What Did I Pack for the Beyond Vacation Kick-Off Trip?
There’s a lot to think about when packing for a trip. Packing for a longer trip shouldn’t be that much different from a short trip, even if it feels a little more overwhelming. For our Beyond Vacation kick-off trip, Andy and I will be traveling for just over 7 weeks, so we will be doing laundry along the way. We won’t be flying at all, so there aren’t any concerns about carry-on limitations, but we still like to travel light. In fact, I’ve made it my goal to pack even lighter than I did for my round the world trip. So what does my packing list look like for this trip?
Backpacks and purse
On my round the world trip, I traveled with a 40L backpack and a smaller day pack. This meant constantly having to carry the smaller bag on my front, which can be rather annoying. I like having a day pack for carrying things around while I’m exploring a city for the day, but this time around I decided to find a bag that packs up into itself and can easily be stored in my main bag.
I’m traveling with the same 40L backpack plus a purse, and the day pack will be hidden away on travel days. As I write this post just a few days into the trip, I’m still undecided about the day pack. So far, I wish I had my old day pack, but I’ll give it some more time.
>>I now have the REI Trail 40L backpack and I love it!
Clothing
Since we will be doing laundry as we travel, I have a little over a week’s worth of clothing with me. I was aiming for a week and ended up with slightly more. It’s still a bit cold here in Europe (at least where we are) so I wish I packed a few less t-shirts and couple extra long sleeve shirts. But I’m sure I’ll be happy for all the warm weather clothes once we make it to Italy.
- 1 pair of jeans
- 1 pair of gray pants
- 2 pairs of shorts
- 3 tank tops
- 8 t-shirts (1 to sleep in)
- 2 nicer shirts (well, cuter than t-shirts)
- 1 long sleeve shirt (which means I’m wearing this same shirt over my t-shirt every day because it’s cold)
- 9 pairs of underwear
- 2 bras
- 5 pairs of socks
- 1 bathing suit
Shoes
I am not a woman who cares much about shoes. I prefer comfort to fashion, and as you can tell from the clothing list, I don’t have much need for cute shoes when I travel.
- sneakers
- Tevas sandals
- flip flops
Toiletries
I tried to stick to the TSA approved carry-on size liquids because it’s easier to pack that way, and anything that will run out while we’re traveling can be purchased on the road. Since Andy doesn’t have nearly as much stuff as I do in this category, I did use about half the space in his liquids bag to pack more bottles of contact solution. I almost never wear makeup, so I didn’t travel with makeup on this trip.
The Ziploc bag in the photo has my medicine in it. For some reason the pills I take come in blister pack sheets, 10 pills to a sheet, 3 months worth in a box. I learned on my round the world trip that the box falls apart pretty quickly when traveling, so I didn’t bother with it this time.
- toothpaste and toothbrush
- 5 bottles (60ml each) of contact solution
- shampoo, conditioner, shower gel
- razors
- deodorant
- brush
- moisturizer and lotion
Technology
No matter how light I manage to pack, this category bumps up the weight of my bag by a lot. My laptop weighs less than 4 pounds, but combine that with the camera and everything else, and suddenly my backpack is pretty heavy.
- laptop
- external hard drive
- DSLR camera with 2 lenses
- Kindle
- iPod
- iPhone
- all corresponding cords, chargers and batteries
Other stuff
Of course there are all the things that don’t fall neatly into one of the above categories. This isn’t a complete list, but you get the idea.
- wallet and passport
- business cards (for the blogging conference)
- tissues (always good to have for public bathrooms)
- glasses and sunglasses
- sunscreen
- hat
- sarong
- travel towel
- sleep mask (annoying, but then so is being woken up at 6am by the sun)
- jacket
- small notebook and pens
After only a few days, I can already see a few flaws in my travel packing checklist for carry-on only. My biggest struggle seems to be with the bags themselves, not what I actually pack. I might just go back to the double backpack routine, even if it is annoying. Perfection probably isn’t possible, but I will keep tweaking the list with each trip, and hopefully one of these days it will be good enough. But I can’t imagine ever ditching my carry-on only philosophy.
You might also enjoy:
- My Favorite Luggage for Carry-On Only
- Best Carry-On Luggage
- How Much We Spent Traveling in Europe for Two Months
- On Living a Non-Traditional Life
May 13, 2013 @ 5:23 PM
I have the same conundrum with my packing. I am a great light packer…until it comes to technology! For the first 15 months I carried a messenger bag, which totally didn’t work because it was so heavy on one shoulder. Now I switched to a backpack and I hate the double turtle thing, but at least I can equalize it on both shoulders. I still hate it though, but with a laptop and DSLR it’s so hard to find a balance!
May 13, 2013 @ 10:27 PM
I know what you mean about the messenger bag. I don’t like to carry my camera bag on its own because it does the same thing, so I carry it in a day pack, making the whole system even more complicated. We’ll see how I feel about my current set-up by the end of June!
May 13, 2013 @ 5:41 PM
I have the exact same tevas (but in bright pink) and they are AMAZING. Seriously, I am definitely a “cute shoe” person, but after our first month of travel where my feet were literally in pain all the time (even wearing flats), I knew something had to give. So when we got to Hong Kong, I bought a pair of sports sandals and have absolutely no regrets as now my feet NEVER hurt.
Also, what I love about my Eagle Creek pack is that it has an integrated daypack so I can zip the daypack onto my main pack if I want. OR if I want to wear it on my front, my main pack actually has buckles on the shoulder straps that my daypack will clip into, meaning I don’t actually have to wear two sets of straps. It was a pricey set (thankfully a graduation present from my parents) but I absolutely LOVE my packs and wouldn’t change a single thing about them.
May 13, 2013 @ 10:29 PM
I’m so glad you have a bag set-up that works so well for you! I kind of feel like I need someone to custom make me something, which of course would be ridiculous! As for the shoes, I can’t even walk in the Tevas for very long before they start bothering my feet. I wear the sneakers 90% of the time. I really don’t understand how other travelers can wear flip flops all the time.
May 13, 2013 @ 9:50 PM
This is helpful. I was thinking recently that despite the fact we’ll be gone for around a year, I can’t really pack a whole lot more than what you’ve listed. Maybe a couple more cold weather items, but that’s about it. I bought myself a nicer pair of flip flops that could sort of look like nicer shoes…but then I have the ugly old sport sandal, too.
May 13, 2013 @ 10:32 PM
Thanks Carmel, I’m glad it helped! Also look at how much time you will be spending in cold weather places. If you’re going to be in warm weather the majority of the year, think about buying cold weather gear on the road instead of lugging around with you for months in the tropics. Flip flops that could look like nicer shoes sound good!
May 13, 2013 @ 11:28 PM
I’m thinking of going with a mini tablet plus a keyboard, so it’ll work as a book reader as well as an almost-laptop, while still being only the size of a Kindle. I think there are still some limitations, particularly if you use programs that only run on a laptop, but I think maybe I could get away with it. Plus better battery life, smaller cable, and maybe even the same cable as the smartphone.
May 14, 2013 @ 3:00 PM
Sounds like a good plan. It would be nice to have less weight in the technology category, but I can’t justify spending money on it right now. At least my laptop is relatively small and weighs less than 4 pounds. Good luck with your tablet plan!
May 14, 2013 @ 7:25 PM
Looks like you packed light and that makes me smile. I’m a light packer too and so wish I could pack even less, but know what I have is what I need. I got my packing down to the T after 2 years of travel. Now that I’m home though and bought a DSLR I need to find a new day pack that is small, but holds my laptop and the DSLR. I think that will be hard, but still have plenty of time before my next trip. So happy you are back on the road. I’m jealous, but happy…lol. I’m saving to get back out there ASAP!
One question why do you have an iPod and an iPhone? Can you just put your music on the phone? That’s one less electronic to carry. I didn’t travel with either and don’t think I wanna.
May 15, 2013 @ 10:34 AM
Thanks Jaime! Good luck with the hunt for a day pack for your laptop and DSLR, it’s frustrating to find one that works perfectly for what you want, which is where I’m at right now. I can’t wait for you to get back on the road too!
I’ve had the iPod for years, but I’ve never bothered to put music on my iPhone. Seemed silly to get rid of the iPod just b/c I have an iPhone. The phone pretty much always stays in my back pocket and the iPod fits perfectly in a pocket in my purse, so I honestly don’t even think about it. I’d probably be fine without the iPod as I hardly ever use it.