How on earth am I supposed to fit enough "stuff" for 18 months into a backpack?! What was I thinking!

Anyways, what sort of things do people tend to think they need when they should just leave them at home? What did you pack and never end up using? Where should I be looking to cut weight first? How few shirts can I live on for 18 months?

(I hate packing.)

you'd be surprised how little clothing you can actually live with while traveling. and if I were you, I'd start with just a few things bc u can always buy stuff on the road if its not enough. there were days in central america where we wore the same thing for days in a row, haha. my suggestion on clothing would be this:

2 pants - preferably that convert to shorts
2 t-shirts
1 tank top
1 long sleeve t
1 light long sleeve button shirt
1 fleece shirt or vest

and bringing less also gives you an excuse to be able to buy that cute shirt you find on the road


things i brought and wish I hadn't: duffel bag for my backpack during flights; pacsafe

You cannot pack for the 18 months ...pack as if you were going on a 6 week trip.

Don't buy a huge bottle of shampoo but a reasonable amount for 2 weeksn adn then buy on the road. I bought nalgene bottles from REI and used those..spill proof and leak proof.

Clothes...buy new stuff on the road but for each item you buy you should discard one otherwise you will keep accumululating stuff.

I took too many pants and finally in Loas donated mine at the Red Cross.

If you need stuff like contact lenses and solution..don't take for 18 months. Take a 6 month supply and then ask somebody to mail you after 6 months. Keep that ready for them so that they just mail that to you.

Look at your list of things and see what you are going to use everyday, pretty much every other day and then things you "might" use. Pack the ones you need everyday for sure. Then choose things which you will use resonably often and then look at your luxuries and choose.

If you forget something you can always buy on the road.

Also take things in trial sizes...from toothpaste, creams, deodrants etc...reduces weight.

I regreted not taking a pair of jeans.

Oh, good idea about the contacts! That will definitely help me cut back.

Also, I think I might be bringing too many long sleeve T-shirts. I just know that I get cold so easily and love being nice and toasty warm. Air conditioning is the bane of my existence.

Clothes:
2 pants (1 zip off, 1 not)
1 fleece pullover
1 raincoat
4 pairs of socks, 5 pairs of underwear
1 pair swimming suit, 1 pair of board shorts
2 T-shirts, 2 tank tops
2 long sleeve shirts (thermal underwear type)
1 long sleeve shirt (like as a 2nd layer)
1 button down long sleeve shirt


I'm at 27 pounds right now with everything (including SLR camera and laptop.) Might ditch one of the long sleeve shirts and regular T-shirts though.

I think you're DEFINATELY bringing too many long sleeve shirts. Consider a Zip-up jacket/jumper (with hood) instead of the last two. It'll act as a "second layer" and you can always wear a long sleeve shirt, t-shirt, then a jumper for really cold days/nights.

You can find my packing list here:
http://darcyjohnperkins.com/details/packing-list/

Although it will undoubtably change before Dec 2009 when i intend to head off...

i mean at 27 pounds, one long sleeve shirt weighs nothing in retrospect...where are you going first? If you are headed to asia you can definitely buy whatever you need there...I would agree about packing for like a 4-6 week trip...everything you will need you can buy on your trip like tolietries etc...I think you have too much with the fleece pullover and the 1 button down long sleeve shirt unless that is for nightlife. How bulky is your raincoat? Is like an anorak? where it folds in to itself...you could save space by getting one of those and attaching it to the outside of your pack...I have a folding raincoat, daypack and my microfiber towel also folds up and I attach a lot of things to the outside of my pack...I think it will be fine, I mean I am a little cautious about attracting attention, but really I won't be walking around with my huge backpack all the time anyway and when its in my room I have it covered and locked anyway with a cable lock.

I agree with the above poster...If you get cold easy, then you might need it, but remember one shirt is not going to make or break you, if you don't like it or buy other clothing, just donate it or ditch it or give it away at a hostel...have fun!

4 Pairs of socks...humm...why so many. Are they heavy hiking socks or plain white ones. I would reduce by 1 if not 2.

5 pairs of underwear..same comment as above..you can reduce the number. If they are the quick drying ones you need only 3.

Also check in the pack how you are distributing the weight..it really matters as 27 might seem more like 40 otherwise and vice versa.

I don't really feel like I'm bringing that much stuff - it's just that the laptop and the digital camera and all the cables and accessories add so much weight. I'd estimate that as at least 10 pounds of the total. Unfortunately I can't ditch the laptop as I'm going to be writing and researching for this candy project.

I've further reduced the clothing, dropping 1 pair of socks, 2 of the long sleeve shirts, and 1 T-shirt. I really don't want to reduce the underwear count

The jacket is relatively small - a Marmot Precip women's rain jacket. I actually can fit everything in my backpack (including my laptop and camera case) and lock everything up - volume isn't an issue. I just wish I could get the total weight down.

Other things I'm bringing:
Ipod nano
Headphones
Canon SD400 Elph camera + accessories (backup to my Nikon D40 SLR camera)
pack of DVDs for burning photos
3 Eagle Creek 1/2 cube packing cubes (all clothing fits in here)
headlamp
notebook (moleskine), pens, tape, glue stick
Guidebook: Footprints Central America guide
travel towel
silk sleep sheet
toiletry bag (with travel sized toiletry items, divacup)
cable lock + zipper lock
sunglasses
laundry kit (clothes line, sink plug, soap)
plug adapters
small first aid kit (bandages, advil, bug bite stuff, duct tape)
1 pair sandals
1 pair hiking shoes
6 months contacts

What is a good weight for a solo female traveler carrying a laptop + digital SLR to aim for?

With laptop and DSLR + backup pocket cam, I was probably at around 25 lbs. I know my pack when I checked it on the way home from Guatemala was no more than 10kg and I had my very light laptop and DSLR in my carry-on bag. When carrying that much electronic equipment, it would be hard to make it much lighter. This time around I'm ditching the pacsafe and the pack duffel, so that should take a few pounds off my pack, too.

you might be able to ditch the pack of CDs and maybe find a website (flickr, etc.) or server space to back up your photos to. Just a thought.

oh, and maybe a travel alarm clock should be included? mine's really light. it was extremely necessary since NONE of the hotels (until Guatemala City) that we were just in had clocks in the room, let alone alarm clocks.

quote:

oh, and maybe a travel alarm clock should be included? mine's really light. it was extremely necessary since NONE of the hotels (until Guatemala City) that we were just in had clocks in the room, let alone alarm clocks.

I was going to just use my watch, but I also have a travel alarm clock... I'll need to see how well my watch is capable of waking me up I guess

Do the packing cubes really work?

(I am gonna try to get my girlfriend to read this - we are leaving in 4 weeks for a year and we are still 'discussing' taking trainers and jeans)

Brilliant website BTW Malena - that is really superb. We are going to visit great Delicatessens of the world - and I am totally envious of your grand-sweety-tour. 12 days - very excited for you!

Interesting to know how you are going to pitch the sponsorship - and who to?

quote:

Do the packing cubes really work?

(I am gonna try to get my girlfriend to read this - we are leaving in 4 weeks for a year and we are still 'discussing' taking trainers and jeans)

I don't know if they work or not yet They don't seem to add much weight and I'm a huge slob so I'd really like something to keep me a bit organized, which is why I'm using them.

And yes... pack as light as you can!! If there are two of you, and you aren't bringing a laptop, I could see maybe bringing one pair of jeans so you don't always feel like a tourist. The problem is they're so heavy and take forever to dry. I really thought I'd be closer to 20 pounds than 30 pounds, and that's without anything obviously extraneous.

Also, thanks for the kind words about the website I still have to make some tweaks to it before I leave, of course! I love the idea of visiting great deli's! (although you're missing nyc which seems unfortunate...) I think, for me, having a "theme" for a long trip will be very helpful and keep me on track.

As for sponsorship, I haven't figured everything out yet. I did win free RTW tickets from www.hiusa.com so that's a big help, and I'm hoping to get in touch with World Nomads about health insurance, but I think anything else that results will be after getting some writing from the road finished. We shall see

packing cubes: it really depends on how you want to pack things in your backpack. They are great for organization, but for packability in your pack, you might find having your clothes without a cube(s) will help you be able to pack up smaller.

i have one mesh cube that fits the majority of my clothes in, and one packing tube for socks/undies/bras. Anything that doesn't fit in the cube is stuffed where it fits in my bag. i found this works quite well for me. the smaller my pack, the happier i am

i think your trip, Malena, sounds awesome. i'm very jealous

quote:

i think your trip, Malena, sounds awesome. i'm very jealous

It's funny because I'm jealous of your trip I wish I had a few months in Eastern Europe to learn Russian and do archeology digs! And could pop back easily to an amazing city to visit my boyfriend...