What to pack when one large suitcase is what I bring for a long weekend
Visiting my boyfriend in Florida for a long weekend, I might bring enough clothes for a week and a half. The real challenge for this summer: packing everything into a backpack and a large travel purse.
This is to be the test, and I hope I will be able to achieve it. I will be from Iceland to Greece, from May until September, so a variety of clothing is necessary. Layering will be of utmost importance, and I am positive I will smell on several occasions. Deodorant will be very helpful.
That range is the hard version of the problem. Iceland in May and Greece in August are two different trips, and you are packing for both out of one bag.
Clothes
The answer is layers rather than options. Two short-sleeved shirts, two tank tops, a long-sleeved shirt, a cardigan, a fleece. Three skirts, one or two pairs of trousers. Six pairs of underwear, four pairs of socks, two bras, a swimsuit, a running kit, something to sleep in. A decorative scarf, which weighs nothing and changes an outfit.
Footwear: sandals with a strap round the ankle, flip-flops for hostel showers, and trainers. Three pairs is one more than most lists allow and I would still take three.
The one substitution I would make now is fabric. Merino wool instead of cotton for the layers you wear closest: it dries overnight in a hostel bathroom and does not start to smell after two wears, which is the actual constraint on a four-month trip.
Toiletries and the liquids problem
A toiletry bag with the sensible things in it: tweezers, nail file and clippers, deodorant, razor, sunblock, toothbrush, brush, hair bands, a little makeup, lip balm, which is a must.
Here is what changed. Liquids in a carry-on are now capped at 100ml a container, all inside one clear bag. So take small amounts to start with and buy more when you land. Shampoo bars and solid deodorant get round the rule entirely and do not leak into your journal, which liquids will eventually do.
Woolite for sink laundry is still exactly right. A little goes a long way and it means four pairs of socks is genuinely enough.
The medicine kit
Mine was thorough, and the principle behind it is the right one: painkillers, anti-diarrhoea, antihistamine, plasters, antiseptic, moleskin for blisters, rehydration sachets, and anything you take on prescription.
Two rules for the prescription part. Keep it in the original labelled packaging, and carry a copy of the prescription. I travelled with six asthma inhalers because running out of one in a small town is not a solvable problem, and that instinct is right.
Everything that is not prescription you can buy in any European pharmacy, so do not haul four months of paracetamol.
Miscellaneous, and the bit I am proudest of
Mini sewing kit, clothesline, money pouch, journal, earplugs, plastic bags, Ziplocs, universal sink stopper, safety pins, duct tape wound round a pen, sunglasses, a bandana, a travel umbrella, a small daypack, and a photo of my backpack in case I lose it. That last one is a genuinely good idea and costs nothing.
The dead weight, in hindsight, was the electronics: an iPod, computer disks, a digital camera and memory cards, phone cards, and a power converter. That is one phone now, plus a plug adapter and a power bank.
And the guidebook. I took Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring and War and Peace, planning to rip out pages of the Tolstoy as I finished chapters, since I read fast and thought it would last me until Spain. I stand by the method and would now put both on a phone, which is lighter and considerably less dramatic.
Posted 22 May 2005 by Cherie in Eurail Planning, Packing