What Mike's Packing

Mike’s Clothes

• 1 belt
• 2 technical t-shirt
• 1 collared shirt
• 1 pair cotton shorts
• 1 pairs of quick dry cargo/hiking pants
• 1 pair technical shorts
• 1 pair of swim shorts
• 5 pair underwear
• 5 pair liner socks
• 3 pairs wool socks
• 1 baseball hat
• 1 pair hiking shoes
• 1 wallet
• 1 Buff
• 1 long underwear top
• 1 long underwear bottom
• 1 sweater
• 1 fleece
• 1 rain jacket
• eye glasses
• prescription sunglasses
• 1 pair North Face hiking shoes

Ashley’s Clothes

What Ashley's Packing

• 5 pairs of liner socks
• 3 pairs wool socks
• 5 pairs non-cotton underwear
• 1 sports bra
• 2 regular bras
• 2 bathing suits (a one-piece and a bikini)
• 2 cotton t-shirts (red & black)
• 1 technical purple t-shirt
• 2 cotton tank tops (navy & turquoise)
• 1 dressier black tank top
• 1 long sleeve technical shirt
• 2 pairs shorts (black & brown)
• 1 pair beige cotton capris
• 1 pair black yoga capris
• 1 pair khaki-coloured “travel” technical pants
• 1 belt
• 1 pair of long underwear
• 1 wool sweater
• 1 micro-fleece
• 1 rain jacket
• buff
• 1 military-style hat
• prescription eye glasses
• sunglasses
• 1 pair North Face hiking shoes
• 1 pair Merrell sandals

Toiletry Bag

Mike's Daybag

• 2 deodorants (1 each)
• camp soap (laundry detergent, shampoo, soap)
• 2 toothbrushes
• tooth paste
• dental floss
• lip gloss
• nail clippers
• shampoo
• hair elastics/elastic headbands
• small hairbrush
• 2 XL travel towels
• mosquito repellent
• 4 bottles of sunscreen, SPF 55 and higher (we stocked up because it’s expensive in Central America!)
• Clear Care contact lens solution (Ashley)
• contacts case (Ashley)
• 12 pairs of contacts
• Refresh contacts eye drops
• lotion
• face moisturizer with SPF
• small compact mirror
• disposable razor (Ashley)
• beard trimmer (Mike)
• Diva Cup (Ashley)
• Q-tips
• microfibre cloths for glasses

Luggage

Ashley's Daybag

• 2 Osprey Kestrel 38L backpacks
• Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home camera bag (Mike)
• North Face Cadene messenger bag (Ashley)
• 6 Eagle Creek packing cubes (2 large for Mike, 2 large + 2 medium for Ashley)
• 1 Eagle Creek toiletry bag (Mike)
• 3 stuff sacks (2 for Mike, 1 for Ashley)
• 2 mesh bags (for dirty cloths)
• 1 dry bag
• 1 12L PacSafe

First Aid Kit

• 30 days each of Doxycycline (anti-malarial)
• gauze pads (various sizes)
• bandaids (various sizes)
• tape
• moleskin
• Benadryl Itch Relief Cream (for allergies, insect bites, poison ivy, sunburns)
• Gastrolyte (re-hydration salts)
• Immodium (anti-diarrhea meds)
• antihistamines
• emergency blanket
• tincture of iodine
• tweezers
• triangular bandage
• crazy glue
• Ibuprofen
• Extra-Strength Tylenol Ultra (for Ashley’s migraines)
• Extra-Strength Aspirin (for Ashley’s migraines)
• 12 months birth control pills

 Shared Electronics

• laptop – Lenovo X201 (12″ laptop)
• Canon Rebel xti dSLR
• Canon 430EX Speedlight flash
• lens – Canon 18-200 f3.5-5.6 IS
• lens – Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6
• lens – Canon 50mm f1.8
• circular polarizer filter
• compact flash – 2-8GB, 1-4GB, 1-2GB
• Nikon Coolpix camera
• 3 SD cards – 4 GB, 2GB, 1GB
• spare batteries 1700mAH CANON NB-2L EQUIVALENT
• spare batteries AA & AAA
• memory card reader
• 2 micro USB cords (memory card reader and portable hard drives)
• headset (for skype calls)
• 1 mini USB cord (kindle)
• 1 iShuffle cord
• 1 iphone sync cable
• 1 AC to USB adapter
• canon camera battery charger
• 1 USB Flash Drive 16 GB
• 2 500GB Portable Hard Drive
• 2 ebook readers (Kindles)
• 2 mP3 players (Sandisc Sansa Clip and iShuffle)
• 1 iPhone 3Gs

Other Shared Items

• 2 money belts
• 2 headlamps
• swiss army knife
• sewing kit
• 2 cotton sleep sacks
• 2 pad locks
• 2 retractable wire locks
• portable water filter
• 2 1L water bottles
• 2 2L platypus
• compass
• harmonica (key of C)
• travel clothesline
• jump rope
• resistance band
• collapsible grocery bag
• spare shoelaces
• 2 notebooks with a pen & a pencil
• 1 watch
• 2 travel guides (Central America & South America)
• 1 paperback book (since Ashley wasn’t finished reading it before we left)

Documentation

• see our previous post about this

Total Weight

All combined, we are carrying 69 lb of weight.

Of all the decisions that had to be made for our RTW trip, choosing a backpack was the one that I agonized the most over.  And I definitely took my sweet time deciding.  After five trips to four different outdoor stores in three cities in two different countries, I chose the first one I put on… a green Osprey Kestrel 38 L.  And what did Mike choose?  A green Osprey Kestrel 38 L.  That’s right… we are sporting matching backpacks!  While this might seem a little too “cutesy” to you, it meant $40 in savings for us (totally worth it, and why does the same pack cost $40 more in Canada??).

Our New RTW Backpacks

I could go into the process of actually choosing a bag (fitting them, trying them on with weights, etc.) but you can find that information in a million places on the web.  Instead, I’ll just explain why we chose the packs we did.

Mike and I showed up at each store with a list of needs and a list of wants for our backpacks.  Interestingly enough, we ended up with packs that met all the requirements of the “needs” list and none of the “wants.”  This is probably because we opted to sacrifice on convenience for comfort.  A sacrifice that I’m sure we won’t regret as we spend 80 days walking through Europe with them on our backs.

Must-Haves:

• Under 40 L in Size - Mike and I already owned 55 L & 65 L packs and carried them around New Zealand for a month.  They were fantastic, but too big!  In New Zealand, we had a tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, and a cook stove with fuel … none of which we will be carrying on this trip.  
• Comfort & Proper Fit - These were the most critical features.  If we are going to carry these packs for 80 days on the Via Francigena, they need to be comfortable.  It turns out this meant adjustable torso harnesses (apparently neither of us are quite standard size) and adequate hip belts.
  
• Good Quality – The pack had to be well built.  We want something that will last the entire duration of the trip (how ever long that will be…)
• Built-In Rain Cover - This might not be a must-have for most people, but after several hiking trips where Mike’s pack had a built-in rain cover and mine didn’t, this was non-negotiable.  Built-in rain covers are quickly and easily accessible when the weather changes and take up less space in your pack.

Things That Would Be Nice To Have:

• Panel Access - We’ve always owned top loading bags, but we thought it might be more convenient to have panel access for the big trip.  We quickly realized that we would need to ditch this idea if we wanted to stick with technical bags that met the <40L requirement.  Packing cubes and stuff sacks will have to suffice to keep our stuff organized and quickly accessible.
• Travel Features - When I first starting looking at bags for our trip, I was intrigued by the features of some of the travel packs… things like zippered flaps to cover the straps for flights and built in wheels.  We gave up on these as none of the technical backpacks seemed to have them.
• Back Ventilation -  Since we are planning to walk about 20 km a day for 80 days through Europe, we thought that it might be nice to have some airflow between our backs and the packs.  After trying on a few packs with the ventilation design, we decided that it wasn’t ideal… the curved shape of the frame meant the weight was centred too far away from your back, constantly pulling you over and throwing you off balance.
• Two Backpacks That Weren’t Identical - There are a lot of reasons to not buy the exact same pack as your traveling partner.  For example, they don’t look ridiculously matchy as you walk side by side, and there is no confusion about whose pack is whose.  However, the $40 in savings trumped them.  The REI in Vegas only had one colour in stock.  We could find more selection at home, but prices were $40 higher.

 The Final Result:

Two happy RTW travelers, matching packs and all.

Loving Our New Osprey Kestrel 38L Packs

We’ve been putting together a list of documentation to get together before we leave home. We’ve got most of it together, but there are still some things we need to collect. None the less, we thought our list was complete enough to share it with the world. If you happen to see (or not see as the case would be) something that should really be included, please let us know.

I’ve divided things up a bit based on how we plan to store them. In all cases, we are going to scan everything (front and back of credit cards). A copy of the scanned files will be left in our safety deposit box on a USB thumbdrive where my sister can access them should we need her to. Another copy will be encrypted and taken with us on our laptop. Those same encrypted copies will be emailed to ourselves just in case we lose our laptop on the road.

To carry with us:

Passports
Driver’s License
International Driver’s Permit
Vaccination Records
Health Insurance Cards
Credit Cards
Bank Cards
PADI Dive Certificate
Spare Passport Photos
Traveled Earth Business Cards

To leave in the safety deposit box:

Ashley and Our Safety Deposit Box

Last Will and Testaments
Living Wills
Enduring Power of Attorneys
List of Bank Accounts
Birth Certificates
Social Insurance Cards
Engineering/Teaching Certificates
Saskatchewan Health Cards
Marriage Certificate
Full Health Insurance Policy
Ashley’s Engagement Ring

Digital copies only:

Past Income Tax Records
High School Diplomas
University Degrees
University Transcripts
Criminal Record Checks
Resumes
Doctor’s Notes/Prescriptions
Eye glass Prescription