I’m looking at an enormous pile of stuff that I’ve somehow got to try to cram into a suitcase. Hum.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about travel tips. I’m sure that you’ve all got your own essential rules when travelling, but here are a few I’ve gathered over the years, tuned to stays in somewhat remote areas, doing field work:

• Always plan for the worst. Losing anything you’ve brought with you is going to be a pain. However if your passport, tickets or other important documents get stolen/go up in flames, you’re going to have a lot of work to do to convince the authorities that you ever had them. So I take a belt and braces approach: I scan all the important documents, then print copies to take in a different bag from the actual documents, and also upload the documents (as PDF files) to a web server. I’ve just started using Strongspace—developed by people at TextDrive—and it’s a fantastic way to keep this kind of stuff safe and secure while you’re away. If all my possessions are lost, I can always get the authorities to let me log on to my Strongspace and download copies of my stuff. You can also use it to backup on the road, which will be useful if I manage to find some network access somewhere.
• There’s some kind of unwritten rule which states that however leak-proof you believe your bottles and jars of liquids to be, the effect of changes of temperature and pressue will prove you wrong. I put all containers of liquid inside one of those zip-up, airtight plastic bags, just in case.
• In fact, I use those zip-bags to keep together all the little things that tend get lost in your suitcase or rucksack. When you’re horribly jet-lagged on arrival and rummaging blearily in your luggage to find a particular cable or socket adapter, you’ll be glad that they’re all in one easy-to-find bag.
• Special breathable, lightweight, packable clothes are wonderful, but they’re also very expensive and likely to get ruined if you spend your days crawling around in the wilderness. I use Army surplus stores for a lot of my field work clothes. They tend to be very tough, have lots of pockets and are extremely cheap. I also look on the recycling of Forces uniforms as a kind of ‘swords to ploughshares’ thing.
• You can never have too many bandanas. They can keep the sun off your head or neck, keep the dust out of your mouth and nose, and they’ll also work as emergency towels, bandages or slings. They are lightweight, cheap (a stall in the indoor markets sells them for £1 a go), and you can scrunch them into a little corner of your luggage.

I think that’s about it—what are your top tips for maintaining your safety, comfort and sanity when you travel?