fter booking your ight, receiving your passport,and obtaining your railpass, the rst major hurdleyou must cross is deciding what to take with youfor an excursion that will last weeks or even monthsthrough Europe with only a backpack and a sense ofadventure.The two most important items are your backpackand your passport, because both are essential toyour survival. Your pack becomes a closet, a pillow,a cabinet, a fridge, a burden, and even a friend.(This may sound silly now, but just wait until youbond during your trip together. We guarantee youwill probably have even developed a nickname foryour trusty pack when all is said and done.)Once you have the right backpack, the next part isobviously deciding what goes inside it. This is oftenthe hardest part of the process, so we have laid outsome ground rules for you while keeping in mindthat every backpacker is different.There is no reason to go broke before you set footon European soil. We suggest you borrow as muchgear as possible from friends and family who enjoytraveling or camping. There will, of course, bethings to purchase and you need to decide what youare willing to spend money on.Bargain hunting pays off, so don’t wait untilthe last minute to buy the items on your list. Bykeeping an eye out for sales, we found our packablejackets at half price, which remains one of the bestpurchases we have ever made. If all else fails, whenChristmas or your birthday comes around, you knowwhat to ask your family for to alleviate the strain onyour wallet.Most of the gear you purchase will last for a decadeor more, so you need to think of each purchase asan investment for your future travels.Having this gear available also gives youan excuse to get off your sofa and go ona new adventure.
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PASSPORT FIRST, PACK LATER
Almost as comforting as your backpackis your passport. This tiny rectangularbook acts as a key to the world, allowingyou to travel freely from country tocountry and accumulating characterwith each stamp it earns.For United States citizens, passportsare easy to obtain but arenot cheap and take about sixweeks to receive. Start theapplication process early byvisiting the United States Department ofState Web site,
www.travel.state.gov
,and following the links. You can alsopick up information and applicationsfrom the post ofce.The most important part of theprocess is having proof that you are acitizen, which in most cases is a birthcerticate. This document cannot justbe a photocopy; it must be a certiedbirth certicate. If you do not have acertied document, it can be purchasedfrom the National Center for HealthStatistics Web site,
www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm.
Once you have this document,complete the paperwork online or printit out and ll it in by hand. Get a couplepassport photos which can be purchased
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ThePassportEquation:
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