Pack Light...Well, We Tried

I'm going to backtrack a little to the topic of packing. I stayed up a good part of the night before getting everything ready, so I didn't have a chance to make a post. However, if anyone is going to do a trip like this, it might be helpful to see what we packed, what we end up using, and what we end up with on our return home!

First, this is the luggage we took:

Two 24-inch pieces of wheeled luggage that convert into backpacks. They are the Victorinox Trek Pack Plus, with a backpack made for women's frames. I figured Kinsey wouldn't be able to carry a heavy backpack for the entire trip, so we needed something with wheels. It adds to the weight of the pack, but if I end up needing to handle the luggage by myself, at least one of them needed to roll.

Two lightweight purses, one for Kinsey and one for me. I invested in a LeSportsac and have not regretted it. However, I would try to buy one with metal slides, not plastic ones. My niece bought one with a plastic slide and it broke. We'll use these as our daybags.

One backpack. The Victorinox Trek Packs come with small backpacks that can be detached from the big pack and used as a daypack. I brought an extra backpack because I had extra things to bring and the small daypack wasn't enough. However, I'm hoping to shed stuff as I go, and the backpack I brought isn't long for this life anyway, so I have a feeling it won't make it back to the States.

Okay, so what went inside the bags?

1. One pair of shoes, each (sneakers and we wore sandals)
2. 4 shirts each
3. 2 pairs of long pants, each
4. 3 pairs of shorts (just mine, as Kinsey doesn't have shorts. I probably overpacked by one pair)
5. 1 skirt each
6. 4 changes of underwear, each
7. 3 pairs of socks, each
8. 1 swimsuit for me, 2 for Kinsey
9. 1 light jacket, each

I think that was it for clothes. I feel okay about the amount of clothes we took, it was just the other stuff that go out of hand.

What was the other stuff?

Shampoo, conditioner, face cleansers, toothpaste, toothbrushes, contact lens solution, deodorant, Woolite, feminine products, medications for any likelihood, mosquito repellent cream with high amounts of Deet (higher than your normal store. Go to an REI or camping store), sunscreen, etc. It was hard to gauge how much of everything to take.... At least that stuff should be consumed and discarded as we go along.

Some of the untangibles that we brought were

1. Permethrin--a big bottle of insect repellent for your clothes. I decided to bring it along instead of treating the clothes before we left, because we won't encounter the buggy regions until later. So no use treating the clothes and then washing out the repellent before we even get there.

2. Prescription diving/snorkeling masks. I made a big money commitment to getting prescription masks, since both Kinsey and I have pretty poor eyesight. One of the big draws in Thailand is the diving and snorkeling. I knew Kinsey wouldn't really want to go if she couldn't see. It was too hard to get contacts for her and I wear semi-permeable (hard) not soft lenses, so it would have been hard to dive for both of us. I'll let you know if it was a good investment!

3. Books. Too many. I brought some schoolwork for Kinsey, some general reading books for long train trips, and of course, too many guidebooks. I didn't write down all the info I needed, so I'm hoping to do that and then discard the books along the way. Anything we read, we'll just leave somewhere for someone else.

4. Cameras (2)

5. A netbook. I debated whether to try to go to internet cafes all along the way, but in the end I bought a netbook. It's an Asus Eee 1005HA and has been working well so far. The big draw is that it has an 8-10 hour battery life. I haven't really tested the battery to its limits yet, but it seems to be holding up well. The big disadvantage is that it doesn't have a cd-drive, so getting software on needs a learning curve.

5. A bag of cords and chargers for all the above.

6. A travel hairdryer

7. Two travel towels

8. Two sleepsacks (If you invest, get silk over cotton. The price is high but worth it. Cotton sleepsacks are so much bigger and heavier to carry, that silk gets my vote.)

9. Snacks, probably a waste of space, but we have a few days of trekking so I thought the Clif Bars would come in handy.

10. A water bottle that filters--also not the basic one, but filters out more of the germs and bacteria. I'll let you know if that one was a necessary purchase too.

11. Converters. I brought two sets because we have so much to charge, but maybe I'll find one will do.

There are probably a few other things that I don't remember right off the bat, but that's pretty much it. International travel allows you 44 lbs per bag. Our bags came in around 36 lbs each. The bags are pretty full, so we won't be able to buy much without getting rid of something!