Deciding what to pack for your gap year can be a fun part fo the process but essential items are often not the fun bit. Some things are universally useful whilst others are specific to certain types of travel, locations or climate. We’ve compiled the list below to help provide a starting point and to highlight the items we think you really should be taking with you.

We’ve grouped the list of things to pack into useful documents, toiletries & health care, clothes and shoes, safety items and general stuff. 

In addition to taking these documents and photocopies of the documents with you, we strongly recommend that you have an electronic copy of all of them saved securely in a cloud document storage system such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive, not just saved to your phone. This means that you will be able to log in and access them should you need them at any time, even if you lose your phone…

TOILETRIES AND HEALTH CARE

If you are the sort of person who usually wears makeup, the chances are high that you’ll want to wear makeup whilst you’re away but if you can manage with a smaller selection than normal we’d recommend paring down your makeup bag to the essentials.

CLOTHES AND SHOES

We recommend that you don’t overpack for your gap year – nobody enjoys carrying unnecessarily heavy luggage around with them! This is tricky as you will probably be packing for a longer period of time than you have before, and it may include lots of different activities or even climates that need different clothing. Choosing to pack versatile clothing that you can use in multiple situations is strongly recommended and of course, you can always buy clothes or hire cold weather gear when you are there. It’s also worth thinking about how long your clothes take to dry – the quicker the better! Whilst the precise clothing that you will take will depend on where you’re going, what activities you’re planning on doing and your own personal style, here’s some essential items to get you started:

We also think that a large scarf or sarong makes an excellent addition to any packing list as it serves so many useful purposes from wearing as an extra layer when it’s cold or as a cover up on the beach or if entering any religious sites that require covered shoulders to using as a beach towel or balled up as a pillow on the train.

SAFETY ITEMS

There may be times when you need to keep money or documents on you whilst you walk around or while you’re asleep and so we’d recommend a money belt. Being able to lock your luggage is also highly recommended so don’t forget a padlock or cable lock that you can use for this. You may also find that you stay in a hostel where the door has no lock and this is where a door wedge is invaluable. A small battery powered smoke and carbon monoxide alarm might not be the first thing you think of but might be needed. And on the subject of alarms, a personal attack alarm is definitely worth packing. It can obviously be used to scare someone away and draw the attention of the people who may be able to help you. It might sound a bit ‘James Bond’, but with models where you pull a cord to activate the alarm, you can also use your trusty gaffa/duct tape between your bedroom door and the frame to sound if someone forces their way into your room or if they have a spare key that you don’t know about.

GENERAL STUFF

Whether it’s staying in touch with friends or family back home, making plans with new friends, staying clean or keeping entertained you’ll find there’s a whole heap of other general stuff that you might want to pack for your gap year. Here’s our list:

Finally we’d definitely recommend strong gaffa / duct tape (the sort with fabric interwoven inside). Why? Duct tape can fix holes in rucksacks, suitcases, shoes, mosquito nets and more. In addition that you can use it to hang up peg-less clothes lines and mosquito nets, and even as a way of securing your essential documents within your bag. Plus, if you’re the person with the duct tape, you’ll always be needed by others – an excellent ice-breaker!