World Travel 2013-2014, Packing for the World
Over the past few months Takeshi and I have been packing and preparing for a year long expedition around the world – hopefully travelling through Asia, Europe, North and South America. Now that the house is nearly all packed up, I decided that today would be a good day to do a quick test pack of the backpack and make sure that everything is ready for our departure in 4 days which isn’t far away (and to make sure I could lift the bag).
Shortly after deciding to go on this trip, I decided that I wasn’t going to be one of the backpackers with a massive 90L backpack. It would just be impossible for me to be able to carry that much weight for an extended period of time and would kill my back, so I started investigating some other options. We found a great bag at Kathmandu, the 30L Transfer pack which would meet most airline carry on requirements, as well as having lockable zips, rain cover and plenty of pockets. All up this bag is H 58cm x W 30cm x D 28cm, and weighs about 1.2kg. So without too much further thought, the bag was purchased and I decided to pack only what would fit in the bag and an 8kg weight goal.
And as today was a test pack, here is the rest of what I’m planning to carry around with me over the next year (keeping in mind that some things will be replaced, sent back etc as required for the area we’re travelling to).
Toiletries
Roughly from left to right:
- Aeroguard (got to have insect repellent!)
- Savlon (antiseptic cream)
- Paw paw ointment
- Deodorant (haven’t tried this yet, so it may not make it – it’s a solid deodorant I found at the supermarket today so will have to see what it’s like over the next few days)
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Solid Shampoo from Lush
- Razor
- Hand soap and Shampoo sheets (yellow and green containers at the front)
- Concealer
- Lip balm with SPF
- Face sunscreen
- Toiletries bag (at the back)
Depending on the weight of our bags, there may also be some general sunscreen and hand santizer added to this bag.
Total weight: approx 500 grams
Clothing was a difficult one as we will be travelling through all different sorts of climates and will need to pack for both hot and cold weather, as well as keep the bag under the weight restrictions for carry on baggage. My family gave me some beautiful shirts to take, but unfortunately with the weight restrictions it looks like I may only be able to take one or two of them which is disappointing 🙁
Here are the planned items for the bag (not including those worn onto the flight):
- Sports pants x 1
- Jeans x 1
- Hat x 1
- Warm gloves x 1
- Thermals (top and bottom) x 1
- Sports shirt x 1
- T shirt / button up shirt x 2
- Socks x 4
- Underwear x 4
- Jumper x 1
- Boardshorts x 1
- Swimwear x 1
I’m planning to wear jeans and a t shirt along with my Sev vest and a jacket (which is water and wind proof) onto the flight which should give me approximately 4 or so days worth of clothing.
Total weight: approx 2.2 kilos
Ah, the heaviest group of them all, darn you heavy electronics.
- Nikon D7000 DSLR Camera (sooo heavy – only the case is shown though as it’s being used to take the photo)
- Pouch for camera cleaning equipment
- Cleaning cloth and brush
- Spare SD cards x 2 (there are also another two SD cards stored within the camera)
- Nikon remote (might not take this)
- Spare Nikon battery
- Charger for the camera
- Portable hard drive, 2TB
- Charger for the tablet
- Surface Pro 128GB tablet with keyboard
- Case for tablet
Total weight: approx 3.6 kilos
Lastly we have all the miscellaneous items which didn’t fit into either of the other categories above.
- Silk liner (think of a sleeping bag but without the fluffiness)
- Micro size hand towel
- Microfibre towel
- Thongs (the only other pair of shoes I have for the trip other than hiking shoes)
Total weight: approx 600 grams
Final result
And here is what it all looks like together and packed into packing cubes:
And here it is all packed in the backpacks. The backpack to the left is the 30L Kathmandu Transfer Pack, while the one to the right is a 20L Black Wolf Neko bag which I’ll be using as my day pack / handbag.
All up the total weight of both bags with all items packed is approximately 8.2 kilos, which is pretty close to the weight I was aiming for.
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