What not to bring

There are always things that you wish you hadn’t taken - usually too late, when you’re schlepping up to the eighth floor of your pension. Rather than having to go through the agonies of offloading stuff halfway through your trip, here are some pointers about what you really might not need.

Too much paper

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve found this a perennial problem. Those glossy brochures that I mentioned earlier are also given out by tourist offices in many of the countries you will visit, and are just as hard to part with. As before, copy any relevant information into a notebook, and then return the brochure or leave it at a hostel for others to read.

If you should minimize brochures, you should ultra-minimize books. The paper in books is magically transformed into lead when enclosed in a backpack and hoisted to your shoulders. One guidebook per person (preferably different books if in a group), then maybe one book more. If you want to bring something to read in spare moments, bring cheap paperbacks that you can trade or give away.