Originally published in 2015 / Updated in 2017
When we are reunited with our Land Cruiser after our annual trip to the Netherlands, we need to unpack all kinds of goodies, spices, parts and toys we brought with us. We thought it would be fun to share what kind of stuff we’ve been hauling to the other side of the world.
The list has grown by the year and consists of a combination of necessities (particularly car-related stuff) and utter luxuries (particularly the food items).
Here we go.
1. First-aid Kit & Tools for the Land Cruiser
As followers of our journey know, we always have a (too long) to-do list for the Land Cruiser.
The car’s first-aid kit consists of:
I hate it when something rattles and thus we resort to a wide variety of glues and adhesives for different kinds of fixing.
Read More: Fixing a Rattling Door
Sealants & Glues
- My #1 sealant/glue is Marine Sikaflex, which stays flexible as a rubber kind of bond. The only thing I don’t like about it is that once opened it won’t keep very long. If you keep it in the fridge it will hold longer.
- The same goes for the Sugru. But because it comes in separate small packages it is my #1choice for small repairs.
- A tube of Bison Kit always goes a long way and stores forever.
- The same goes for Tesa’s Extra Power tape.
- New this year is the Bison Poly Max Express, let’s see how that will hold in the humid tropics.
Note that you can find Sikaflex in some South American countries, but do check the expiration date – many of them are old. You can also find duct tape in many countries on this continent but in our experience it’s of inferior quality. Same goes for glue.
Toyota Parts
The Land Cruiser always needs some tender love and care. 4×4 Service Valkenburg has provided us with original Toyota parts, which makes the BJ45 [and me] a happy camper. This year Dennis brought us much-needed Heavy Duty Engine Mounts.
Read More: The Land Cruiser’s Ins & Outs
Car-related Stuff
Last year I made some headway with the idea to facilitate the easiness of installing the awning. In December, In Bogotá, I bought two big 4″ sanitary PVC pipes and fixed them between the roof and the roof-rack. A solution I had often seen on electrical and service trucks but had never given it much thought until I saw Yann retrieve stuff from their tube from their Citroën HY somewhere in Argentina.
Last January I made a small awning for the rear so we can cook sheltered from rain and the sun at the rear of the Land Cruiser. This then gave me enough confidence to order more TenCate All Seasons fabric, awning rails and linings. This will be sufficient for a new and improved awning that will replace the one we made in Malaysia eight years ago.
Read More: The Essentials Series – Recovery Gear for Overlanding
2. Food
A taste of Asia
Obviously we are not bringing Asian spices when traveling in Asia, but when staying in Argentina and Chile for a year or two, well, those spices may just be the thing you need to bring some variation in your meals.
With Venezuela being our next destination [where many things no longer are available – find the stories here] Karin-Marijke stocked up a bit more than usual.
A small jar of Sambal Oelek – raw chili paste. In the Indonesian archipelago are as many as 300 varieties of sambal, but it is this bright red one we like the most to use in our homemade hot peanut sauce that we make from scratch with our own, again homemade, peanut butter. The stuff is really hot, so a little jar goes a long way.
Read More: A World of Peanut Butter
Plant-based Choices
Since we’ve switched to a whole food, plant-based diet [to learn more about this, here’s a good source – tip: watch their movie] we try to find variety in the types of beans and lentils. We LOVE lentils but here, in some South American countries the selection is rather limited. Since in the Netherlands there are many more so we’ve started bringing some of those as well.
Since we eliminate animal foods as much as possible, a vitamin B12 supplement has become a necessity. In some places we may find it, but since we can’t be sure we stock up in the Netherlands.
Read More: Flexcooking in Peru
Sweet & Savory Treats
I don’t know who started the crazy habit, but since a few years we seem to pack one or two packages of prepared zuurkool – sauerkraut, which is a winter meal in the Netherlands, It’s a favorite of Karin-Marijke. You don’t need a fridge to keep it for quite some months.
We Dutch are crazy about licorice or, as we call it, drop
I don’t know what happened but we seem to have downscaled our activity in that department and I need to speak to Karin-Marijke about that. Three little bags is way too few to get us through the year. Edited to add by Karin-Marijke: that’s because I love zuurkool – we can bring only so much weight – and I do the groceries 🙂
3. Food-related Stuff
Kitchenware
We bought the nifty Functional Form Grater from Fiskars, which after looking at so many graters seems a perfect kitchen companion to us. Edited to add in 2017 by Karin-Marijke: The pro is also the con: I am very happy with it, but it is dangerously sharp. I have cut my fingertips numerous times.
Not visible in our images is a small Zwilling knife protector. I found that our favorite little cutting pal, the Global bird’s beak knife, was getting blunt very quickly because it sits together with all the cutlery in a box. So this Edge Guard should prevent this.
Read More: Food – Related Articles
Waterbottles
In our quest to minimize aluminum and BPA stuff in our mobile kitchen, Sjoerd from Made Sustained sent us two stainless steel drinking bottles last year. Made of double-walled, high-grade material these sturdy, 500ml flasks have done a great just. They keep our drinks cool and the slim size makes them slide easily in a daypack and – more importantly – between the two seats in the Land Cruiser, in our homemade cubby box.
The two things I didn’t like about them were the thin foil they were wrapped in, which scratched, and the insides of the cap that were made of plastic.
This year Sjoerd again reached out to us with a new and improved fully stainless steel cap. The downside is that they don’t fit on the original bottles so he sent us two new ones. The Made Sustained Knight Bottle come in 350ml and 500ml.
The Snow White version lacks the thin plastic wrap.It’s beautiful but we can’t keep it white for long and it already is sporting some oil stains. Can’t have it all. Sjoerd made another great gesture and included 2 unbreakable Made Sustained Silver Party Cups. Thanks, Sjoerd!
Optimus Hiker Stove & Coleman Stuff (with a fun story)
Okay, so Karin-Marijke wanted the zuurkool and she got it. What did I get in return? The Optimus Hiker+ has been on my list for a long time. When I was traveling on my Honda Pan European with my Guzzi friend Eric in the years before this overland journey, I had my little tent and sleeping gear. We mostly eat out, which was the main reason that stopped me from buying this fancy cooker.
Nowadays, our main cooking set-up is a Coleman 2 burner. In 2006 I bought a small Primus Multifuel at a clearance sale which we use on hikes. It is small, light and versatile as it uses a multitude of fuels. It has served its purpose on numerous hikes in South America. So far so good.
Read More: Why we Cook on Gasoline – the Coleman Stove
But recently we were discussing stoves with other overlanders in Venezuela and the subject about failure came up. What do you do if your main cooking unit fails? The German couple we talked with had a gas stovetop inside their truck. It had stopped working and, as a replacement, they were using the same Coleman 2 burner as we have.
They were complaining about the rust. I had to agree when seeing their Coleman it would fall apart within the coming months if not weeks. It reminded me of a time that our Coleman needed cleaning and I couldn’t use it for a couple of days. We used the Primus instead, which worked fine but wasn’t something I’d want to do for weeks on end.
Each year I visit Qvist in Zwolle to buy a spare generator for our stove. We also bought our Coleman Camp Oven
In the previous week Karin-Marijke and I had been rummaging through our old stuff in her parent’s attic and stumbled upon a pristine 1968 Coleman Lantern in a box, complete with warranty registration and all.
Read More: Bake Your Own Bread? Are You Nuts! – Our Coleman Camp Oven
Peters has a weakness for old Coleman Lanterns and his shop is laced with these type of old lanterns, and when Karin-Marijke’s mom and I were there she mentioned something to him about our recent find in the attic. He showed interest. Peter was willing to swap the lantern for a new Optimus Hiker+.
I double-checked the price of the Coleman Lantern on the box, which said $10.95 [that was in 1968] and asked Peter if he was sure about the swap. His smile told me everything and we sealed the deal with a firm handshake. Thank you, Peter.
Edited to add: a critical note from Karin-Marijke: so now we have a Primus Multifuel for hiking, a two-ring Coleman stove for daily use, ánd an Optimus Hiker. Exactly when are we going to use the latter? It would have been great had we been able to ditch the Coleman but we can’t because you can’t put the oven on an Optimus Hiker [may be the only downside to this apparel].
Books & Puzzles
Books
Ebooks are space-saving for lots of books but they are crap – in Karin-Marijke’s humble opinion – when it comes guidebooks
In the Netherlands we always include trips to Kringloop Winkels [second-hand shops]. This year we have an interesting selection of books which do betray some of the options we’re considering for the next phase of our journey.
Check Out: Our Book Shop
Puzzle books
As long as I can remember my mom brought puzzle books with her on vacation and I inherited some of her fondness for it. It was reignited with the Sudoku hype in 2006 when I came across them in the daily newspapers in Bangkok. We now bring Sudoku Puzzle Books from the Netherlands.
In 2013 we were visiting Dutch expats in La Paz, Bolivia, where I spotted some Denksport puzzle books on the table with Japanese Puzzles. They became the new addiction for the both of us. These logic puzzles, known as Nonograms, form large drawings that will appear as you progress through your puzzle.
By the way, these puzzle books are a perfect time killer at border crossings or other, time-consuming bureaucratic rigmaroles – or even when standing in line at a supermarket.
Miscellaneous Stuff
Toothpaste (yep, really)
Before our trip I had always problems with my teeth so, in 2003, I got a thorough dental check-up before heading into the unknown with a new dentist. The dental hygienist also gave me a little tube of Parodontax. She told me I wouldn’t like it at first but in combination with the new brushing technique it would rid me of my ever-bleeding gums. She was right.
So we never leave the Netherlands without a few tubes of Parodontax, as you can hardly find it anywhere in South America (if so, it’s incredibly expensive).
Sackwear & Landcruising Adventure T-shirts
Tim from Sackwear is a cool guy if for no other reason than because he drives a remarkable, soft-top FJ45 and is a great fan of our adventure. But there’s more to Tim. He keeps on designing these fabulous Land Cruiser T-shirts and every now and then Tim is sending us some.
He even created one featuring our Land Cruiser. This year he sent us 4 T-shirts in bright colors and even included some patches. Thank you, Tim.
Read More: The Land Cruiser T-Connection – Our Most Popular Landcruising Adventure T-shirt
UPDATE in 2017: Meanwhile we have our own series of Landcruising Adventure T-shirts. Find them here.
That is this year’s list. I hope to bring you an update every year on what kind of stuff we bring so that it might give you an idea on what is important to us and what kind of things aren’t available out there on the road.
Check it out: the Landcruising Adventure Floor-Pillow Collection
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Very useful post. My wife and I are planning on driving from California to Patagonia.
“Of course we’re not bringing Asian spices when traveling in Asia, but when staying in Argentina and Chile for a year or two”
How do you do that? I know that Argentina, officially, allows a maximum stay of 180 days.
Dave, you simply cross borders all the time between the two countries (there are numerous borders across the Andes) – at each entry you get a new visa for 3 months. Enjoy your trip.
Gosh – how will the rest of us, who don’t have annual trips back home, ever survive in these
scary and scarce lands of South America? You frighten me with this long list… :p
Hahaha surprise us with your list… This doesn’t include the Deep Cycle Batteries that I actually need. I think that you will agree, that we [Overlanders in general] are a special breed that know how to adapt to the situation at hand. When something doesn’t work out the way it normally should, we’ll look for an alternative. So surviving without all these is not the question. You can!
Okay, I want to know what the trick was that the dentist taught you.
The trick is to seek experts to help you with basic dental solutions. I am no expert, and I don’t know your conditions, so if you are currently affected by teeth problems or bleeding gums, try and visit an expert. Hope that helps – Good luck!
Heather, I think the most important trick is not to use force when brushing your teeth. Let the brush do the work, not the force of your hand. Finding the right toothpaste is another one. For years Sensodyne worked for me but after I learned about some of its toxic ingredients I switched to Paradontax (or simply use baking soda with coconut oil). Hope that helps.
You can find Parodontax in Pharmacies in Brazil. US$2.00 / 50g tube.
Cool, I did’t know that.
Zuurkool kun je heel makkelijk zelf maken trouwens: 10-20 gram zout per kilo witte kool; https://www.genoeg.nl/handig/keuken/zelf-zuurkool-maken/
Wat een goed idee. We gaan eens kijken of dat gaat lukken. Dank voor de tip!
Wat een goed idee. Dat gaan we eens proberen. Dank voor de tip!
There are some serious issues left unattended here. Karin spoke about the difficulty lifting a gerry can of 60 liters of fuel onto the bumper. What are the concerns/precautions of carrying jerry cans of water and gasoline on the back bumper where they can be exposed to sunlight, for hours? Is gasoline available or mostly diesel? What about cigarettes (Hi Karin), I’m a Marlboro man, it’s a long drive to Machu Picchu from Cuenca:).
Heya Lenny, I’m not sure we ever talked about a jerry of 60 liters? Our jerry’s are of the 20 liter type and are empty 99% of the time. We have sufficient fuel and water capacity under the vehicle where is has also the best possible location in terms of center of gravity.
As for the choice of fuel, I think availability is not the concern. The concern should be about reliability, maintenance intervals and simplicity. Diesel ticks all the boxes for me.
As for cigarettes, we will fend for yourself and hope you will find another vice 😉