Packing for a walking or trekking holiday

Packing for a walking or trekking holiday should be easy, but unless you listen to advice and experience, basic mistakes can have a considerable impact on the enjoyment of the trip.

Comments Mark Knowles, Walks Worldwide’s Product Manager who has spent a lifetime of planning and enjoying the world’s greatest treks: “If you are going on a bucket and spade holiday and forget the spare pair of swimming shorts it is unlikely to ruin your holiday.

“However if you are on a trekking holiday and you break a shoelace and don’t have a replacement, it can cause severe problems as there isn’t usually enough lace left to secure your boot safely.”

Often asked for his advice, here is Mark’s essential packing guide:

Soluble Vitamin C tablets

“I always add soluble Vitamin C to my water bottles to keep my vitamin levels up. But be warned; as most Vitamin C tabs are effervescent you need to let them fully dissolve before shutting your water bottle tight, otherwise they have a habit of exploding when you open your bottle and getting covered with sticky fluid is one way of attracting insects!

Shemagh or Shish (Arabic style head scarf)

“Handy for keeping the sun off your head, sitting on when resting, covering up, drying yourself, additional warmth, swatting flies, improvised sling.... I've had lots of uses for a shemagh in my time including tying around a person to lead them over ‘interesting’ terrain when they were petrified.”

Waterproofs and hat

“Absolutely essential wherever you are in the world – waterproofs (good quality, breathable) – keep you dry (obviously), are lightweight and can be handy for additional warmth if required. More importantly they keep the wind out; it is invariably a cold wind that will take your body heat away. And of course a hat can keep the sun out during the daytime and the warmth in at night!”

Trekking poles

“I very much subscribe to the use of at least one trekking pole. There is the obvious benefit of less impact on the knees, but you can use them to stabilise yourself coming down tricky hills.....test questionable terrain (e.g. just how deep is that puddle?), ward off stray dogs and so on.

Water Purifying Tablets

“Depending on the destination, I'd always consider water purifying tablets as walkers and travellers overseas tend to lose their energy as a result of dehydration. So, if you need water from a questionable source, it needs to be purified.”

Broken in, comfortable & waterproof boots

“This might sound obvious but you’d be amazed how many people buy new boots for trips. I once saw an extremely disappointed couple on an Everest trek have to return home after two days with severely blistered feet from their new leather boots.”

And finally…

“Never, ever go anywhere without a torch (spare batteries), compass and a whistle.”

For more information, visit walksworldwide.com.