4. Drinking water & water bottle.
I never carried water myself, neither did I drink much of it
over the month I was in Enoosaen. Water is life, we need it. And we need to
consume clean, safe water. If you are lucky to stay with a good host family
like I did, you will get clean water. But sometimes, communities have survived
consuming non potable water. Never should your conscience swindle you to drink
such water without boiling. Just because it works for the locals doesn’t mean
it will not cause havoc in your system. I used to buy distilled water every
time I was away from home. You may not be lucky to get a shop where you can buy
bottled water, so best have your water bottle with you, and carry clean safe
water from home every morning. Or, you can buy bottled water in plenty and
travel with it so you can drink it always.
5. Toiletries
Once I traveled to the US with a friend, and she never
carried bathing soap/gel. She had imagined we would be getting these supplies
in the host college. Turns out she was wrong! I always carry my own bathing soaps, washing
soaps and disinfectant whenever traveling. These items should be carried in
plenty. You’d rather have extra than less. Other toiletries never to be left
out are: wet hand wipes and toilet rolls. And with these; extra is best, never exact as
it may be less.
6. Pain killers / simple first aid kit
Before traveling, I was feeling quite unwell, perhaps that
was anxiety. I called my mom who happens to be a nurse and asked her whether I
should swallow drugs prior. She warned against taking medication if I wasn’t
unwell. But she reminded me to carry some medication with me; malaria tabs,
pain killers and antibiotics. I have always traveled with painkillers. But I
realized that it is important to carry not only pain killers, but anti-allergy tabs
and skin anti-allergy ointments. You may also carry Elastoplast and bandaging
material, safety pins….simple first aid kit.
7. Snacks & Drinks
I never want to carry snacks because they make me feel laden.
There are people who however can’t do without light snacks every once in a
while. You may buy healthy snacks such as nuts and pack them in your bag to
munch whenever hungry. If you are being hosted by a family, carry enough to
share with all sometimes.
When it comes to drinks, I am not merely referring to soft
drinks or fresh juices, I am also referring to beverages such as coffee, tea bags and chocolate. I don’t take white tea nor fresh milk. In the
Maasai community, almost everyone if not all takes white tea. That means if one
doesn’t take white tea, you would need to prepare black tea separately. To save
time, you can have hot water boiled for you (or boil it yourself) then add
coffee, or chocolate, or tea bags or milo or horlick etc. So buy and carry what
you prefer.
One can also carry morning
cereals and canned proteins to eat in the morning. This will give you a
good start of the day. I was lucky to stay in a home with plenty of home grown
fruits (especially sweet bananas), otherwise you may get some fruits at a local
market in the area.
8. Electronics
Never forget your most precious electronics. And depending
on the nature of work you do, you may need to carry your laptop with you or
leave it behind. I hadn’t wanted to carry my laptop as I’d thought that would
be too much burden on me. I like traveling light, I will always leave behind
anything that would be contrary to that liking. For the one month I was away,
this would turn out to be “the most precious” gadget I had…far more precious
than my mobile phone. That sounds insensible perhaps, but it is the reality.
With your laptop, you may be lucky to get access to power supply for charging,
or a good solar connection that one can use to recharge.
Therefore, don’t believe behind any electronics you always
love working with; your phone, your e-reader, laptop, camera, music player etc.
But also don’t carry too much of this things, albeit the most handy ones should
do. You are not heading to a community where your interpersonal relation
matters. You don’t want to spend too much time on electronics when you should
be bonding with people.
Ensure the security and proper care of all your electronics
at all times.
No comments:
Post a Comment