A few days until your trip and you are in panic mode, what should you pack?
You're off to a foreign country and while you decided to pack light, suddenly you are thinking about bringing aspirin, multi-vitamins, sunscreen, boxes of band-aids, disinfectant spray and so on.
DON'T
All you need to worry about is underwear and socks. Seriously that is what I found the hardest to find in South East Asia and from talking to other travelers, digital nomads, and expats, they agree that in third world countries those are items hard to find. Unless you want to wear tighty whities and grandpa socks Made in China that are 100% synthetic and who knows what chemicals they contain.
Shoes are another important item. Especially hiking shoes if you intend to go for a decent hike. Be sure to break them in. Sure you can find shoes just about anywhere in the world, but are they going to be a good quality and will they have the style you like in your size? In South East Asia you just need to walk into a shoe store and they see your size 11s and will quickly wave you off "no have".
Or you can pay full on regular price for a shoe you can get back home at a discount and really don't like at all.
Really all you need is a couple shorts, some shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes. Everything else you can pretty much grab on the road. Of course you want to research your destination a little bit to ensure the item you want to buy isn't more expensive and hard to find where you're headed. Like that crazy 30% import tax on foreign made products in Thailand that can go up to 100% for some appliances.
You'll also want to check the voltage, and you're better off bringing a NutriBullet if the voltage is compatible. It doesn't hurt to do a quick google search for <your country name> online shopping <appliance name> to see what prices are like and what's readily available. Like dishwashers and countertop dishwashers in Thailand, forget about it. Plastic storage containers in Thailand, sure but same price as in Canada. Unless you want to go down to "Supercheap" and try your luck at one Made in China.
The point is, don't pack the Aspirin. In Thailand for example you won't find it at most Drugstores but sure enough every Pharmacy sells them dirt cheap and in strips of 10 so you don't have to lug around an entire bottle. Not that I'm a fan of Aspirin anyway, although I did once nurse some plants back to health by crumbling some up and spreading it in the soil.
Oh yeah the one thing I tend to always pack is some Viennese Coffee from my travels to Austria Europe:
When it comes to trading, the same logic applies. Don't get every single indicator you can find or someone raves about. There are so many schmucks trying to flog their dashboards, indicators etc.
Guess what, they all pretty much show you the same thing in a different way. You'll get by with just a handful. 3 maybe 5 at most. Pick a few Moving Averages like SMA 50, 200, MACD, Bollinger Bands and you're good to go. Click here for some more advanced indicators I created.
The point is, don't get tempted to over analyze, and keep it simple. Pack your undies, socks, wear your best all around shoes, buy flip flops at the beach, and bring enough clothes to fit in a bag pack.
