What to Pack For a North Pole Expedition, 100 Years Ago

Most travel experts recommend packing light, but some people cannot or will not follow this advice.

In the annals of extreme over-packers, you have two categories: Dandies and Badasses. Those who are perpetually ready to host the Queen and her entourage in their hotel rooms, and those who are, with no delusion, preparing to fight polar bears.

In the Dandy category is Temple Fielding, a prominent travel guidebook writer in the 1950s and 1960s (the man made the cover of Time, such was his fame). A long, long time (okay, five years) ago, I posted his packing list:

In [a large raffia basket] Fielding keeps a bottle of maraschino cherries, a bottle of Angostura biters, a portable Philips three-speed record-player, five records (four of mood music and "one Sinatra always"), a leather-covered RCA transistor radio, an old half-pint Heublein bottle full of vermouth, and a large nickel thermos with a wide mouth.

That's only the beginning. There are also thirty-five handkerchiefs, sealskin slippers, a yodeling alarm clock, and so much more. For years, I've considered this the Holy Grail of Packing Lists.

Until today, when I found a small article from 1917 about Arctic explorer and real-deal Badass Roald Amundsen's provisions for his expedition to the Northeast Passage.

Amundsen was planning to be gone for six years, in one of the least-known and most foreboding corners of the planet, and evidently operated on the principle that if was going to endure that, well, he was going to require certain luxuries.

Namely, he and his crew needed their candy. Six hundred pounds of it.

Also two tons of coffee and two tons of sugar.

Here's the full list, from the Princeton (Minnesota) Union on January 25, 1917:

The expedition lasted from 1918 to 1920--not six years, but it was no less epic (a word I do not use lightly) for the shorter duration. The ship was stuck in the ice for two winters and Amundsen really was attacked by a polar bear. I imagine him stumbling back to the ship after that close encounter, bloody and bewildered, and opening up his candy stash and just shoveling it in his mouth, presumably with a large whisky chaser.

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You can see the full newspaper page via the "Chronicling America" database operated by the Library of Congress. The big story on the left is what I was actually trying to find, before this story caught my eye. Also note the intriguing headline to just below Amundsen's packing list!

The burdens of baggage

Lee showed up with, like, nothing. A duffel bag--small enough to carry on--and a half-full small backpack.

I, on the other hand, have a bag packed with roughly enough items to build a space shuttle from scratch, then supply it for a year.

Clearly Lee heeded the warnings that Arthur--or rather Hope, his wife, who penned this particular chapter--offers about "the burdens of baggage."

And yet, if you'd seen our hotel room in Amsterdam last night, twelve hours before we were to head off to Brussels, you might have thought that I was the light--or at least fastidious--packer. Which led to the following conversation:

Lee: "How is it that my side of the room looks disasterous and yours is so tidy?"

Doug: "Um, tidy?" I have never been called tidy in my life. Ever.

Lee: "Yeah, it's so orderly and neat."

Doug (stifling an incredulous laugh): "That's because I've learned to create the illusion of organization. My crap doesn't sprawl as much; it's in more vertical piles. It is not cleanliness, it's craftiness. Key distinction."

Lee: "Maaaaybe."

Doug: "Actually, I'm trying to cultivate an 'Odd Couple' atmosphere. You know, for narrative's sake. I'm Jack Lemmon and you're Walter Matthau."

Lee: "I never saw the movie, but I think I get the idea."

Doug (realizing my pop culture references tend to be as outdated as my guidebooks, and about as useful): "Okay, umm ... I'm Bert and you're Ernie."

Lee: "Ah. That's better."

Doug: "I'm tall and skinny, you're short and squat."

Lee: "No. Not better. Or accurate."

I will say this, though, in my defense: I travel lighter than the New York Times' Frugal Traveler. Not that I want to start any battles with Actual Professionals here (and not that I think Matt Gross will read this), but last year, on his own Grand Tour, he packed a blazer and three (three!) pairs of shoes. Really?!

I also travel cheaper. You know, more frugally. Lee's definitely been helping with that. The hostel he found for us in Brussels--from which I write this--is fantastic. Cheap and half a block off the Grand Place. Good work, Lee!

What's in my bag?

I was going to write this in the style of The Things They Carried (possibly my favorite book ever), but then I decided that you'd probably rather just see the list.

Contents of my backpack:

• Europe on Five Dollars a Day (1963-1964 edition)
• Eurail pass
  
• A few print-outs of my parents' letters to each other in 1967 (for the sake of saving space and weight, most of the letters and postcards are saved as PDFs on my computer)
• Six t-shirts (I know that seems like a lot, but they're microfiber--packs small, dries fast!)
• Six pairs of socks
• Six pairs of boxers
• Four button-front shirts (two long sleeve, two short)
• Two pairs of trousers (actually, only one in the bag; I'll be wearing the other)
• Canon digital camera (basic point-and-shoot variety) and little Gorillapod tripod
  
• Netbook (so that I can amuse/bore you from the road. And show my new friends from all over the world the innovation that proves American Exceptionalism: Spider Solitaire.)
• Multi-nation adapter plug
  
• About a dozen little pocket-sized notebooks, plus a larger one. Also a few Post-Its.
• Lots of pens
• A few rubber bands, safety pins, and paper clips
• Belt
  
• Bungee cord clothesline
  
• Small alarm clock that ticks really loudly and may be replaced very soon
  
• Deck of playing cards (I thought about packing a Frisbee, but I don't have room)
  
• Rather a lot of medications and medical supplies. Long story. (You've heard of Crohn's Disease? Fun stuff.)
• Assorted toiletries
• A few Zip-lock bags
  
• Small towel (doubles as pillow cover in sketchy hotels/hostels)
• Little laminated map with the world on one side and the US on the other.
  
• Rain coat
• Light jacket
• A couple of Power Bars, most likely to be consumed in Germany (I'm kind of afraid of their food. I understand they've been eating it for a few years and many of them--and even one or two non-Germans--apparently like the stuff. But my gut is made of parchment paper [did I mention the Crohn's Disease thing?] and therefore I am something of a culinary coward. German food seems particularly well-calibrated for maximum lack of enjoyment, at least on my part: heavy, dense, not especially flavorful, and likely to contain animal parts that I'd actually rather not consume knowingly. I'm terrified of accidentally ordering the daily special of Boiled Esophagus Stuffed With Eyeballs And Raw Onions. So: Power Bars. Just in case.)

. . . And that's about it. Anything I'm missing? Anything I should take out? Pass judgment in the comments.

Add to packing list: knee brace

Here's a tip: if you want to make your travels abroad really interesting, a great way to achieve that goal is to become hobbled unexpectedly. And a great way to achieve that is to go in-line skating two days before you depart and wipe out spectacularly. Take particular care to land hard on your knee so that it's nicely bloody and painful (also be sure to choose a pedestrian-filled area for your wipe-out, so that you have a large audience to whom you can demonstrate your commitment to making your travels interesting).

Ow.*

24 hours until departure. Am I all packed? Nope. Am I panicking? Astonishingly, not really. I was for the last week, but now, as the moment approaches, I feel oddly prepared.

(Of course, my whole point with this trip is to be willfully unprepared. The main challenge has not been planning so much as forcing myself, against my better judgment, natural tendency/preference, and lingering anxieties about this unwise methodology, to not plan anything.)

* I would just like to note, for the record, that I am an avid and more-than-able skater, and this is just the second time I have wiped out, ever.