Top 5 Backpacker Items

Those of you reading this know me - I like high thread count sheets, I eat well and I like fancy bath products. The backpacker gods demand that you forsake these things in exchange for good times and blissful happiness. Turns out you CAN sleep on sheets that feel like burlap... though you don't feel like a sexy princess doing it.

As I approach my last days in New Zealand, and I'm sitting cooped up in the Fern Lodge hostel listening to the howling wind and rain outside, I thought it'd be nice for memories' sake to make a list of the top five items that made backpacking bearable for a first timer like me.

I present, my list of top 5 backpacker items:

1) My Hideous Orange Travel Towel
Kristy insisted that I get one of these. At first I was resistant, put off by the fact that it doesn't feel like a towel at all and I was still convinced at that point that I had tons of room to spare in my pack. aaahahaha :-P
Yes it's ugly, yes it feels like a shitty piece of polyester and nothing like a towel. But it's compact, it works, it never ever smells and most importantly, it dries SO FAST. Those three little words "quick dry towel" mean so much when you're arriving at a hostel at 5pm and getting back on the bus at 7am.

2) My HP Netbook
The computer room is a good place to hang out in hostels, but sometimes I just need to curl up in my top bunk and click away on my own for a bit. Kristy, beloved all-knowing Kristy, convinced me to get a netbook and I'm so glad!! Internet is usually $4 - $10 an hour in hostels, and the lineups for free internet at the library are looooong. So I'm just pleased as punch to roll into a library and plunk down and start facebooking away. :-)
Also, the netbook allows me the luxury of privacy for my Skype calls. I'm happy to scream my head off to Kristy and Jennifer about how drunk I was last night in front of a captive audience, but the mushy gushy chats with Aussie Ryan just wouldn't be the same with some hungover fuckhead lurking behind me in the computer lounge.

3) My Air Canada Outlet Adapter
Yes, electrical outlets sure are different in this part of the world! Kind of like an Asian version of our Canadian one - more of a [< o] than a [: o]
I was going to borrow one off Aussie Ryan and forgot, then Jack gave me this rad Air Canada set when we were in Taiwan. Everywhere I go I have the smallest, cutest, most patriotic adapter evar.

4) My Giselle Sandals, Later Replaced by Fancy Havianas
I was DEVASTATED when I lost my Giselle sandals after the poo party. Step Momma Jane gave them to me and they were so so cute. But a few short days later, at AJ Hackett's Bungy Jump gift shop, I found a cute pair of Havianas that look almost the same, and are actually more comfortable.
The black fancy flip flop is a MUST for backpacker chicks. These babies go from communal shower to swimming in a lake to the bus to walking around town to up and down decent hiking trails to the pub, sometimes all in the same day. :-)

5) LBS - Little Black Shorts
Oh little black shorts how I love thee!!
Wear with runners for a hike, wear with flip flops for long days on the bus or lounging around the hostel on movie night, wear with high heels and a cute shirt and be the hottest chick at the bar. You match with everything, you have pockets and you make my ass look fantastic. :-)

Honorable Mentions:
- earplugs
- Diva Cup *warning this is a girlie product, don't click if girl stuff makes you gag
- Malaysian multi-pocket toiletries bag
- water bottle
- cough syrop