Pack Lightly
Travel prepared. Not overpacked.
Country guides for 146 destinations across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Real 2026 budgets, tested routes, and opinionated advice, backed by 22 travel tools, video guides, and interactive maps.
Complete per country
Visa, packing, transport, diving, itineraries, budget, city guides, and activities. One hub covers everything.
More than articles
Video guides, 22 interactive tools, downloadable PDF guides, and interactive maps. Things to plan with, not just text to read.
Current for 2026
Visa rules, prices, and transport options checked and updated. Specific amounts with year, not vague ranges.
Tools that save time
Trip planner spreadsheets, packing list generators, and prep checklists. Built for actual trips, not just reading.
Where Pack Lightly takes you
Each card opens the full country guide, visa, budget, routes, packing, and 100+ pages of detail
Thailand
300+ guides
Japan
350+ guides
Indonesia
180+ guides
Mexico
110+ guides
Costa Rica
80+ guides
Vietnam
250+ guides
Australia
130+ guides
New Zealand
80+ guides
Dominican Republic
80+ guides
Spain
Beaches, food & cities
Italy
Culture, food & coast
Morocco
Culture, food & medinas
South Africa
Safari, coast & food
United States
Cities, parks & road trips
Canada
Nature, cities & lakes
All destinations
Click any pin for the full country guide.
Browse by region
East Asia
Central America & Mexico
Caribbean
Oceania
Every country.
Every angle.
Pick a country and get a complete hub: visa requirements, what to pack, how to get around, the best diving spots, tested itineraries, transport breakdowns, and budget numbers in USD.
Then go deeper. Every major city, every worthwhile activity, every comparison, with prices, opinions, and zero filler. Thailand alone has 300+ pages.
Start with Thailand
A trip planner that does the math for you
Route planning, daily expense tracking, budget dashboard with live charts, seasonal packing list, prep checklist, and a destination guide, all in one Google Sheets template. Enter your dates and budget. The formulas handle the rest.
Thailand version live. More countries follow. Free, no signup, no catch.
Get the free templatePacking list generator, knows what your trip needs
Select a destination, travel dates, trip type, and activities. The tool checks the local climate for your exact travel month and builds a categorized checklist with quantities adjusted to how long you’re going.
Rainy season in Thailand adds waterproof gear and quick-dry extras. Spring in Japan adds layers for temperature swings. A diving trip adds reef gear. Every list is different because every trip is.
Which of the 22 tools do you need?
Match your planning stage to the right tool.
Why this site exists
Three trips across Asia. Eleven months total. The same frustration every time: visa rules that turned out to be wrong, budget estimates without a year attached, packing lists clearly written by someone who never left their desk.
So Pack Lightly does it differently. The information you actually need to plan a trip should not sit behind a paywall or a signup, so none of it does. Every guide gets kept current, with prices and visa rules dated to the year they were checked, because outdated advice is what costs you money once you land.
And it goes deep. Honest opinions on what is worth your time and what is not, and complete coverage per country instead of the same ten highlights every other site repeats. More than 6,000 pages across 146 countries, and still growing.
Wouter van Kemenade
See what these countries look like
Highlights from a month in Malaysia, temples, food, islands, and jungle
Subscribe on YouTube for destination breakdowns
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Leave a reviewFrequently asked
How many countries does Pack Lightly cover?
146 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, with 6,000+ published pages. Each country has a complete hub with 25+ topics, from visa and packing to city guides and diving spots.
Which travel tools are available?
22 free tools grouped by planning stage. For choosing where to go: Destination Picker, Country Comparison, Best Time to Travel, Country Map, and Travel Safety Map. For planning the details: Trip Budget Calculator, Currency Converter, Smart Flight Splitter, Route Comparison, Hotel & Hostel Finder, Travel Marketplace, Local Food & Drinks, and Animals Around the World. For final prep: Packing List Generator, Backpack Finder, Visa Checker, Travel Insurance Comparison, Travel Health Map, and Mobile Data & eSIM Calculator. The Pack Lightly trip-planner app and a Google Sheets template are separate.
Is all the content really free?
Yes, every guide, every tool, every checklist. No paywalls, no premium tier, no login required. Pack Lightly earns through affiliate links to booking platforms like Booking.com, GetYourGuide, and 12Go. That keeps the advice independent.
How does the trip planner work?
The Pack Lightly Trip Planner is a free 9-tab Google Sheets template. Enter your travel dates and budget, formulas calculate your daily budget, track expenses against it, and show live charts on a dashboard. It includes route planning with auto-filling dates, a seasonal packing list, a prep checklist covering visa, vaccines, banking, and apps, plus a destination guide with opinionated picks per city. Thailand is the first version. Make a copy, fill in your details, done.
How does the packing list generator work?
Select your destination, travel dates, trip type (city, beach, backpacking, etc.), and planned activities (hiking, diving, temples). The tool checks the local climate for your travel month, identifies the season, and generates a categorized checklist with quantities adjusted to trip length. Season-specific gear gets added automatically. The list is exportable as PDF and shareable via URL, free, no account needed.
How current is the information?
All guides are reviewed and updated for 2026. Visa rules, entry fees, transport prices, and seasonal data include the year they were verified. When something changes mid-year, and visa rules do, the page gets updated and the “last updated” date reflects that. Outdated travel advice costs real money. That’s why every price includes a year.
Pack Lightly in your language
Travel guides available in five languages across dedicated domains. Same depth, same quality, in the language you’re most comfortable with.
