks
- 1 pair rain pants
- 2 heavy sweaters
- 2 Viyella shirts (gotta love Viyella!)
- 1 gabardine windbreaker
- 1 wool balaclava
- 1 ski cap
- 1 pair fur-lined gauntlets
- bar of soap
- face-cloth
- hand-towel
- toothbrush
- toothpaste
- 3 tubes insect repellent
- 100 Chlorine tablets
- 1 oz potassium permanganate (against snake bite)
- 1 doz Acromycin
- tin of band-aids
- 100 Aspirin
- 100 Paludrin (against malaria)
- 6 tubes sunburn ointment
- Nehru's History of India
- Blake's Poems
- 1.25 automatic pistol
- 4 rounds ammo
- 12 pens
- 6 notebooks
- maps
- cycling cape
- camping knife
- Thermos
- mug
- passport
- money belt & travellers cheques
- bike repair kit
Now that's more like it! Two shirts! Woohoo! And wool, wonderful wool. I must admit I've been camping with an outfit not much better than Crane's and lived to tell the tale, but now that I've experienced Viyella, Pendleton, and King of the Mountain, there is no going back!
