Niall Smith provides some essential advice for anyone planning to go backpacking. First of a two-part series.

Thinking of going to India? Or New York, or Thailand, or China or Kathmandu for that matter. Regardless of where you are going, the fact of the matter is, that half the money you are going to spend will be spent here in Ireland before you’ve even set foot on the plane.

Similarly, your experience will also be based on that activity that takes place here: preparation. So, with that in mind, what I plan to cover here is a simple guide to some of the things that you should keep an eye to before you go. No matter where you go.

First, travel insurance. Basic flight cover is free if you book your flights with most credit cards, but it only covers flights and baggage trouble getting on or off the plane. It can still be a useful supplement to your own travel cover though, as if you have any difficulties you can usually spend the money you need to on a hotel and get the money back out of the credit card company in most countries where they have offices, almost anywhere in the world. As most other claims involve going back to your insurance company, this can be handy. You’ll still need your own policy, but it’s free and it can be a handy backup. Phone your credit card company for details.

You will still probably need separate insurance. Multi-trip, world wide, year long travel Insurance is a great reassurance to have, as much for those amongst you, whom like me have Irish mammies that wonder what would make you want to go to such back of beyond places as Cambodia and such as for those actually going there.

A good policy will include up to a million pounds worth of cover, medical air ambulance repatriation home from anywhere in the world and a whole host of other features. Be warned, activities like skiing are never covered unless you explicitly say so, and things like white water rafting can be iffy. When I last bought one the English Insurance market was much more competitive than the Irish, and were more than willing to take Irish customers. Just make sure to check that they know you are a Republic of Ireland resident and expect to pay in the region of £100 pounds Sterling. Shop around, you can save quite a bit, or find that some policies cover more activities than others.

Vaccinations: Where you are going can have a huge influence on the medical precautions you are going to have to take, both for medical and legal reasons. You need tick borne Encephalitis jabs for both India and the Czech Republic, depending on the time of year. Also many countries with extensive public health coverage insist that visitors are immunised against anything their own public health system immunises against, the idea being having eradicated such and such nefarious illnesses they don’t want someone bringing them back in. Not only that, but in some cases proof of immunisation is a requirement for the visa, so you need this done not just before you go, but before you can successfully apply for a visa to go at all. The bottom line here is, you need to think ahead, months ahead in some cases. The front few pages of your guidebook should contain all of the information you need on this point, so go and buy it NOW. Put it on your Christmas list.

Documentation includes proof you’ve no criminal record, medical details, proof of address, and some embassies insist this is stamped by the department of Foreign affairs (Stephens Green North, Dublin) to prove it’s an official Irish document. Again, think ahead.

The stuff that goes into that bag may have to keep you going for up to a year, and as anybody who’s done a few trips knows, how you packed the second time out was probably very different the first. Now this part of the plan is a lot more destination dependant, hot country / cold country, West vs East, so there is less I can be specific on. Again, consult those few front pages of the guidebook. Some countries don’t use toilet roll. Think about it. Bring a decent First Aid kit, plenty of plasters, bit of bandage, a few paracetamol, that sort of thing.

If you are going to a hot country the smaller the backpack the better. Small is good. Big is bad. Very big is VERY BAD. Whatever size bag you buy, you will fill. It’s as simple as that. And you’ll think you still won’t have enough. An 80 Litre backpack fully loaded will easily weigh 30-35 Kilo. That’s 5 stone. Put that on your back, walk for half a mile in 35 degree heat and 20% humidity and see how you feel.

Or, get a 40-litre bag, 45 at the very up most (and that includes an allowance for all the extra girly bits girls seem to think they need). It might not look like much, but believe me, for any hot country it’ll hold everything you need, even for a few months, and have room for trinkets too. Plus it will fit on train beds with you, will go into Hostel security lockers if they have them, and won’t break you back. I cannot stress this enough.

You have no idea how many people I have seen with backpacks the size of themselves, and day packs they brought with them that are now loaded with extras they’ve picked up along the way. They are actually physically in tears because they have to go another two hundred yards to the next hotel or hostel because the first two closest to the train or bus station are full and the third place was the best in town anyway, simply because they have been on that train for 14 hours and are broken with tiredness and heat exhaustion. I advise 40 litres, 45 at the absolute most. Not one more. Also, avoid bags with detachable daypacks. They lean back too far. Lots of small pockets on the outside / top / sides are cool, for the guide book, visa, water bottle and all the other 100 things other you’ll need to have in easy reach.

Other gear includes a double sized treated Mosquito net. You may be on your own, but a lot of cheap hostel beds are doubles, to fit more people in, and a single net won't fit the bed. Treated so that the eggs mosquito’s lay near warm body smell don’t climb out on the inside of the net tomorrow night, and a spare bit of string, a good length, so you can always tie it up no matter what. A water bottle holder is a cool piece of kit and a simple little shoulder strap that holds a litre or so sized plastic water bottle.

Now personally I never liked money belts or wallets - they’re an obvious target. But some people swear by them. I prefer a good pair of light combat style shorts or trousers with plenty of different sized pockets to spread everything around. Obviously this all depends on your clothing. It must be cotton or linen, nothing synthetic. Go on, strap a load of polyester plastic to your belly while you lug that bag in 35C! Unbelievably painful sweat rash follows, and now where do you put your money / passport / credit cards etc?

Also if you are using one of these, keep a reasonable supply of cash in your pocket at all times and extra if you are going to the train station or wherever, enough for the ticket. Defying local taboo and opening your wallet with two years wages inside (local economy equivalent), every time you need a bus ticket or even just a bottle of water is not clever.

Would you open a wallet with two grand in the middle of Bus Áras in Dublin? No, neither would I.

Your wallet or money belt is cool for your passport and traveller’s cheques, or big denomination bills, but keep plenty of small stuff handy.

First published in An Focal, the ULSU newspaper.