Packing for a 9 month trip (Angie)

When we first got the idea to travel for an extended period, my first question to others who had gone before us was -- "how do you pack for such a long trip??"

Now that we've been travelling for 6 weeks, through various kinds of weather, accomodations and cultures, here is a summary of how we packed, and what has worked.

1 Small Suitcase + 1 Backpack + 1 Fanny Pack Each

In order to save money on flights, make it easier to transport through trainstations or stairs, and be prepared for potential tiny aircraft -- we each have one small carry on suitcase that we check when it's included and carry on when it's not (though we already once ran into a weight limit and had to move things around, check two bags, and beg Virgin Australia to let two bags as carry-on even though they were 2 kg over their weight restriction). For the next several flights, I have now checked and they include (or I've now added on) one checked bag each, which makes liquids easier.

Each of our backpacks has our devices, book(s), journals, ear buds, chargers, and water bottles. The kind that have at least 1 water bottle holder on the outside has been super handy. Dave carries around his backpack almost every day we are out, to carry snacks and water for us!

Fanny pack: instead of a purse (which I usually use in Vancouver), I opted for a fanny pack and got this big Lululemon one which has been awesome! Back compartment for all our passports, inside compartment for phone, small wallet, and other little items (tissue, sunblock stick, mints).

The kids have even used their fanny packs to sometimes carry around their wallets (with a bit of spending money) and phones/cameras.

Pack for 1 (or 2) Seasons

We are primarily "chasing the sun" on our travels (starting with Australian summer in Dec, ending in Europe in the summer), so most of the items we packed are summer clothes. That said, some areas are more spring-like temperatures (our first week in Australia was shockingly windy and cold), so we've already used our warmer clothes, including:

• 1 sweatshirt (which we have to wear on planes as they don't fit in our suitcases)
• 1 raincoat 
• 2 pairs of pants
• Few pair of socks

Pack for 1 - 1.5 Weeks

We repeat clothes alot, but we also do laundry regularly, so packes for 1 to 1.5 weeks worth of clothes (underwear, etc) and do laundry when we can. Especially AirBnB or HomeExchange units (or better yet, if your'e lucky enough to stay with friends or family) that have in-house washers and dryers! 

This also means only 2 pairs of shoes TOTAL each! Sneakers (always wear those on the plane) and flip-flops or slides. Mine are rose-gold-ish, so I wear those with my "nicer" outfits as well as wear them to the beach!

What To Do About Liquids

Even though over half our flights so far have included a free checked bag, to be prepared for flights where we will be carrying on (trying to save money by not paying bag check fees), we have limited our liquids. This was a big deal for me as I had to make some sacrifices on what liquids NOT to bring (such as aloe vera, perfume, nail polish stuff).

These are the items we had to carry in liquid format: shampoo, conditioner, make-up remover, toothpaste, face and body lotion(s), sun screen, hairspray, Benadryl bug bite relief, Muhi (an awesome Japanese bug bite relief), and mosquite repellent. So these are the items I found in dry format:

• Children's Advil & Tylenol (chewables instead of liquid)
• Gravol (children's and adults)
• Ginger pills

Part way through our month in Australia, we bought big bottles of shampoo/conditioner, used it, then refilled our small bottles at the end. And then whenever hotels have the freely available shampoo/conditioner in the big pumper bottles, we use those!

Books

The kids both got Kobo eReaders, so we can borrow ebooks from the VPL or buy them, so they don't have to pack and carry books (besides their school books) or worry about where we're going to get more reading material for them. Dave and I, on the other hand, prefer reading on paper and it's easier to find "free library" type things with books for us (or buy books at airport or other "expat neighborhood" book stores).

Other Handy Items

• 1 thin towel each (I have a Tofino Towel, but it's a little thick, and I like these Turkish Towels better as they pack down better) -- even though hotels have towels, and AirBnBs have at least bath towels, we used our thin towels every day as we camped through Australia, and will likely come in handy as beach towels in other places.
• Small wet bags (for when your swimsuit is still wet from a swim just before you have to leave)
• Foldable grocery bags: the kind you can pack down or ball up... we have two of these and they have come in very handy as beach bags, food bags, etc. We definitely don't have room in our suitcases for nice fancy beach bags, so this does the trick!
• International chargers: The multi-national kind are very handy!
• Water bottle
• Collapsible squeeze bottle with water filtration (we got the Lifestraw brand: it makes water taste like your'e drinking from the pool; we haven't had to use it much, but I hate wasting single-use plastic bottles on drinking water, so we wanted to have a couple of these on hand)
• Travel coffee mug
• Earbuds: Use wireless or small wired ones. Both kids packed big headset kind, and we've given them to friends to take home for us as they're too bulky in their backpacks!

So with all this, we barely have room in our bags to buy anything else or new. Living minimalist like this has been fine so far -- proving that you don't need much clothes or many shoes to enjoy life!