The first thing we think when decide to spend such a long time traveling is: what should we put in our backpacks? What is the minimum necessary to stay two years away from home? Should we carry a laptop, should we carry travel books? And how about the money? How many jackets, sweaters, gloves or swimming suits to pack?
Our plan includes several countries, in different seasons. Sometimes we will almost freeze due to a rigorous winters. Other times, it will be almost impossible to sleep due to the high temperatures and insects.
In order to keep connected to our friends and relatives, we decided to bring some electronic gear. We opted to carry a tablet, instead of a laptop, due to the volume and weight. We bought a 10.1" Android tablet, plus a bluetooth keyboard to facilitate the work of writing. Using a tablet we can also have several travel guides, maps, thesaurus and books. Kindle APP is already installed, so, we can easily download Lonely Planet guides from amazon.com. Another usefull feature is the capability of editing videos and photos in an easy way.
Another difficult decision we took: Our camera will not travel with us. We have a Nikon D90 with a couple of lenses and a flash SB900, but the size and weight would interfere in our mobility. It would be tough to to carry a big bag all the time, just to have a DSRL... of course we want to have great pictures, but I prefer to feel the freedom of having my backpack light! So, we decided to purchase a compact camera - not a pocket one - to carry during the trip. After hours of searches, I decided by Canon G1X. It seems that we will have good quality pictures with this choice. However, as everything in Brazil is toooooo expensive because of the taxes, we will buy the camera only in New Zealand, the first country we are going to visit. Another toy we decided to buy was a GoPro camera! Well... we strongly believe that we are going to dive in some paradisiac islands of Indonesia or in New Zealand and Australia, so, with this camera we'll be able to capture great moments underwater.
That's it! Our gear is decided! Soon we'll back to write about the itinerary we are going to follow!
