THE book on Packrafting
925969
A very well written, clear how-to for the art of packrafting, from the basics to expedition planning and more. Lots of great stories from trips all over the world - inspiring!
3403684
The guy below makes an excellent point- This book was not for him.  This book is all about backpacking. I personally found all the material to be incredibly useful in planning and surviving for 3 months backpacking.  I even read edition 5 before I left (less geared for backpackers). I highly recommend this book for all first time BACKPACKERS!
1436703
This is a useful book for me, since I'm kinda a pack rat and have too much I don't need or use. :-)  It also tackles how clutter adds stress to your life, and how we can change it to get a healthy mind set. Also enjoyed the checklist which makes it easier to organize your stuff.
4287392
I reformed and became a light packer ever since a grueling hike in West Virginia last year, and I'm always looking for ways to tweak my gear and shed more weight.  This book has lots of info and gets you thinking about ways to trim the fat out of your kit.  While most of the tips were things I've already done, I still gained quite a few ideas for making my gear more efficient.  It's a quick read, and easy to refer back to.  Like the other reviewers have stated, Clelland's writing style is light-hearted with silly humor throughout.

Pretty much my only point of disagreement is going into the wilderness without a knife.  The author advises just carrying a single edged razor in your kit.  Is this fine for most trips?  Almost certainly.  But if you are like me, and most of your travels take you deep in the wilderness far from any help, going without a good knife is irresponsible at best.  Remember Murphy.
3177812
How to Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip is a cute little volume that resembles a fancy piece of luggage. If you feel like you truly struggle with how to effectively pack when you travel, this book may be the answer.  It provides well organized sections that discuss different types of luggage options, how to place clothes in your bag, and how to pack so you will limit the number of clothes you bring yet have a myriad of outfit options.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Random House Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.
2311550
This book is full of great information for those people who want to travel with only a carry on. This book lays everything out in a clear and concise manner, everything you will need to only pack a carry on and how to do it. The book does have illustrations on how to pack a Tortuga backpack which is great since I bought one. This is my first trip abroad and I will be traveling from Athens, Greece and ending up in Dublin, Ireland so I will be covering a lot of ground plus varied weather conditions. I found this book to be extremely helpful.
4960131
I love this concise and innovative book.  The ideas presented helped my reduce my pack weight from 30+ pounds without food to just 10.  I am trying to go even lighter!  Love to illustrations!
3938026
This author is clearly and expert on hiking RMNP and the wealth of knowledge contained in this book is worth owning if you plan on any serious hiking in the park. The book would be more helpful if it the organization were more intuitively assembled. A new edition of this book that more or less organizes the content better would make this a 5 star, but the content is good enough to still merrit it a 4 star, despite the organization issues.

The author rates the trails based on difficulty and climbing skill required using standard scales. This is extremely helpful since so many websites use subjective terms to rate hikes. The book includes topographical maps and some photos of the hikes described.

This book is hard to find and so I ordered it used. It was the $20 I paid, but I would not pay more than $40 for this book as some sites are listing this book for $100's.
2582021
One of those books that will pay for itself.

Geared more towards longer-term vacationers, expats, or "digital nomads", and includes specific tips on everything from packing, to which backpack (they specifically recommend not to get a suitcase), to reserving plane flights, arranging visas (do you need one?), insurance, hotels/AirBnb, and on and on.

The author found specific recommendations such as for bags and websites, and gives a non-partial view on these. I'll be going back to this when it's time to buy my next bag, for one.
1616138
Never realized how awesome this book was until I purchased other backpacking books. Refraining from continuous landscape praise, this book tells you what you need to know in the best format possible, a true backpacker's book. I actually read it just for fun some times. I've gone on multiple trips from the book and I really am flabbergasted at how much I freakin love it. Now if they'd just come out with another one containing all dog friendly areas, I'd be loosing my s*** with excitement.
3891453
While there is a lot of information for the novice backpacker, it is also loaded with great tips for the highly experienced hiker.  Chapters on foreign trips, winter travel, cross country travel and especially thru-hiking long distance trails are superb.  I have backpacked for almost 40 years, recently doing the Colorado Trail with my Aussie dog, and I loved his chapter on hiking with dogs.  Justin has very good ultra-light concepts, but keeps a balanced approach with bigger picture goals than just trying to cut another 0.127658 ounces off of the base weight, as fretted by some ultra-light fanatics.  Equipment and pack weight are just a means to much more important end - appreciating the total backpacking/wilderness experience.  This comes through in Justin's stories and passion for backpacking.  I highly recommend this book.
4130685
This book gives a brief overview of the various regions in Alaska to consider, but focuses more on providing knowledge needed to backpack successfully in the state.  The chapters on techniques (including river crossing, snowfield travel, and glacial travel) and wildlife are particularly useful. There is also a chapter on navigating via compass and map, which is helpful since there are very few trails in Alaska.  This is a good first read for someone planning their initial backpacking expedition in the nation's largest state.  For the more advanced Alaskan, it probably would not be too helpful.
3279259
I have read lots of books on de-cluttering and do give away stuff to charity regularly, as well as discarding things.  Yet still I felt there were too many possessions.  Thinking of moving house, I wondered why I had to face deciding what to take with me.  The author's insight is that you should decide what gives you joy to keep, rather than decide what to discard.  This made me go through everything again.  For example,  I still had old school reports from half a century ago, did I think posterity would be glad of them?  Konmari also explains how to fold clothes so they take up very little room.  Overall, I am pleased I bought the book.
3697281
For anyone with a clutter problem, any tips in this book are really useful. Applying gradually is a sure way to success. Great job by the author in organizing the book so well.
511003
This is a good book for any beginning backpacker, but women especially.  Has some good "female" tips and such that the "standard" backpacking books don't cover.  I even learned a few things from it!  Easy reading too.
4884092
This book definitely helped me pack like a rock star. It shows how to use every nook and cranny that your luggage/bag has and to keep everything organized, which is a plus. I especially like that with this method I can pretty much see all the contents at a glance, so there's no rummaging for what I want for 5 minutes.

Plus, "How To Pack Like A Rock Star" is really two books. 1) An extremely useful book about how to pack efficiently and 2) an insider look into how musicians travel. The photos and stories alone are worth the price of the book. Can't go wrong with this one.
1302828
"How to Quit Your Job" is appropriately titled: this is not a traditional travel guide, with a list of places to visit and foods to sample. Instead, section by section, Lars Wanderlust, a German backpacker, devotes most of his book to discussing motivation and the right attitude to casual travel: the advantage of using a backpack, what one expects from life, various worries (loneliness, lack of money, safety) and other topics.
One section is devoted to the bus as a means of transportation (air travel in South America is expensive), especially "chicken buses." The author warns us that at night you should avoid these buses (commonsense advice) but adds that they are a good way to chat with local people to find out the local security situation and what is worth visiting.
"Man's Best Friend" is an entertaining section describing his encounters with well-behaved dogs who befriended him in various places.

Experienced backpackers will not need most of this advice, but the general descriptions of Central and South America might be useful. The section about altitude sickness is especially important for anyone who is physically fit. Lars Wanderlust points out that such people tend to underestimate or even ignore the need to prepare your body for high altitudes. All in all, this book is probably best suited to potential travelers who are not sure if independent travel is right for them.