I'm interested in a month long backpacking vacation but I am not yet sure what all I need to take along. How about a sleeping bag if I intend on staying in backpacker hostels?

Whats the fuss with taking a sleeping bag along if you are going to stay in hostels or hotels. As far as I know they get paid to give you a bed to sleep in!

Don't take too much along, no point in filling half your pack with the bedding but at least carry sheets so you know what you are sleeping on when you are lodging in the hostels. Protects you from parasites, if there are any in the bedding.

Get a silk one, they are more expensive but they are lighter and take up less space in your rucksack than cotton sleeping bags so they are worth it. Even if you do get bedding in the hostels its not always certain that you’d want to use it too. Be prepared, that’s the scout’s motto!

Keep going fellows. I am also off on a back packing trip with friends any advice is good advice. And Mark you are absolutely right; you never know what you might get in to.

OK, I get the point about being prepared but a friend of mine from Nigeria says the backpacker hotels do provide rentals for sleeping bags too so those can be used too.