what to pack on a rtw trip

Less than you think, but still way too much. We carry around about 16kg (Joe) and 12kg (Hisako). Here is the lowdown on what we decided to pack on our trip for a year around the world.

You can download a checklist of all the items below by viewing the Google Spreadsheet. From the file menu you can select “Download as…” to download an Excel file to your machine or simply copy the spreadsheet to your Google Docs folder.

• Backpacks
• Clothes
• Electronics
• Medical
• Personal Hygiene
• Documentation
• Security
• Books & Games
• Eating & Cooking
• Odds & Ends

Legend

The packing items below are color coded as such:

Backpacks

• karimor cougar
  Hisako’s 45-55L backpack
• fanny pack
  extremely portable and quick access. hisako carries the money, so very handy.
• shoulder bag
  little vulnerable to bag slashing, but has lots of pockets and works great for Hisako
• kelty
  Joe’s 90L backpack
• day pack
  has a waist strap as well. been lovin’ the waist strap for the extra support when we stuff the bag full of heavy things.
• rain covers
  rarely, to never use these. wish we had some backpack covers that we could wrap around and lock for the bus rides.
• eco-bag
  small, foldable bag for shopping

We decided to pack fairly light for our trip… although you might not believe that by looking at the extensive list below… and the 90L + 50L bag combination is working out really well for us. The 90L bag tends to come in around 15 to 16kg when we check in at the airport. Going over that can cause you extra headaches.

Clothes

• furoshiki
  japanese patterned clothe to wrap clothes up in
• sandals
  been useful for hiking and giving the shoes a breather.
• alpaca leg warmer
  bought in Bolivia and great for cold bus rides.
• packing bag
  used to throw all my clothes into, one for tops and other other for bottoms
• shirts
  light cotton shirts work the best
• long sleeve shirts
  never use one of the shirts, 2 would be suffiecient
• thermal shirt
  absolute necessity for hikes and cold nights
• pants
  bought one more pair in Peru. cargo is ideal, jeans are heavy and don’t dry fast
• shorts
  one’s all I’ve needed
• swimming trunks / suit
  quick dry is good
• fleece
  use all the time, get a good one
• hoodie
  use all the time, get a good one
• socks
  one pair of thick hiking socks
• boxers / underwear
  just average joe boxers & briefs
• cap
  use it more than sunglasses, very handy when raining
• cold weather hat
  should have gotten one that covers my ears completely
• rain jacket
  rarely used
• towel
  small, quick dry towel
• liner
  anti-insect liner that’s a blessing in poor hostels
• gloves
  rarely used
• flip flops
  great for the showers, beach, walking around the hostel.
• hiking shoes
  the solomons with the kevlar drawstring are amazing. easy one, easy off.

Clothes take up a lot of weight and space in your backpack. We recommend going with as little as possible, but that does mean you have to do your laundry more frequently.

Electronics

• canon camera battery
  good to have backups.
• canon ixy
  fits in your pocket, not too expensive.
• canon battery charger
  for the Canon IXY
• rechargeable batteries
  the eneloop batteries get me 200 to 300 shots.
• battery charger
  panasonic model, but works with the Sanyo batteries.
• a/v cable
  Never used. (yet)
• canon PowerShot SX120 IS
  has a 10x zoom, very handy.
• headphones
  for the two iPods. one has a microphone attached.
• head lamps
  highly recommended.
• cell phone
  GSM enabled phones, but Skype has been our phone of choice.
• acer netbook
  nearly all travelers have one of these netbooks now. WiFi in South America is everywhere.
• iPod / iPod Touch
  iPod Touch has been indispensable for reference and entertainment.
• 3 way plug
  highly recommended. plugs are sometimes in short supply.
• usb sticks
  1GB+ recommended. wwapping music, printing files, etc.
• sd cards
  plan on using these as a means of mailing pictures back home.
• gorilla pod
  flexible and tiny.
• headset
  being on speakerphone with Skype isn’t always what you want.
• universal plug adapter
  since most adapters are rated for voltages and currents, worldwide, this provide the bridge.
• iPod adapters
  in case one fails.
• ethernet cable
  haven’t used yet. WiFi everywhere.
• transformer
  has worked best as an extension cord to date.
• cell phone adapter
  when we decide to charge occasionally.

The netbook and iPod touch have been our most indispensable items on the trip so far. The netbook allows us to research things as we go along and stay in touch with home. The touch has given us books, dictionaries, and games all in the palm of our hand. The touch is also small enough that you can fit it in your pocket without looking like you are carrying anything expensive around.

Medical Gear

• bandaids
  range of sizes
• ib profen
  general aches and pains
• pills
  pills for lots of different symptoms, like diarrhea, fever, etc
• medical tape
  keep the bandages on
• anti fungal cream
  athlete’s foot, etc
• poison remover
  works a bit on mosquito bites, otherwise on stings
• emergency blanket
  silver lined blanket
• eye drops
  none
• antiseptic cream
  to put on wounds
• gauze
  for wrapping wounds
• thermometer
  keeping an eye out for malaria
• muhi
  japanese medicine to fight itchiness from bites
• insect repellent
  oil based repellent from hawaii
• pill name to symptom chart
  making sure we give each other the right medicine
• insect coil
  worth their weight in cold in some parts of the world.

Definitely good to have the IB profen or whatever pain killers you can bring along. Never know what’s going to hit you. Altitude and motion sickness pills can also make some otherwise terrible journeys very enjoyable.

Personal Hygiene

• safety razor & feather blades
  better at cutting through a beard than today’s standard razors. little hard to find replacements.
• ear picks
  japanese ear picks
• hand towels
  bundle up items or dry yourself off. lightweight
• good luck charms
  from the family and friends
• toothbrush cases
  keeps a wet toothbrush from getting everything wet and hair off your toothbrush.
• earl plugs
  for noisy dorm rooms.
• wolfskin toiletry bag
  to organize toothbrushes, etc
• wet tissues
  essential for keeping clean
• toilet paper
  a rarity in many parts of the world
• shampoo & conditioner
  small bottles are good
• scruby
  personal preference.
• tweezers
  hate splinters
• nail clippers
  get the ones with the case to keep the clippings in
• floss
  always need it when you don’t have it.

Plastic bags are your friends when it comes to personal items like these. Helps you to stay organized and provide a handy mat to place things on when there is nothing else in the showers.

Documentation

• travel pouch
  keep the valuables safe under your pants.
• skimming protector
  place in your wallet to stop thieves from scanning your passport, id’s, etc.
• debit card
  visa plus enabled. well supported in south america.
• small wallet
  one for hisako and one for joe
• round the world tickets
  printed out
• contact numbers
  addresses and numbers of friends and family
• yellow fever vaccination cards
  necessary for certain countries around the world
• vaccination history
  from our doctor, with vaccine and date listed
• travel insurance
  good for a year and covers you as soon as you leave the door
• international driver’s license
  just in case we want to drive overseas
• credit card
  a backup in case we lose one
• bank card
  a backup in case we lose one
• driver’s license
  one for each of us
• hostel international card
  one for each of us
• mileage card
  one for each of us
• passport
  one for each of us
• passport case
  with skimming protection and enough pockets to fit all our cards

Of all the things on the list, these items take the longest to get in order and can be among the most expensive. New passports, vaccinations, etc are very pricey. Make copies of everything and leave one copy with a loved one or friend back in your home country before departing.

Eating & Cooking

• mugs
  not pictured. making sure that the lids seal well and that the handle connects with the cup at both ends.
• wolfskin water bottles
  handy at times, but we buy bottled water all the time and rarely find ourselves using them.
• cutlery set
  ingenious fork, spoon, chopstick set from Japan
• pots and pans
  small cooking set that we only used in Patagonia so far.
• pocket knife
  make sure you have a knife, corkscrew, can opener, and bottle opener.
• percolator
  if you don’t like instant coffee, then this will be a godsend.

Most of this stuff has been fairly useless to us on the trip so far, but if we were camping more it wouldn’t be. Depends a lot on your mode of travel. If you are going to be staying in hostel primarily, keep in mind that they usually have all the cutlery and pans you’ll ever need.

Security

• locks
  various sizes. small ones work well with zippers and some hostel lockers. the retractable locks are great for the backpacks.
• cables
  wrap these through the loops in your backpack to lock it down.

Great idea to invest in good locks. They’ll get battered and beaten on the road.

Books & Games

• small notebook
  for keeping track of expense, fits in my pocket.
• book
  some light reading for the road
• journal
  moleskins.
• playing cards
  great when waiting for buses, etc.
• footprint – south american handbook
  planning on picking up others as we go along. might recommend the Lonely Planet instead though.
• hacky sack
  passing the time

Odds & Ends

• vacuum bags
  helps compress your clothes down to manageable size and keeps things somewhat waterproof.
• sunglasses
  get them dark and strong, sounds like coffee
• liner
  for those not-so-clean hostel beds
• small flashlight
  clip it to you day pack and always have a light source
• eye masks
  for bright dorm rooms and bus rides.
• clothes line & pins
  handy for drying clothes in odd places and the Uyuni salt flats
• light climbing rope
  always useful when camping and hanging clothes.
• plastic bags
  always useful, especially if you start cooking
• replacement parts for shoes
  the downside of the kevlar solomons. not easy to find new laces.
• compass
  not needed
• super glue
  great for small stuff that breaks
• scissors
  handy
• ‘S’ hooks
  varying sizes and strengthes
• sewing kit
  repair holes in your pants after ripping them during a game of Wally
• umbrella
  staying dry is always the name of the game
• folding hanger
  has clothes pins built in and comes in handy at times.

The rope and sleeping bag liner have been great purchases. Some of the other things in this list have been used only once or twice. Try to keep the amount of extras that you bring on the trip to a minimum.

Cats

There were no packing of cats during the making of this page, despite Riku-chan’s numerous attempts to be included in the medical supplies and as a security measure.