It’s Still Too Much — Packing for 6 Months Abroad
Every good adventurer has faced the daunting task of selecting the right gear. Kings and queens of old traveled with small armies of laborers tasked with re-creating all the comforts of home including entire fake castles complete with four poster beds, grand oak tables, and thrones. The modern digital nomad subculture has the opposite mantra: minimal, minimal, minimal.
The reasons are sound:
- You can buy most things along the way for single use. Toothpaste, pain killers, even cables and clothes are all available and can be disposed of responsibly when necessary.
- Beyond an electronic connection for pleasure or work, suitable clothes, and enough hygienic supplies to keep your fellow humans from avoiding you like the plague, what truly do we need now a days?
- You’re moving constantly and it quickly becomes obnoxious to drag heavy bags along the way. Being nimble can become a priority over having that extra pair of pants that make your butt look great 2 days out of the month (providing you don’t have to sit for any length of time).
My previous experience backs up this philosophy. In college, I backpacked Europe for 2.5 months with 4 tank tops, 2 overshirts, a pair of hiking boots, the requisite number of socks, underwear, and Dr Bronner’s soap for my short hair. Jeans were deemed too heavy in lieu of waterproof convertible pants. I had a small digital camera and the heaviest thing ended up being the bag of paper memorabilia I collected across our adventures (which still hasn’t been transformed into a trip scrapbook 10 years later). Even with that lean setup, I was always displeased carrying it after an hour feeling that surely I could ditch something.
So, when I say I knew better going into this six month trip across two continents, I really mean I knew better. And yet, here I sit with what I know is too much. It’s not that I didn’t try — I just can’t seem to eliminate things. I’ve taken the same bag and setup to the Cook Islands and New Zealand, each time attempting to pair down and have the Perfect Amount, only to return home and feel still stymied. By now, the countless repackings have driven my husband to a long sigh and glazed over eyes. The irony is in February, after watching him sit on his bag to get it shut for our trip to the Cook Islands, I unleashed my minimalist banshee on it and eliminated sweaters and shirts right and left. He now has a well trimmed pack without excess and proudly crows whenever his bag weighs less than mine.
Perhaps wringing my hands over my overpacking has been my way of avoiding other aspects of what this trip represents — like how I’m not working by choice for the first time in 10 years by leaving a job I loved for what some undoubtedly see as some sort of Eat, Pray, Love situation. It’s also possible I’m older and my sense of what is necessary has changed over the last decade, particularly when faced with two different continents and climates. The bag fits it all so perhaps my obsession is just my sincere desire to unburden myself somehow. Regardless, it’s always fun for you to judge the contents of my bag, dear reader, so I’ll indulge you by divulging the contents along with the methods I’ve employed to carry it all. I hope you leave with lessons learned one way or another. Leave me suggestions or praise in the comments below.
Critical Decision: The Container for Your Life
There’s a million bags out there, but it all boils down to the fact it will soon contain everything in your life on the road. You better like it or it will quickly become an irritating companion. My first backpacking bag, an Osprey 32, was uni-sex style top loader with a clever side zipper and an annoying talent for finding the exact wrong spot to rub against my hips. I hated it by the end of the College trip as we’ll now start referring to the trip 10 years ago. For the Quarterlife Crisis trip (this one for those becoming confused), I knew I needed something new and better adapted to my body. After spending an hour torturing my husband in REI trying on bags and making sure they’d fit everything including my dive fins, I settled on the Osprey Farpoint 55 setup.
Designed for the urban city hopper, the Farpoint series open up completely and feature a nifty cover that zippers shut over the back straps. This enables you to easily check your bag at airports for when it doesn’t meet the carry-on requirements without worrying something will snap off. The 55 is split between two bags: a large 40 liter unit and a smaller 15 liter day bag that can be securely attached to the main bag. The versatility, space, female-build option, and built in day-bag made it a convincing argument, even if it was remarkably larger than my previous bags. Oh, and it came in my favorite color red.
The Bag of Holding
Ah, the nitty gritty. The main bag was practically palatial in terms of size. Still, I like my bag to be compartmentalized. Not only does it enable you to quickly locate things, it also makes packing a snap. I picked up a couple Eagle Creek compression cubes for the main items and another 3 non-compression cubes for the remainder. Paired with the two toiletry bags (one for makeup and hair items, the other for real toiletries), a couple of small bags for this and that, and I have a fairly organized system.
In here I have:
- 4 plain t-shirts (simple neutral colors)
- 2 overshirts to layer and provide variation
- 1 sleeping cami
- 1 graphic tank (Star Wars Princess Leia Rebel for road inspiration)
- 2 jeans because I’m between sizes and I’m stuck either pulling my pants up all day or feeling like a sausage. As soon as I walk off a couple more pounds, one of these will go.
- 1 pair of wool shorts for sleep and yoga
- 1 pair of shorts for hot days
- 1 pair of wool leggings for lounging in shared spaces and when it’s chilly
- 1 smartwool sweater as a middle layer
- 3 pairs of smartwool socks
- 5 pairs of underwear
- 3 bras — one neutral, one black, and one sports bra
- 1 nice dress which can double for city walking or dinner
- 1 pair of sandal walking shoes
- 1 pair of KEDs walking shoes
- 1 pair of kitten heel wedges for dinners out and the Versailles Masked Ball — they’re comfortable for walks & broken in
- 1 small handbag for going out to nicer places
- Makeup and Toiletry bags — I bought more than I anticipated here
- 2 buffs and a bandana — these are so useful!
- 1 scarf
- 1 sarong
- 1 swimsuit
- Quick dry towel for when we’re in hostels
- A bag of writing supplies for letters home and my physical dive log in case it’s needed in Croatia and South East Asia
- A canvas outer layer with detachable hood
Ugh, just writing all of that makes me feel overwhelmed. I also have a pair of leather boots, but I wear them for moving days so they don’t typically go in the bag. The leggings, the two extra pairs of shoes, the handbag, and extra toiletries are the next level to cut for me, but I’ll make the call in the next couple weeks. So far I’ve used everything aside from the summer clothes so so far, so good!
Day Bag of Criticals
The small backpack is full of the essentials, mainly because it goes with me everywhere. I invested in a new DSLR mirrorless camera for the trip instead of going back to Europe with the Panasonic LuminX I’ve had for the last 10 years. The LuminX has been a trooper, but I wanted more manual controls to start expanding my photography. As a result, this bag is a lot heavier than originally planned. So much so, I can’t typically zip it onto the main bag for fear of it folding my Surface in uncomfortable ways.
- Wallet, Passport, and critical documents like our International Driver’s Licenses
- My DSLR, second lens, backup battery, and filters
- Small Gorilla tripod for long exposure shots
- Small bag of niceties (gum, lotion, sanitizer, etc)
- Journal
- Hydro Flask water bottle
- SmartBag of electronic cables and pens — this has been a lifesaver! It keeps me from forgetting cables since an open spot means something is missing.
- Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones
- Sunglasses and real glasses
- Microsoft Surface laptop — my workhorse. I love this thing.
- Black sweater I’m either wearing or have slipped through the straps at my elbow — technically it can fit into the Bag of Holding if necessary.
The SmartBag and Farpoint organization system makes all of this fit snugly on moving days. Typically the Hydro Flask doesn’t fit between locations so it slips into the Bag of Holding until we arrive and I can take the SmartBag out. Still, I’m happy with how much it fits and still doesn’t feel overfull.
Things I’ve Allowed Because We’re Roadtripping Right Now
I’ll admit it, there’s more. (I told you!) Since we’re currently driving a car around Scotland, I have a couple more items that I plan on either ditching responsibly or sending home before we launch into Switzerland:
- Two books that will be ditched once I’m done reading them — they’re both focused on the Digital Nomad life and I wanted all the tips I could get. Realistically, I could get electronic copies I suppose, but I naively threw them in at the last minute.
- Two masks for Versailles — we can’t get into the ball without them!
- Whisky tasting glasses we picked up in Edinburgh at the Scotch Whisky Experience — they came with our tour and we figured why not take them on our distillery tours while we can.
Judges, Your Final Score
That’s all of it! It not only all fits within the bags, but I also trucked on a 30 minute walk across Edinburgh with all of it on my back so clearly it isn’t that bad. It’s not like I brought my own oak throne with me. Still, I’m immersed in a subculture of travelers decrying the materialism of our age, proudly displaying the 10 lbs bags they lived out of for a year. It seems no matter what I do, I’d be bringing something someone could deem unnecessary.
I admire those individuals and remember with fondness my small College setup. However, I also like going to nice places to eat, feeling like a fashionable woman sipping wine. We’ll evaluate it all at the end and see what ultimately doesn’t get used, but for now, I’ll carry it all and trust my future self will sort it out.
