I have to say, nothing has caused me so much stress during the planning stages of my trip as trying to work out what to bring with me has.
So trying to be ruthless for this just about killed me.
I still know I’ve overpacked, but I don’t want to limit myself to any less than this. I can always send stuff home if I find it’s too much when I’m out there.
TINY shorts to sleep in.
I’m also taking a dress with me which isn’t shown.
Aaaand my underwear and socks!
Super rugged case for my Macbook — I can highly recommend this case, you can throw your laptop around all over the place and it’ll still remain safe.
Iphone with USB charger. I didn’t unlock my phone before leaving so this will just be used to connect to Wifi networks.
Kindle Keyboard 3G with charger — this version of Kindle is great for travellers as it includes FREE global 3G.
Canon Powershot SX220 with charger and case.
Memory card case with 5 spare SD cards.
1TB external hard drive – It’s kinda big, but it’s not too heavy so it’ll do.
I’ll preface this by saying that I am the BIGGEST hypochondriac in the world. A few years ago I would be taking an entire pharmacy with me on this trip, but I think I’ve managed to narrow it down reasonably well..
5 months worth of malaria tablets. I wondered whether it was necessary to take them to SE Asia with me. My mum wouldn’t let me go without. I condensed them all into a tiny pill bottle so they don’t take up much space.
Travel sickness pills. A lot of them. I get motion sickness in swimming pools!
Rescue Remedy – in case I experience Fear.
Make up – Eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara.
5 months worth of contact lenses – This is the thing I’m most bothered about. I chose dailies over monthlies, which means they are taking up a LOT of space. But the dailies were half the price, and I lose/drop them so many times that I’d be screwed with monthlies. I guess as I use them up they’ll take up less and less space..
Diary – It’s SO beautiful, I love it!
And here is everything altogether!
And all of this fits into my 46l backpack! I am also taking with me a 20l daypack, and a pretty camera bag, which rolls up and fits in my daypack.
And just a quick note to let you know that I update my packing list on a yearly basis. Here’s what was in my backpack after a year, and after two years.
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I’m addicted to reading RTW packing lists! The hat is absolutely necessary. Have you ever had a sun burnt scalp!? I have. Have you packed all this stuff in your packed and walked around with it yet to see how heavy it is? Like you said in the beginning, you can always send stuff home if you don’t need it. Have fun on your trip!
Me too, I love reading what other people are taking with them!
YES, good point about the sunburnt scalp – I remember trying to shower and feeling like I was pouring acid on my head!
I went for a 6 mile walk with it on the other day and was completely fine, so it should be ok on my trip!
Wow, you do like taking lots of medicine. In my 7 years of travel I’ve never carried any pills apart from vitamins.
I dread to think what I would have taken a few years ago! I just like to be prepared, and I guess they don’t take up much room.
Hi I too love the packing lists. I haven’t even started one for my trip that is going to happen in a few months. I have one question for you. I love love your camera bag what brand is it? Maybe I can track one down. Good luck on your trip maybe we’ll cross paths on our RTW!
They have some REALLY nice designs!
Look great to me! I do a lot of photography when I travel and I usually take my 18-105mm and my 50mm f/1.4. Rarely do I ever wish I had more zoom than 105mm.
I travel with less medical gear but I’m a risk taker. Or I’m just lazy. Either way it’s not heavy and could come in handy on many occasions. I usually take some ibuprofen and some bug spray with DEET. That’s about it. I don’t own an umbrella but usually take a packable rain coat. It came in super handy while I was in Japan last week.
Q1. How heavy is your pack? Some airlines now have a 20kg limit for checked luggage.
Q2. Where are you planning on going? You might consider packing a warm-ish jacket if there’s any chance you’ll be in Europe or South America in the “shoulder seasons” as the weather has been unusually cold in recent years.
Advice 2: make sure your insect repellent is “tropical strength”.
Advice 3: ditch the umbrella and pack a Gortex rain jacket instead. They roll up pretty small and I’ve found it far more useful, plus it can double as a wind protector.
Advice 4: take two padlocks – one for your pack and one extra for your daypack, small hostel locker, etc. just in case.
Advice 5: make sure you take a letter signed by your doctor for all (prescription) meds (and the sudafed) as some border officials can be funny when it comes to that stuff.
Awwww what a helpful comment!
1. It’s WELL under 20kg. I’ll be fine with that.
2. Won’t be in Europe or South America, so I should be alright. If not, I’ll buy something warm when I’m out there.
3. Yup, taking 4 or 5 pairs with me.
LESS is MORE – cannot stress that enough. I just spent 4 months traveling and spent $50 Believe me, that pack gets heavier EVERY day…and digging thru it becomes a hassle. Like you, I had a pharmacopia…not necessary – you can get anything you need almost anywhere. Take a bottle oa Aleve or similar, mosqitoe repellent, and forget the make up. After a while, you wear the same ol things and learn to re-wash them and you become unconcerned with make up and toiletries :). Enjoy – I have been home a week and am already ready to go again!
I can’t forget the make up!! I’m not taking too much of it anyway, I can’t live without eyeliner or I look about 12 years old haha.
..And with room to spare, amazingly! I don’t think I could take any less clothes, I struggled enough trying to narrow it down to this!
Great list… looks like you are ready! Only thing I don’t I saw on here was a flashlight. Be sure to get a small one, you will need it for when you are trying to get through the dorm room at night with out turning on the lights. I would also recommend buying some packing cubes to keep everything separated. I love love LOVE my packing cubes. They help keep my backpack organized.
I love reading packing list and I know before i left I obsessed over a lot of bloggers packing list. Mine is still up on my blog if you wanna check it out.
I looked at your list when I was writing this up to see if I’d forgotten anything!
Yeah, surprisingly I feel pretty prepared at the moment… Nothing left to do except LEAVE!
You look set and ready to go. when do you leave?
How about a headlamp? I thought that was the craziest suggestion when I left but I got one and have used it tons!
I laughed when someone suggested it to me a few days ago, but now I’ve had SO many people tell me to get one that I’m actually considering it!
Wow, its all so organised! Sounds like a good packing list to me. I especially like the technology part, you have everything covered!
I’d second what Angie Orth says, grab yourself a head torch. I felt like such a geek buying one in Borneo but I used it ALL the time! even if its just to find your way through a dorm room in the middle of the night.
And my boyfriend had that Osprey bag (or a very similar one) and it was great. so comfortable. He spilt deet in it though and it melted some of the plastic bits so be careful with deet!
So excited to start reading about your trip!
Hahahaha, I’d feel like such a nerd!
Wow, it melted plastic?! Hahaha, I’ll make sure to keep mine in a bag!
You are missing something from your list..
at least take a packable fleece with you.. even in warmer climates it can get cold in the evenings… esp at altitude.
…Like stuff for cold weather? :P I’m gonna see how it is when I get there and decide then if I need to buy a fleece or whatnot.
Did you consider to bring a sleeping bag with you?A sleep sheet can be enought, depending on were you plan to go.
I can’t imagine not wearing make up!
Nah, not taking a sleeping bag with me.
Ahhhh I am debating bringing a load more with me!! Love my bikinis! Hahaha.
Hey cool post but personally I think your taking a bit too much tech. The macbook yes as you will blog but a kindle and two cameras?!
I would just take a good compact camera like Panansonics Travel Zoom series and then pick up books from hostels around the world.
Also a 1TB drive is massive you could get a slightly smaller one :) I guess times have changed since I first went the only bit of technology I had was a minidisc player!!
I NEED my SLR! Couldn’t travel without it. And my smaller camera for when I don’t wanna carry my SLR around.
I wasn’t gonna travel with a kindle but my mum bought it for my trip for me, so it comes with me!
We have the same camera! For an overpacker, I think you’ve done a nice job condensing! Good Luck- look forward to hearing about your adventures!
I think it looks pretty good, though I’d suggest taking jeans. And I love your cover for the macbook!
I don’t really wear jeans too much, so I think I’ll be alright without them.
Hahaha thanks – it certainly stands out!
Well done, bet it’s a good feeling to have it all done! I’m putting together my list at the moment it’s really stressful.
Working in a Pharmacy myself, I’m finding it hard not to take way too much!
Ah, can’t wait to read your list… It was SO stressful for me too, and was such a relief to get it out the way.
I’ve never done an RTW but I can definitely say taking a hat is a good idea. I didn’t pack a hat to Mexico, and proceeded to get sunburned on my forehead (even with sp50 sunscreen ). I ended up buying a $20 hat from a market so I wouldn’t get burned even worse. As long as the hat can fold up into your bag I say take it.
And don’t feel embarrassed about the duct tape mistake. It was only a couple years ago that I learned it was duct tape and not duck tape.
Hahahaha AWESOME! Someone else who thought it was duck tape – too funny!!
I’d say the same about the medicine, you can get ANYTHING over the counter in SE Asia and I mean ANYTHING. You want Valium, you can get Valium! Inhalers, contraceptive pill etc… Again, it costs nothing. I lived in Vietnam for 3 years and travelled all over SE Asia – I don’t know anybody that has ever taken Malaria pills (Dengue is far more common there than Malaria anyway) so I’d probably ditch those. If you do use them, be careful. Some brands make you very sensitive to the sun so you will burn much more quickly and could get sunstroke easily.
GO WITH THE HEADTORCH!!!! When you are faced with no electricity in a squat toilet in the dead of night in a SE Asian jungle, you WILL want your hands free!!!
Yeah, the malaria pills are just there to have them with me, and I’ll decide what to do once I’m there – they don’t take up much room so I don’t mind carrying them around!
Just nice to see you’re not packing hippie pants or any “travel clothing” item. It’ll be fine. You’ll chuck stuff as you go. Though you do seem to be packing one helluva lot of electronics.
Hahahaha, I really hope I don’t end up in hippie pants at any point during my trip!
WOW! i need to take a hint from you! My backpack is 85L and I had it packed to the brim! Definitely need to cut down for my next RTW trip in October.
oh and don’t be scared of the Diva Cup. I’ve been using mine for almost 4 years now and it’s the best thing ever! Practice makes perfect, and it took me about 2-3 cycles to get it 100%right. But it’s so worth not having to deal with tampons or pads. Not to mention its actually better for your body.
Also, one thing that i noticed with the solid shampoo was that it kind of dried my hair out, so after a while i ended up getting a bottle of conditioner, plus conditioner can be used as shaving cream.
Think of getting a flashlight or headlamp though — i’d suggest the headlamp.
OH AND A RAIN JACKET! I regret not bringing a proper rain jacket with me on my last trip.
Wow, 85L is a lot! I don’t think I’d be able to carry it without falling over!
Oh and another thing that I found came in handy was ziplock bags. I had a side pouch on my day pack and I put an entire box of fifty ziplock bags, seriously they came in handy EVERYWHERE!
This is a great post. I love the photo inventory, which is quite helpful if you ever have to pack in a hurry. I always take too many clothes, though… Still practicing.
Thanks Kris! That’s true about the photo, i’ll have to keep it saved on my computer for when I’m sure I’ve forgotten something!
Awww thank you! I just bought my long pants from a random shop in London – they aren’t any sort of fancy travel brand – they were only £10!
It doesn’t look like a lot in the individual photos but then all together it looks like loads! Looks like you’ve made some really good choices with the colours and stuff so that everything coordinates. I really need to try and be ruthless when I pack next year or I’m going to up with a hunchback haha! Excited to read about your trip.
Hahahaha, I’ve already toppled over loads of times from my bag being too heavy!
And what is weight of all this stuff?
Your post has got me totally stressed out (in a good way, though!). I leave in a month and have not even considered buying a backpack yet! Eeek?
Looking at what your packing has totally made me rethink my whole list though. And now, I’m starting to think I won’t have room for all that unnecessary stuff in my non-existent backpack.
So even though I’m totally stressed, you totally helped!
Hahahaha, well I wrote this packing list about 4 or 5 days before i left, and literally had barely anything up until then.
Glad I managed to help! :) And chill, a month is plenty of time!
Finally catching up on yr website! Glad u decided with the 1.8! How u finding it to use? If u have any queries on using the 550d then give me a mail.
It sounds like u r settling down into traveller life on the road!
Yeah, I love it! 1.8 is my favourite lens for sure! I’ll drop you an email later on so we can catch up!
Love packing lists, though I imagine my RTW-version might be a wae different than yours. :-) But, as always, it’s always about ideas! Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
Now that I’m a week away from my RTW, I’m freaking out about packing, and I realized I missed this post when you first put it up. I’m so impressed you fit all that stuff in a 46L bag, and that the 20L daypack fits INSIDE the bigger bag! I have a 40L bag (although Jaime/Breakaway Backpacker thinks my bag is smaller than 40L) and a 20L daypack that I was planning on using as my 2nd carry-on. I hate checking luggage. I haven’t even done a practice run on packing yet, but after reading this I think I need to go do that.
I did some fancy packing tricks in my trial run which I no longer remember and now everything is shoved in and all over the place!
Packing list is defenately the most impt part to long term traveling and i can see you have a great list!
I tends to over bring as well on my trips bt there are some “what if i need” things!
That’s exactly it, Gladys! I think I managed quite well and I haven’t been missing anything yet!
How about a sweater and / or windbreaker? Socks? Floss, toothbrush, toothpaste?
I took one long sleeved top with me. So far I’ve only been staying in warm countries and haven’t needed anything thick or with long sleeves.
I mentioned socks in my list but threw them out after a few weeks as all I ever wear now are flip flops.
I obviously took a toothbrush and toothpaste but forgot to list them in the post!
OMG, you only wear flip flops!? Ask me how much I love this. Okay, I’ll tell you right now … A LOT!! Traveling the planet in sandals? Now THAT is inspiring, my dear.
Hahaha, you were actually pretty good with your packing list. I’m still debating with myself over the stuff I should bring in my backpack. I’ll get it, I promise. Since I will be doing a lot of camping and hiking I naturally have to bring a few things you don’t have on your list, so I might have to cut down elsewhere. Great tips, keep them coming.
Also did you find a use for the duct tape?
You might find this post useful: https://www.neverendingfootsteps.com/2012/07/14/my-packing-list-one-year-on/ as I talk about what I chucked from my bag and what I added to it over the past year.
They have plenty of ATMs in Asia so I wasn’t really ever carrying around really large sums of money (maybe $200 at the most). I kept my money mostly in my pocket or purse, and my passport in my daypack.
I don’t think you are packing too much clothes; but then again I am a fellow serial over-packer & a middle age backpacker wannabe :). I love Primark basics so I have 15 of their strap tops in all possible colors; I started to think of what I will take for my trip and cannot part from them, they can actually roll so small that they all fit in my 75L with everything else… Silly I know but I have 10 months to come to term with traveling light and I am now shopping for a 45L instead to avoid the temptation for over packing.
I now carry twice as many clothes! :-) 45 litres is a good size. 75 would probably end up driving you crazy and hurting your back. I know that I get back pain from the 45 litre pack if I carry it for more than an hour.