Sauntering Resource: My Planning/Packing

During the anxious months before the trip, I read other people's travelogues and imagined what I'd need to bring. Due to a friend getting married, I delayed my trip another 6 weeks and spent some time working for an outdoors store with people who understood the thrill of adventure and the outdoors.

Below is a list of what I ended up bringing. Except for the hostel sheet and walkman, I used most things regularly. The clothing kept was able to be layered and peeled off through most climates/seasons and I may have bled to death without the first aid kit.

Packing List

• Backpack (EMS Traveler 3000, 3000-4000 cubic inches): I originally planned on using my EMS 4500 backpack which I love for backpacking and camping; however, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to have something that wouldn't have so many belts to get ripped apart on the airplane or getting on/off buses/trains/camels/etc. This bag should do the trick, expands when needed, and be caried as either a backpack or a small suitcase to disguise myself from being a backpacker (like while lounging in the lobby of a fancy hotel).

• Daypack: This will be the bag I cary things around in on the days where I can leave the larger backpack somewhere for a day. At this time, I really don't feel comfortable with that idea, but I'm sure that the formula t^w=-f (that's time on feet to the power of weight equals reduced freedom) will convince me otherwise. The plan is to keep snacks, water, passport, a poncho, a camera and favorite guidebook in here.This is the backpack I used in college.

• Swiss Army Knife: One with a corkscrew and scissors.

• First Aid Kit: A standard small one will do with the addition of some extra baid aids and moleskin (for blisters).

• Sleep Sack: Mine is mostly made of silk, so it packs smaller and lighter than the cotton ones.

• Towel: I'm bringing a full size packtowel that rings out well and doesn't seem to smell. Some people cut theirs down to the size of an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper. If I feel the need to lighten up, I'll do this on the road.

• Clothing (dark colors if possible in case of stains):
  • Pants/Swimsuit
    • 1 pair of convertable synthetic pants (unzip legs for shorts or bathing suit. synthetic materials dry faster than cotton)
    • a second pair of long better looking pants
  • Shirts:
    • 1 long sleeve button down made from mostly synthetic material
    • 1 short sleeve button down made from mostly synthetic material
    • 1 synthetic zip neck long underwear shirt?
    • 2 synthetic T-shirts
    • 1 50% synthetic T-shirt
    • a bunch of cotton T-shirts and an old fleece shirt to throw away during the trip
  • Sweater: With the one sweater, I figure not only can I keep warm, but I can also look a bit stylish campared to wearing a sweat shirt. My sweater is fairly light weight and made from 100% acrylic.
  • Jacket: 1 windbreaker. To keep warm, I'll have on a few T-shirts, the sweater, extra sets of underwear & socks, and a Head Sock.
  • Footwear
    • 1 pair of black sneakers (these will look like shoes to be a little more dressed up when visiting relatives and friends)
    • 1 pair of sandals for in dirty showers, hot beaches, or just giving the feet a change
  • Socks (basically 4 or 5 pair, different weights)
    • 1 pair of heavy fiber (my feet get cold real easy... also these can act as slippers)
    • 2 pair of mid/light-weight polyester (like EMS Bergaline) hiking socks
    • 1 pair of polyester (like EMS Bergaline) sock liners
    • 1 old pair of cotton socks - when they get too dirty or wet, toss them
  • Underwear (basically 3-4 pair)
    • 1 pair of cotton briefs
    • 1 pair of silk boxers
    • 1 pair of polyester (like EMS Bergaline) briefs
    • 1 pair of polyester (like EMS Bergaline) boxers
    • 1 old pair of cotton undies - when they get dirty or wet, toss them
  • Rain gear: An ultra light plastic poncho.
  • Belt: One that is more cloth than leather
  • Hats
    • I'll also bring a Head Sock to keep warm
    • and a baseball cap to keep the sun off my face.

• Camping Gear:
  • Sleeping bag - in a stuff sack. Keep to use as a blanket or give away if need more space later.
  • Sleeping pad - a small 3/4 self inflating matress.
  • Flashlight that can mount on head

• Toiletries - in plastic bags
  • Half a bottle of shampoo
  • One regular bar of soap
  • One bar of laundry soap
  • Toothpaste: Half of a tube.
  • Tooth brush with cap/cover.
  • Shaving Cream: a travel size tube
  • Sun Tan Lotion: Half a bottle

• Food Related
  • Camp Spoon, knife and fork
  • Water Bottle
  • Vitamins
  • Left over dried camping food/candy

• Journal: basically a few sheets of paper in a think plastic envelope.

• Camera w/ film: I want to shoot only on slides this time with a small autofocus zoom camera.

• Walkman: with one or two music mix tapes and a foreign language learning tape.

• Sunglasses: I have regular glasses with clip ons for different weather.

• Toilet Paper: Half a roll with the cardboard core removed.

• Extra Batteries for camera and 4 AA for walkman/flashlight.

• Books:
  • A small paperback that can be traded with someone else later
  • Europe on a Shoestring guidebook
  • Relevant pages from Africa on a Shoestring guidebook (send them back with some rolls of film to be developed later)

• Documents:
  • Passport the only country I plan on seeing that requires a visa is Egypt. I'll pick that up at a US embassy where I can get more passport pages and check consolate travel warnings.
  • photocopy of Passport hidden somewhere in pack
  • extra Passport photographs for id cards and visas
  • Address/phone list also stored on-line.
  • American Express card
  • Mac/Visa card
  • MasterCard
  • eKno # for phone messages
  • Contact info card
  • Scuba Diver Certification Card
  • Driver's License

Additional disposable underwear, t-shirts, toothbrush, soap, etc will be mailed to me 3 months into the trip to a friend's house to recharge.