Miniature suitcase made from an Altoids mints tin. It's so cute! Crafted by Julie McGufee. Photo taken from her blog - Life in the Craft Lane. |
Every trip I go on, I try to reduce the load but I'm afraid I've not been very successful. On my first trip, to Peru in 2006, my suitcase weighed in at barely 8 kgs....that was including the 2 kgs that the suitcase weighed! Now, my suitcase generally tips the scale around 13 kgs and really that's not all that bad considering I'm packing for at least 3-4 weeks travel.
This trip will be to the tropics so it's going to be a lot of lightweight clothing. However, for visiting the temples, I will need to bring a long sleeve shirt and a pair of long pants that I can then also wear on our day long trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake in Myanmar. Keeping the clothes thin will also be important. Except for the first few days in an apartment in Bangkok, the rest of the trip, we will likely be doing our own laundry though I hope that by the time we arrive at the hotel in Mandalay, we can pay for a load to be done.
Starting with recent trips, I also now include a water bottle on my packing list. Seeing how plastic bottles have really contributed to the trash that piles up in countries really bothers me so I do what I can to reduce the waste by bringing along my own bottle. We will very likely have to buy bottled water but this way, we can buy a single larger bottle that we can simply replenish our smaller bottles from.
On my way to and from Bangkok, I'll be stopping over in San Francisco to visit family so I'll need to take the cooler weather for San Francisco in mind. I will probably pack my SF clothes in a smaller bag and leave that behind so I'm not lugging clothes that I don't need in Thailand and Myanmar. The family is going to have to deal with me wearing pretty much the same clothes day after day!
Here's the list for Thailand and Myanmar. The SF list will probably include some cooler weather items like a sweater and some more long sleeve shirts.
The List
- Passport
- Travel folder with airline tickets, travel documents, apartment and hotel voucher/confirmations, and full trip itinerary
- $US, credit and debit card
- Rain jacket
- 4 - 6 short sleeved shirts/t-shirts/tank tops
- 1 long sleeve shirt
- 3 pairs of capri pants
- 2 pairs of shorts
- 1 pair of long pants
- Swimsuit
- Underwear and one pair of socks
- Small face towel
- Sunhat and sunglasses
- 1 pair walking shoes
- 1 pair sandals
- 1 pair rubber slippers
- Toiletries and first aid kit (including malaria pills, Tylenol, Band Aids, Neosporin, lip balm, Immodium AD, Pepto Bismol, Zithromax, Cipro)
- Sunblock, lotion, and insect repellent
- Toilet paper, handiwipes
- Flashlight
- Plastic hanger for drying clothes
- Drain plug, laundry detergent, and plastic hangers for drying clothes
- Water bottle
- Collapsible silicon bowls
- Travel kettle
- Plastic cutlery
- Nikon dSLR camera lenses, spare batteries, chargers and outlet adapters, SD card
- iPad with SD card reader
- Pen and notebook
- iPod
- 1 collapsible tote to bring back all those things that I buy along the way but have no space in my suitcase and backpack for.