Very informative and enabling article written by the man who has both been there, done that and then managed to pack the T-shirt into his backpack, gapyear.com's Tom Griffiths. Includes photographic evidence, erm, examples that is. Get packing...

Buying and packing a backpack Taken from 'The Virgin Student Travellers' Handbook' by Tom Griffiths: This has got to be one of those 'teaching your granny to suck eggs' things. Imagine me, a grown up, teaching you, a grown up, how to pack your backpack!! Ridiculous eh? Well, no, not really. Packing a backpack is actually an art. I remember the advice Tony and I were given when we first went away at 18 - '...make sure you turn up to the airport with a half full bag...' Why? Basically, because you're just going to fill it again twice over, you're not going to use everything, so why bring it? Fortunately, I heeded this advice, nonchalantly walking up to the check out with a bag about three quarters full slung over one shoulder. Tony on the other hand, being a bit of a big girl's blouse, had the thing bursting at the seams with all sorts of rubbish that he didn't use. It was so stuffed that his mum took one look at it and vowed never to let him near the turkey at Christmas ever again! Poor old boy. It wasn't the fact that it was stuffed with all sorts of useless rubbish that made me laugh, it was the fact that he was wheeling it in on a trolley as he couldn't lift the damn thing!! Anyway, we lived and learned. Tony ended up sending a whole load of stuff back home from Australia and within a couple of months mine was chocker and I was even carrying a dijeridu around with me. Hopefully you can learn from our mistakes and maybe the get the benefit of our experience. If you've never done this stuff before work through this section of the site, take your time, give it a go, make some mistakes... and learn from them. Buying backpacks and packing them is all part of the travel experience and can be a right laugh, so if you are reading this section with a huge amount of dread... get stuck in and enjoy it you miserable old sod! Checklist - Choose your backpack carefully - Try it with stuff in it before you throw away the receipt - Take half the amount of stuff that you think you'll need - Don't leave packing till the night before you go! - Practise walking with a full pack before you go - Distribute weight evenly in your backpack - Stop things from digging into your back Click here >> for advice on choosing the right backpack Click here >> for female-specific backpack advice Click here >> for male-specific backpack advice Click here >> for advice on how to wear a backpack Click here >> for advice on what you should take Click here >> for kit we recommend Click here >> for tips on what to keep in your day bag Click here >> for a packing checklist Click here >> to buy backpacks

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