Travel-Stained Life

One of our biggest questions when we started thinking about a trip of this magnitude is what to pack for such a long trip.  We spent many hours looking through different blogs, websites, talking to other travelers and generally fretting over the proper packing for this trip.  As we found internet blogs to be extremely helpful in this regard, we thought we would post a similar packing list that could be used for inspiration, ideas or for the just plain curious.  We took some photos of our stuff so it all makes a bit more sense. 

BACKPACKS:

We both liked the packs that include daypacks as we like the idea of being able to only carry one bag if it is convenient.  Also, we both wanted to find packs that were not top loading as we couldn’t see the point of having to dig all the way to the bottom.  Surprisingly, those with a full legth flap were quite difficult to find.

• Deenaree’s Pack – Osprey Waypoint 60 (60 liters including daypack)-this bag is a bit small for all of Deenaree’s things, but Ben’s bag compensates for this.  She especially likes the daypack.
• Ben’s Pack – Eagle Creek Grand Voyage (90 liters including daypack-broken strap on October 18th, notified company and it was taken care of)-This bag is huge!  Go with a smaller size for this kind of trip, especially if you are not a camper. 

CLOTHES

We wanted to generally only pack clothing for the trip that is quick drying, lightweight and relatively adaptable so we wouldn’t have to carry much.  We probably splurged a bit on our clothes purchases, but we did not want to be wearing wet stinky cotton or waiting for a few days for things to dry.

Deenaree

• 1 Ex Officio Dryflylite shirt (long sleeved)
• 1 Ex Officio Dryflylite shirt (sleeveless)
• 1 Ex Officio Soytopia Amulet shirt (cap sleeved)
• 1 Ex Officio Traveler shirt (cap sleeved)
• 1 Northface cami
• 1 Danskin Now workout shirt (Wal Mart)
• 1 Danshin Now workout capri (Wal Mart)
• 1 Mountain Hardwear Mesa convertible pants
• 1 Prana Convertible pants-runs long so took them to a tailor for cheap
• 1 Royal Robbins Discovery skirt
• 1 long underwear shirt
• 1 long underwear pant
• 4 pairs of wool socks (Smartwool)
• 2 Patagonia Active Hipster briefs
• 2 Ex Officio briefs
• 2 Moving Comfort Iris bras
• 2 swimsuits
• 1 Scheel’s free hat-Sent home in January
• 1 Marmot Flashpoint softshell-love this for its style and color, but doesn’t protect against wind as much as I’d like it to.
• 1 Columbia Sportswear Women’s Cougar Flats rain jacket
• 1 scarf
• 1 sarong
• 1 pair Merrell light hiking shoes-fantastic!
• 1 pair Teva sandals
• 1 pair flipflops
• Not pictured: 1 Peruvian alpaca sweater (best purchase ever), one dress, 1 pair dressy (flat sandals)

Ben

• 3 Northface VaporWick t-shirts
• 1 Columbia Sportswear long sleeved shirt
• 1 Ex Officio Amphi pants
• 1 Columbia Sportswear convertible pants
• 1 Starter mesh shirt (Wal Mart, for sleeping)
• 1 pair of old mesh shorts (for sleeping)
• 1 Speedo swimsuit (brand, not briefs style!)
• 1 Smartwool socks
• 3 Feetures! wool socks
• 3 Ex Officio underwear
• 1 pair long underwear bottoms
• 1 Iowa State University hat
• 1 Marmot Leadville softshell
• 1 free rain jacket
• 1 pair Merrell light hiking shoes
• 1 pair Rainbow hemp sandals-never smell!
• 1 pair flip flops (destroyed in T&T by dog, replaced October 4th)

ESSENTIALS

This is basically everything that did not fit into one of the other categories and is pretty much essential for us on the trip…

• 2 travel pillows
• 1 plush blanket
• 1 mosquito net-Sent home in January
• 3 travel towels (two medium, one small)
• 2 sleeping bag liners
• 2 Eagle Creek organizational bags (for toiletry storage)
• 2 plastic water bottles
• 1 first aid kit
• 300 Doxycycline caplets
• 2 spray cans of Off! Mosquito Repellent
• 1 container of SPF30 sunscreen
• 2 South America maps (one Northwest and one Southern)-Left in the back of a tour van in Bolivia
• 1 Africa Lonely Planet-Sent home in January, Middle East book obtained instead
• 1 South America Lonely Planet-Thrown away at the end of our travels
• 3 Moleskin notebooks (1 small, 2 large)
• 2 decks of cards
• travel pack tissues
• fiber pills
• Imodium pills
• assorted medications (Ibuprofen, tums, etc.)
• hand sanitizer
• Women’s daily vitamins
• Antibacterial wipes
• 3 Dr. Bronner’s soap-good for laundry, ran out in December
• 1 compass-Sent home in January
• 2 carabiners
• 2 headlamps
• dummy wallet
• 2 Pacsafe money belts
• 1 spacepen
• 1 clothesline
• toothpaste
• toothbrushes
• contact lenses (and saline solution)
• razors
• deodorant
• soap
• sewing kit
• hair accessories (in the Audrey Hepburn bag)
• eyeglass repair kit
• 2 pairs of glasses each
• lens cloths
• duct tape
• 2 Pepper spray canisters
• ziplock bags
• Not pictured: pens, postcards, books, sink plug, super glue, business cards, important documents, passport photos

ELECTRONICS

Okay, our goal with electronics from the start was to carry as little as possible.  We did not want to carry a laptop, DSLR camera or anything else that is especially big/bulky/expensive for a number of reasons.  Most importantly, we would like to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible as we travel.  Once we laid things out for the photo below, we thought we actually did a pretty good job.

• Canon SD1000 camera (and charger)
• Not pictured: Canon SD780 IS (charger and extra battery)
• LG cell phone, quad band, unlocked for use throughout the world
• electronic translator
• 2 headsets for Skype (one not pictured)-down to 1 headset
• 2 Wal Mart watches
• 1 noise cancelling headphones-Sent home in January, broken
• 1 Creative mp3 player
• 4 flash drives
• 6 SD memory cards
• 2 Eagle Creek bag locks
• AAA batteries
• AA batteries
• 1 Garmin handheld GPS
• 1 adapter set
• 1 converter set
• Not pictured: ASUS netbook (added October 4th, pooped out in March)

That should be just about everything that we are taking with us.  We will continue to update this as we go.  Hopefully it doesn’t change too much!  Feel free to leave some comments at the bottom of the page if there are any questions or shoot us an email.