Must Have Travel Items for Travel to Third World Countries

what you should have brought, so the next time you went to a third world country, you was much more prepared! Here are some must-have items if you are planning on going to a third world country any time soon.

Toilet Paper

I’ll never forget the scene: We had just landed in one of the major “cities” of Papua New Guinea. We were shocked to find just how decrepit the main airport terminal was in this “major city”. Even more disheartening was to find the toilet facilities (we had not had them on the flight and were anxious for relief). We walked in to a bathroom, if it could be called that, to find all three toilets overflowing on the floor, with no toilet paper to be found.

With total ingenuity that only teens can find, we pulled out plastic bags from our carry-ons that some toiletries were in, slipped those on our feet, and did what we had to do (talk about squatting talents!).


Sanitizing Hand Products

Running water is not always an option in third world countries. For germ-a-phobes like me, this can be traumatic. Having something like hand sanitizer or sanitizing lotion can help redeem some of the grossness of the situation.
Disposable Camera

Once you are established at your final destination, it may be time to bring out your real camera, but if you are in the city or towns of a third world country, a disposable camera is safer to carry with you. In Port au Prince, Haiti, I wasn’t out of the airport and on the street for more than two minutes when one of the street children ran up to me and tried to steal my camera. It’s much better to have a disposable camera stolen and lose a few pictures than have a digital camera stolen, and with it your entire picture card.

Portable Water Filters

Drinking water is going to be hard to find in a lot of these places. Camping stores and Internet sites offer filtered water bottles and portable water filters that can help make even the worst water drinkable (though there are always some viruses so small that they will even slip through the best of water filters — always keep that in mind). Don’t forget replacement cartridges, depending on the length of your stay.

Flashlight

Depending on where you are, electricity will either be completely non-existent or sporadic. It’s amazing how dark “dark” can be, when there is not one city light to be found.

Hat or Bandanna

Hair can start looking and feeling pretty nasty after so many days without a shower. Hats and bandannas can cover up the worst of it and make you feel half-way presentable.
Baby Powder

We used to douse ourselves in what we called “powder baths”. Both third world countries I was in were hot countries, which meant sweaty bodies. Without shower privileges, this resulted in some pretty smelly people. Baby powder helped eliminate some of the perspiration (at least for a few minutes) and made us feel like we had done something, as far as staying half-way clean went.

Sunscreen

Again, because third-world countries are often on, or near the equator, the sun shines much brighter than it does in our hemisphere. When I was in Papua New Guinea three of our team members got sun poisoning from being burnt by the sun so badly, and the rest of us had sunburns that went so deep we peeled two layers. Buy the highest SPF you can and forget about trying to get a tan. Chances are, you will still get some color, even with the sunscreen on.

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