The basics. The basic rule for backpacking is to be as flexible as possible. This means, have no accommodation or internal travel pre-booked if you can possibly help it. It is much better to find it yourself, especially if you are going to be staying in the budget places. Don't worry about there being no accommodation available, there is always something around in your price range. As far as transport goes, once you know when and where you want to go next, you just go and buy the ticket. EG, in India its best to book your train tickets at least a few days in advance as they are popular. And don't believe some travel tout's assurances that there are no tickets left, "take our (expensive) taxi instead". Book your tickets from the train stations themselves to avoid travel agent's commission, (its more fun and very easy in places like Thailand at least). But for buses, you only need to turn up at the bus station a few hours or even minutes beforehand and buy a ticket, even for the longer journeys. Again, you can buy these at travel agents in India and Nepal, especially as it is difficult to know where they leave from in those countries.

We travelled the backpacker's way. We had no firm plans before we left (but generally an idea of where we wanted to go) and no hotel accommodation booked, no travel booked either (apart from the main flights). This is by FAR the best way to go as lots of times we stayed longer or shorter than planned, or went somewhere different altogether. So, we just turned up in a city or town and had an idea of what area we wanted to stay, and caught a rickshaw/taxi etc there. Then we generally got out and Gail would sit in a restaurant and have a coffee and look after the bags while I would scout around for suitable accommodation without the bags and therefore without hotel touts following me around. The kids either stayed with Gail or came with me, it was up to them. So, it is a good idea to work out whereabouts you want to stay in a city or town before hand. In Kathmandu the best locality is Thamel (pronounced "Tamel"). This was also true in a lot of cases in Thailand.

Items we found indispensable. Water bottles for pumping filtered water into and carrying in daypacks. Silk liners for sleeping bag (so small, strong and light, but expensive). Travel towels, you will generally need your own as budget hotels do not supply towels. Best are the swimmer's chamois type. Those little screwed up elasticized washing lines are fantastic, I don't know why all budget travelers don't have them. You are always looking for somewhere to hang washing. We saw others draping them over rope and all sorts, hardly ideal. We took large nappy (daiper) pins, mainly because they are useful for pinning your underclothes to your pack to dry when trekking (in Nepal). I don't remember them being all that useful otherwise. Other essentials are lots of bags to organise gear in in your packs: zip-lock plastic bags, all sizes. Excellent for keeping bits and pieces together in your packs as well as clean and dry. Gail also made clothes bags for everyone, just sacks with a drawstring top with spring toggle. Similar to sleeping-bag sacks, but made of cloth so can be washed. These were EXCELLENT as they keep everyone's clothes together so you don't have to go digging thru your pack for sox etc. Also a larger one for a laundry bag, excellent when staying somewhere for a few days, keeps all your dirty laundry organised and good for carrying to the laundry. Also, we bought a well designed toiletries bag from Go! (available at department stores and other travel accessories outlets). It is black soft vinyl, folds open flat with about 4 clear plastic zippered compartments, so you can see what's in them. Excellent. Also, a large soft bag (also from Go!), sold as a shirt bag I think, but excellent as a general purpose "keep stuff together" bag (including medications, shampoo etc etc). I took earplugs for sleeping as I am a light sleeper, Asia can get very noisy at night. Those blow-up neck pillows were good on buses (with the eye patches as bonuses). Those little mini-maglite torches (flashlights) are essential. Also are padlocks for locking packs and hotel rooms (4 keyed-alike from Lockwood were very handy). A bike chain is essential to lock your packs up on trains. You should have a good first aid kit. Get a good one, with those little compartments (see Health page for what to pack in it). A strong notebook for your journal, plus a small one for addresses and expenses. A smallish document folder that can be zip-closed, for carrying papers, photocopies, collected pamphlets etc, very useful.