How much is too much? Usually, travelling by air in
economy/coach, the amount of stuff you can pack is determined by your
airline luggage allowance rather than your length of trip.
Some airlines offer
a generous 30kg plus hand luggage in economy while with others it’s a measly
20kg. When you are backpacking however, it’s a different story – it’s how much
you are prepared to carry that is the deciding factor – and 20kg is too *blinking*
heavy!
So
what do we pack for our four-month back-packing trip to S.E. Asia?
For
Trav it is easy: He packs - all his dive gear excluding lead weights
and air-tank. 3 pair shorts. 3 short-sleeved shirts. 3 vests/t-shirts. 1 x long
trousers and a long sleeved shirt. Undies. Swim shorts. A lightweight rain
jacket. Toothbrush. Aftershave (Armani, of course). A torch.
Weight of backpack = 15kg.
For
me:
Well, I gave up high maintenance a while ago, but I do need stuff!
I pack: My full face snorkel
mask. Two dresses – 1 knee length cotton day dress and 1 longer length shift
dress for evening wear. 3 pair shorts. 2 shorts-style playsuits. 2 cropped linen
trousers and 2 ‘nice’ tops. 3 x vest/t-shirts. 4 bikinis. 1 sarong. 2 yoga
shorts. Undies - to include 6 bandeau style bra tops in assorted colours
(Primark sports section £1 each) A lightweight rain jacket. An umbrella.
That
is probably all I need for Asia – but we are travelling
back through the USA and to Scotland, where we will stay for 48hrs and plan to
do stuff including meeting up with our sons for a meal - and it is the end of
October – and it will be cold!
I
add:
1 pair of jeans. A fleecy hoodie top. 2 x fleecy patterned leggings. My very favourite
100% cashmere v-neck sweater (an Edinburgh charity shop find). A scarf/shawl/pashmina.
Then….. of course there are
the products I simply cannot live without:
My Kindle. Walkman. Noise
reducing earphones. Small boombox/speaker. Notebook computer. Camera. GHD hair
straighteners (yes, really, I have to
have these in case I go somewhere and
don’t want to look like a frizzy head!) All the cables for the above. Power battery
back-up pack. Power-Surge adapter. Plug adapter. Actual paper notebook. Pen.
Hair conditioners. Shampoo. Soap. Face cream. Body cream. Nail polish and
remover. Scissors/nail-clippers/tweezers/nail-files. Hair removal cream.
Sunlotion. Aftersun. Cottonwool. Makeup bag. Makeup remover (yes, sometimes –
although hardly ever – I wear a bit of eyeliner and mascara and then I’ll
certainly need something to remove it!) Coconut oil (works when everything else
fails/runs out). Deodorant. Perfume (Chanel, of course). Anti-frizz hair
products. Toothbrush. Toothpaste. Tooth polish. Tooth floss. Hairbrushes. Hair
ties. Hair clips and accessories. Bug spray. Bug bite treatments. First-aid kit
including painkillers and every kind of discomfort tablets, band-aid plasters,
and anti-biotics (you never know!)
Weight of backpack: too
heavy.
I need to downscale, I know,
but I neeeeeed all that stuff! Wail!!!!
Trav’s response. ‘That’s
fine. But you have to carry it…’
And that is from the man who
cleverly bought me my first Kindle ereader as a direct response to my luggage
being overweight on an Emirates flight. My allowance on that trip was a
generous 30kg but my case weighed in at 36kg. I refused to dump anything,
saying I needed everything I had packed for our two week holiday. As it was
our wedding anniversary, Trav took pity on me and agreed to pay out the $240 in
overweight charges. He wasn’t so impressed however, when we reached our destination,
and I opened my case to reveal a dozen or so hardback books in among my stuff. Hence the gift of
a Kindle – on which I now have stored over a thousand books! Yay!!
So
come on lovely peeps, tell me, what do you pack for your trips away? Are you a lightweight
or do you, like me, need your stuff?
All comments gratefully received
and I promise to reply as soon as I have an internet connection.
Love, Janice xx
