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Radio Nowhere?

tiny radio Obviously the common advice of bringing the absolute minimum you can get away with on your RTW is valuable and important. When you’ll be carry every single thing on your back for months or even years, you should carefully consider each and every item before you commit to bringing it with you. Some things are cheap enough (like, say, a Frisbee) that you could just leave them behind if you decide you made a mistake by bringing them. But other items (like, say, iPod speakers) would be a bit harder to ditch part way into your journey.

But having said that, one item that deserves a bit of consideration for some of us is a radio of some kind. You won’t find radios on too many “suggested RTW packing lists,” but you might still think about it. Even if you don’t listen to much radio at home, you might find it fascinating to hear local broadcasts while abroad. I brought one that is about the size of 4 packs of cigarettes taped together, and I’m really glad I did. But there are tiny versions with fewer features you might also look into.

Radio on the road

Especially when in a country that you don’t speak the language, it can really be interesting to hear how radio sounds, and what sorts of songs they are playing on each station. I was really shocked to hear how much American and British music I heard in almost every country, even ones where few people actually speak English. But I also heard lots of local or indigenous music, which really takes on a unique cultural value when listened to in the country of origin, as opposed to on a “world music show” when you are home.

If you are a fan of international music then bringing a radio can bring you ten times as much exposure as you’d get just going to bars or nightclubs in the evenings. And especially if you are staying in budget hotels or private hostel rooms instead of dorm rooms, having a radio with its own speaker can be worthwhile entertainment during your many downtime hours in a given week.

Types of radios

From smallest to largest (RTW-friendly) radios to consider, we’ll start with those FM tuners you can use for an iPod. They don’t cost much and they take up almost no space as well. After that you’ve got small stand-alone AM/FM radios with no speaker. These can be found all over (even on the road) for only a few USDs. If you are already bringing ear buds with your iPod, these also add almost no size or weight.

Next up would be a small radio with its own cheap speaker. They all have headphone jacks too, but having a speaker is nice if you don’t like to wear headphones every minute of the day.

And finally you have what I brought, which is an AM/FM/World band radio. I actually broke my first one while in Spain and bought a replacement in Barcelona and I’m glad I did. Not only do you get AM and FM (including lots of BBC World Service and American Forces Network channels all over the world) but with the World band (aka short wave) you can also get distant channels when you are in remote places. You can find more BBC World Service channels on those frequencies, as well as a Chinese news network that broadcasts in English in many parts of the world. I find these things fascinating and they are a good way to keep up with news events between internet stops.

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