RTW Packing List

In the travel blogging community it seems to be sort of a rite of passage to post a packing list and photos. It is quite a daunting task to pack one backpack and one day pack for four months of travel to different climates and for different scenarios. Since we are only a few days from departure and preparing our bags, I suppose now is the time!

So this is what my packed bag looks like:

JUST KIDDING! (This was my mom's bag before she went on vacation last year - and my parents' adorable puppy Maggie!) I just had to put that in here cause she's so stinkin' cute!

OK, so here's the real breakdown of what is going into my backpack.

Footwear:
Merrell hiking boots
Keens Newport sandals
Havianas flip flops
Sidekicks Foldable flats (cheetah print)
3 pairs of hiking socks (lightweight)
2 pairs crew socks
1 pair black dress socks



Clothes:
Columbia Arcadia rain jacket
North face 1/4 zip fleece
3 cotton tees
1 long sleeve tee
5 tanks
2 dry wick tees
1 long sleeve dry wick 1/4 zip
Zip up yoga jacket
3/4 sleeve cardigan
1 short sleeve tee dress
2 quick dry tank dresses (one black and one colorful print to double as cover-ups)
Charcoal leggings
Black yoga pants
Columbia black water repelling pants
Kuhl Bandita knaki convertible pants
Jeans (dark wash, lightweight)
Black shorts
3 bikinis
Underwear (10)
Sports bra
Strapless bra
Regular bra (2)

Accessories:
2 scarves - 1 pink, 1 black
Colorful sarong
Hat with brim
Winter beanie
Cheapie gloves
Sunnies
Jewelry (2 necklaces, 2 earrings, extra belly button ring)

Hair accessories (hairbands, clips, bobby pins, headbands)

Extras:

Silksak sleeping bag liner

Pillowcase

XL travel towel

Minimal makeup (travel size Bare Minerals, mascara, eyeliner)

Airborne

Toiletries (travel size everything, plus my awesome foldable toothbrush!)

Cards

Headlamp

Travel alarm clock

Multipurpose tool (screwdriver, flashlight, bottle opener, etc)

Clothesline

Detergent packets

Waterproof pack cover

Duffel for checking pack at airport

Sunscreen

Bug repellent

Extra batteries

Luggage locks
Plastic zip ties for locking luggage
Safety pins
water bottle

Dive gear:

Computer

Mask

Snorkel

Hood

Gloves

Socks

Carry on/Day pack:
Wallet
Passports
Prescriptions
Paperwork
Cameras (Canon Power Shot Elph and Canon Digital Rebel XSi)
Extra memory cards
Power adaptors for other countries (Drew's bag)
Cords for electronics
Laptop (Drew will be carrying)

Kindle
iPhone
Eye mask
Journal and pen

Whew...now hopefully I'm not forgetting anything...

Your Coworkers Aren't as Awesome as Mine

Yeah, not only did they have a happy hour celebration for me earlier this week, today my coworkers decorated our office with Dora the Explorer party supplies, made me wear a backpack and Dora ribbon all day, brought in an awesome lunch from Salsaritas (complete with special gluten free soft tortillas just for me!), wrote their well wishes on a perfect card, and made me cry with their awesomeness and support of our adventure ahead.

I'm pretty lucky.

I will miss you all!

*disclaimer: Drew's coworkers are pretty awesome too ;)

The Last "See You Tomorrow"

Tomorrow is my last day of work. Today as my coworkers and I left the office we (as usual) said "see you tomorrow!" And then it hit me...

Today was the last time I can say that. At least for a while.

It's bittersweet. I'm leaving my job for an absolutely incredible journey ahead, to achieve a dream I've been dreaming for a long time. But I like my job. I have fun with my coworkers. I feel good about what I do. I know, I know, I'm going to be traveling for four months! It's going to be amazing and I'm not at all regretting my decision, but I think it's ok to be a little sad to say goodbye to people. It would be weird if I didn't care at all, right?

So tomorrow is my last day. 

Maybe then it will hit me that we are leaving for four months in just a week? Or maybe it will take saying goodbye to my parents at the airport in Buffalo before boarding our flight to JFK? Maybe it will sink in while we're  in Miami? I'm thinking it's more likely that it won't sink in until we arrive in our first international destination, Ecuador. Maybe then. But really, we've been on a couple three week long vacations, so part of me doesn't think the true magnitude of our trip will hit me until after at least three weeks goes by and we start to realize that we don't have to end our "vacation" and head home.

Just another part of the adventure and unknown...

Regardless, I will miss the people at work that I am used to seeing every day. You've all been extremely supportive of me and my departure, and I truly appreciate it. 

Dressing for Four Months of Life in One Backpack

My home office/art space has quickly become the catchall for all of the things I plan to carry in a 3,000 cubic inch pack on my back for four months.

Over the weekend, I played with my potential wardrobe. I mixed and matched separates and created weather and situational scenarios in my head. For example: 

"If I am wearing this outfit in Cuzco and it starts cooling off and raining what will I throw on?" 

"If it's going to be 50 degrees in the morning and 80 degrees by four PM, but I can't change and only have my small day bag, what would I wear that day?"

"If we have a little extra cash and want to splurge on dinner in Barcelona, what would I wear to a nice restaurant?"

"If we're in Rome and the Pope wants to meet us, what would be appropriate?"

You get the idea. ;-)

When I told my husband that I was a bit stressed about taking the right wardrobe so I was playing dress up, he responded with, "Yeah, that's definitely a girl thing."  What can I say? Male wardrobes are so much simpler (and although my packing situation is more complicated, it's also much more fun!)!!

So what clothing items am I taking?  This is my pile: 

I will be adding a pair of jeans, a pair of khaki convertible pants that are waiting to be washed, and some socks, but I may be stripping out a couple items as well.

It may not seem like much - and it's really not - but there are so many other essentials (toiletries, cameras, diving gear, paperwork, journal, Kindle, footwear, laptop!) to take and only so much room in my pack!

Before we leave I will be sure to post a picture and list of the items that made the final cut, as well a picture of my bag packed and ready to go.

But for now...I continue to add and subtract items and contemplate the value of each and every addition.

Any advice or must have items?

It's Kind of a Big Deal

This might sound dumb, but today I was reminded just how big of a deal this trip is. Not just for me personally, as a huge dream becoming reality, but just as an experience in general.

Because of the research I've done and the people I've come to "know" through Twitter and blogs, I guess I've become a bit desensitized to just how incredible this opportunity is. Sure, I know it, and feel it in through the money saved and time spent planning, etc, but over the past year I've developed a sort of online community filled with people who are living our dream of extended travel. Not just one or two, but hundreds of people. These people have been my inspiration when things were hard, and made me feel normal for dreaming this dream and taking the necessary steps to make this thing happen.

Yet today I realized that though they've made me feel that this isn't crazy or uncommon, following them so much has also blinded me to some of the magnitude of our long term journey ahead. The idea of extended travel has become almost commonplace to me because I see these tweets and blogs from around the world every day. And four months? That's nothing to these people who've left everything and have been gone for years with no plans to stop!

I'm not even sure what caused this breakthrough today, but I did talk to several different people about our trip over the course of the day who didn't know much about what we are doing. I guess their positive, awed reactions one after another might have sparked something in me.

I'm glad I was able to gain this renewed perspective that was based on other people's reactions-the thing I had feared most about this journey from the beginning. It is helping me remember the significance of this experience and prevent me from comparing our journey to anyone else's.

mage: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

T-minus 24 days...!

30 Days to Lift Off

With just 30 days left until we depart on our adventure, it seems that every day several items are added to our "to do" list. Luckily, we are also consistently checking things off, so the list isn't growing too much. There are moments where it feels a bit overwhelming, but we're in the final stretch so it only makes sense that we've got a lot to do. And, our date of departure is now so close that it is actually starting to feel real, so that's a huge motivator to keep checking things off of that list!

mage: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here is an overview of the things we are working on:

• Home
• Took down and put away all of our Christmas decorations.
• Starting to compile our stuff in our designated "packing areas."
• Health
• Visited the Niagara County Health Department this past week to get our immunizations. Needed Tetanus, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, and Hepatitis A (Drew also had to get Hep B, but they have a mixed Hep A/Hep B shot so he still only got four needles). 
• Saw our doctors to get a final checkup and get prescriptions written. 
• Need malaria pills, and Cipro for if/when you get travelers diarrhea (We both experienced it in Thailand so we're not taking any chances!!)
• I also needed to get an extended prescription for my birth control pills. All of these prescriptions bring new challenges for me with my newly diagnosed Celiac Disease - I have to make sure all of my drugs are gluten free. This is a lot more difficult than I expected, but luckily we started this now so we have a bit of time to get it all figured out.
• Finances
• Creating a plan for our money while we're away. Including:
• What our daily budget is while we are gone.
• How much cash we want to have on us at different times so as to have what we need, but not have too much just in case we lost our wallet or got pick-pocketed.
• Set up automatic bill pay - so we have less to worry about while we're away.
• We already have a credit card that doesn't have any foreign transaction fees, however, it is important for us to have a debit/ATM card that will not charge us fees when we withdraw money abroad. We did a little research and found out that Charles Schwab will reimburse withdrawal fees while abroad, so we've recently sent in our paperwork to set up an account with them. There are other options, but this seemed like the best one for us. 
• Trip Details
• Diving in Miami - we want to do a day of practice diving while in South Florida, so we are confident and comfortable from the very first dive in the Galapagos - it's supposed to be far too amazing to waste a dive getting re-acclimated!
• Rental equipment in Galapagos - we are only taking our masks and a few accessories with us to the Galapagos - because we don't own much equipment, and our flippers are much too big to bring along. Therefore, we needed to send our sizes to our liaison so she can make sure we have everything we need when we arrive. We stopped at our local dive shop, Dip 'N Dive, who "sized us up" for about 10 seconds each before giving us our sizes which I emailed to our dive contact.
• First nights accommodations in the Galapagos - because the Galapagos are islands there is clearly a limit on the number of places to stay - especially budget accommodations. So, we are trying to have our rooms booked for our two nights on San Cristobal island (where we will be departing on the cruise from) before we leave home.
• Accommodation for first night after dive cruise - for the same reasons as above and because the dive company needs to know where to take our bags when we get off the boat our last day, we need to have at least our first night on Santa Cruz island booked. We don't want to book more than that because we aren't sure how long we will stay on that island as we may want to venture to another island the next day and stay there.
• Packing!
• It's crucial to practice packing for such a long trip with such a small amount of luggage. We're going to be living with just the packs on our backs and a small carry on bag.
• It's definitely a bit intimidating to try to figure out what we are really going to need while we're gone, but it's also exciting and liberating to know that I will (hopefully!) have everything I need in one bag that I can just throw on my back and go!
• Collecting Information
• I'm continuously reading and researching about places I want to go.
• Brushing up on my Spanish. Drew found a great app for the iPhone called Duolingo. It's free and takes you from beginner language skills up into advanced. I've spent quite a bit of time on it, but have a ton of lessons ahead of me. It's a great way to refresh the skills I haven't used since a trip to Costa Rica in 2007, and high school Spanish before that! It's also helping Drew to learn some of the language as he took French in high school.
• Some Final Purchases
• A journal - I wanted one that is lined, spiral bound, has a soft, pliable cover, and is about half the size of a standard spiral notebook - not too big to take up a ton of room, not too small to be a pain to write in. Found it yesterday, so I can check that off my list!
• Fold-up toothbrushes - no, we didn't know that we wanted these, because we didn't know they existed, but for $1.59 at Target they seemed like a great buy and a nice way to keep our toothbrushes clean AND they are compact! 
• Memory cards for our cameras.

So that's our current situation! It's really starting to get real!