So I’ve spent a LOT of time agonizing over what to bring on my trip: 3 short sleeve shirts, or 4? An extra lens for my SLR, or trust that it doesn’t break? Two pairs of ugly zip-off pants? And how on earth am I going to deal with the more inconvenient aspects of being female while one the road for 18 months?

RTW Backpack

This is my bag, fully packed. You can see the cable lock + zipper lock I have for hopefully keeping it secure when I’m not there. With everything in it, plus my camera bag + daypack, the total weight is between 27 and 30 pounds.

Everything!

All pictures shown link to annotated Flickr images, so please click them for more details! Basically, I’m bringing 3 bags: a camera bag, a daypack (the green messenger bag) and my backpack. When traveling, I can fit my computer and other important items into the messenger bag, and carry that and the camera bag close to me. When I’m at my hostel, the computer (and camera) will be locked into my backpack, unless I need them. My daypack is big enough to fit my SLR camera plus any guidebooks, jackets, or extras I might need to carry around town when I’m out exploring. Of course, I haven’t tried it out yet so I have no idea how my system will work!

I’m only bringing two pairs of shoes: lightweight Goretex casual hiking shoes (Keen) and Teva sandals.

Clothes

Needless to say, clothes are not the bulk of the weight I’ll be carrying. I have: 1 lightweight Marmot Precip rain jacket, 1 lightweight North Face fleece (bought off the kid’s rack for 1/3 the price!), 2 pairs of pants (1 zip-off), 2 long-sleeve shirts, 3 short-sleeve shirts, 3 pairs of socks, 5 pairs of underwear, and 2 bras. Oh, and the above picture includes my fork/spoon, sewing kit, and sunglasses. I keep these fairly organized in 3 Eagle Creek 1/2 Cube packing cubes.

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Update (March 29 2008) - I’m already regretting bringing ugly quick dry fabrics rather than clothes I actually LIKE to wear.  Don’t make this mistake!  I’ll probably keep the pants and one or two of the shirts, and all the bras, underwear, and socks, but I’ll definitely be replacing the rest of the shirts for slightly more flattering ones.

Toiletries

As for the toiletries, they take up more room than I’d like. I suspect I’ll be cutting back on items as I decide I don’t need them. Basically, I’m bringing the all-important toothbrush + toothpaste, shampoo, liquid soap, a 6 months supply of contacts, deodorant, razors, tweezers, sunscreen, insect repellent, hand sanitizer, and etc. I’m using the brilliant Diva-cup for my female needs (to anyone interested: make sure to start a few months before traveling so you can get the hang of it early!) and I have a slight addiction to Burt’s Bees Lip Gloss so I’m bringing those as luxury items. I’ve already dropped the lotion, the makeup, and the extra contact solution from my final packing list.

You can also see earplugs and a compass/thermometer in the above picture. I LOVE the compass… I bring one everywhere I travel (and should probably start carrying it around Boston…)

Extras

This shows some of the miscellaneous items I’m bringing: an extra camera (Canon SD400 Elph), a travel towel, a silk sleep sheet, a headlamp, a laundry kit, extra zip-lock bags, and a first aid kit.

First Aid Kit

My first aid kit is pretty simple. The important things are probably Immodium, bandaids, insect sting relief salve, antibacterial salves, and Advil/Motrin. I’m going to pick up a few months supply of Doxycycline for anti-malarial medication in Mexico and replenish it as I travel.

Camera gear

I’m bringing a Nikon D40 with the 18-200mm VR lens - I LOVE the combo and was surprised by how well they feel in my hands when I’m taking pictures (for such a big lens, the balance is pretty good.) The only problem is the lens is a little big for the flash so I need to be careful about taking closeups with the flash on. I have a couple of filters (UV and polarizing) and then extra batteries, a lens cleaning cloth I got for free from my eye doctor, and a couple of extra SD cards. I highly recommend the D40 + 18-200VR lens combo for travelers. The image quality is extremely high (well, not like you can tell from my pictures!) and together it’s an extremely versatile, LIGHT combo for a beginner SLR.

Electronics

This picture shows all the charging equipment I need (for laptop, Ipod, and two cameras) as well as some of the accessories: a travel mouse, headphones, extra DVDs, etc. I am bringing a 4GB USB key, which I’ll use for transfering files from my laptop to computers at internet cafes. Bringing a laptop was a priority for me: I actually spend a lot of time writing the individual entries and getting all the pictures straightened out (and I’m only testing my feet in the image processing arena) and I’d prefer to not spend all of my time at internet cafes. Additionally, I’m planning on applying to law schools and possibly selling some of the writing I do, so I really wanted a laptop for something more substantial than just keeping in touch with people from home. Because of this, I did end up purchasing an HP tz1000 laptop - it’s relatively light but still full-featured, and I got it for around $900. I probably should have paid the extra money and gotten an Apple, because my computer came with Vista… I’m going to give it a try and see how it works out. I probably would have dropped close to 10 pounds if I hadn’t brought a laptop, so I really would recommend that the average traveler NOT bring one.

Update (March 29, 2008):  I am SOOO glad I brought my computer.  It was definitely the right decision for the type of trip I’m taking.  Maybe as I continue traveling things will change, but as of today the computer is winning the trade-off versus the lighter bag and greater flexibility of going without.

So, that pretty much describes everything in gory detail!