I've been on my trip for a little over 2 months now so I figured this would be the perfect time for me to post my first entry. I by no means think I am a good writer nor a good sketcher, but I hope to become competent at both by the end of this trip. Each post will be an amalgamation of musings, thoughts, and observations that I hope will be able coherent enough for others (including myself) to understand. For this entry I’d like to talk about the gear I’m bringing.
Gear:
1. Bags
source: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0049/1212/products/tortuga-travel-backpack-45-degrees-right_1024x1024.jpg?v=1427967896
The most important thing for me when I was to looking for a bag was one that I could carry on planes, comfortable to carry, and didn’t look like I was going to hiking into the wilderness. After doing enough research between most of the bags that were around the 45 L size I decided on the the Tortuga Bag. It was designed by people who were unhappy with all the other backpack options for travelling around cities. I’ve been loving it so far and I’ve managed to pack everything I need for the next 6 months in it (hopefully). I use a large and small packing cube to help organize by bag and make sure things aren’t exploding everywhere.
source: http://www.tortugabackpacks.com/products/tortuga-packable-daypack
Once I get to my hostel I take out everything I need during the day and put it in my a packable day bag which I carry around when I’m exploring a new place. When I'm travelling with my big bag I just stuff the day bag in one of the side pockets so I'm only carrying around one item when I'm going through an airport, station or to my hostel. It makes travelling so much more convenient without having to worry about a large bag in the back and a small bag in the front.
2.Clothing
For anyone who knows me, I love my clothes and I have a lot of it -- so travelling light and living out of a backpack for 6 months was something I was both looking forward to and a little hesitant about, but so far it’s been fine. I don’t need to spend 10 minutes deciding what to wear anymore because my options are very limited and everything looks more or less matches with each other. All my shirts are also merino-wool because it's a extremely fast drying, odor resistant (to an extant…), and a great insulator for both during the cold and hot . So without further ado, here is my packing list:
Outerwear (large packing cube):
x3 T-shirts ( 1 black and 1 navy crewneck from Outlier, 1 vneck from Icebreaker)
x2 Button-Up Shirts (1 grey from Wool & Prince, 1 blue from Outlier)
x1 Raw-denim jeans (3sixteen ST 120-xk)
x1 Long pants (Outlier Slim Dungarees)
x2 Shorts ( Outlier New Ways)
Innerwear (small packing cube):
x5 Boxer Briefs (Uniqlo airism)
x5 Socks (3 pairs no-show, 2 pairs - long by Darn Tough)
x1 Under Armour Thermal
x1 Athletic Shorts ( Go Illini!)
x1 Uniqlo airism Shirt
Other :
x1 Light Down Jacket ( Uniqlo)
x1 Soft-Shell jacket (Colombia)
x1 Nike Flyknit Lunar3
x1 Cole Haan LunarGrand Wingtip Oxfords
x1 Flip-flops
3. Electronics
I initially didn't want to bring too many devices, but I ended up still bringing a decent amount of things...
Laptop
Camera
Phone
GoPro
Powerstrip
Plug Adapter
Global Hotspot
Portable Battery
External Harddrive
4. Toiletries
Hanging Toiletry Bag (Muji)
Toothbrush w/ cover and toothpaste
Floss
Travel Sized Bottles
Nail Clippers
Deodarant