Here’s where I write about the things I’m carrying with me for the next few months and what I’m carrying them in. I intend to update it when I find new things and when I discover new aspects of the things discussed.

Overpacker Shock Therapy

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I admit it: I’m an overpacker. I’ve packed too much for so many trips I’ve lost count. Multiple carry-ons. Checked baggage. Clothing that returned home untouched. Full SLR camera sets with multiple lenses and tripod. Multiple laptop computers, along with tablets and phones. Since my plan is to carry everything I need for 3 or more months with me, I can’t afford to do that this time. So after a bunch of research and thought, this is what I’ve come up with.

As a very small boy, I remember being a little obsessed with the idea of having a list with everything you own on it. All the books, papers, toys. ALL the legos, tabulated by color and size. Even the single square transparent ones the vacuum cleaner loved to eat.

Of course, as a modern western adult I now have so many things that that idea is ridiculous. But with this trip, I can actually create a list of pretty much everything I have. And that idea is still pretty neat, right?

So, what’s in my backpack?

The Actual Backpack

My first plan was to simply use what I had — a camping backpack I got years ago from MEC. Exercise some thriftiness:

MEC Backpack on a bench at Vancouver's bus station

Fortunately I was canny enough to try it out on some local trips — to Vancouver and Portland — before committing to it. I found what I later learned is common knowledge in the travel community: these backcountry packs are very adapted to the needs of hiking, but poorly adapted to travel in more civilized places.

In particular, top loading is a huge pain. It’s like in computer science, a Last-In-First-Out stack of contents only the topmost things are accessible. Getting anything else requires taking other things out. Also, though the main tube is along, it’s narrow. It doesn’t fit even my 13″ laptop well. Finally, the thing will simply not stand up on the ground without being propped up. That seems like a small thing, but it began to drive me batty after just a few days.

So going with this backpack was a recipe for annoyance and frustration. Time to research a better option.

A trip to REI followed by some online research convinced me of two things: (1) A travel backpack was the form-factor I was looking for and (2) I should really, really try to go carry-on only. I hadn’t believed it was possible initially, but the idea became or plausible and desirable the longer I looked into it.

Further researched narrowed my options to 3: Osprey Farpoint 55, Osprey Porter 46 and Tortuga Backpack.

Why Osprey? It has a great brand reputation, and the bags looked very attractive to me. The Porter has a bunch of great reviews (here, here). Tortuga was something entirely new to me, but had the cachet of a indy designer, selling only through the Internet, conceived for exactly the kind of long-term travel I had in mind. Artisanal small-batch luggage. Just what a Seattle hipster might want. Too bad it’s not made of hemp.

 

In the end, I winnowed it down to the Porter or the Tortuga, bought both, and chose the Tortuga. For several reasons (also outlined in my Trippy answer):

  • The hip belt is much beefier, with pockets in the hip I could realistically see myself storing useful things in
  • The laptop sleeve is snug up against the back, where it should be. The flattest thing I’m packing against the flattest part of my body. In the Porter it’s on the outside/upper part of the bag, which, if you don’t back super flat, is likely that your laptop is sitting on a bulge
  • The airflow along the back is much better, with thick pads and a wide channel in the middle
  • The build looks solid but the brand is effectively unknown and the styling is more utilitarian. It doesn’t scream “Top of the Line Westerner” to my eyes, like Osprey does. Now I’m really into speculative territory.

Day Pack

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This is running-around pack and also my aircraft ‘personal item’. It needed to fit my laptop and bit very light. Since I though I might get the Osprey Porter, I bought it’s companion daypack, the Osprey Daylight daypack.

I also packed a couple of nylon shopping bags. They pack really small and might come in handy.

Organization

Most of my clothing goes into a Sea To Summit Ultra SIL compression sack. I got the 20L one, which is probably overkill. I like that it’s waterproof, but I’m a little concerned it’s going to continue to be fiddly to repack. In an emergency though I could carabiner it to the outside of my bag for extra room.

My second organizational tool are these handy Eagle Creek Travel Gear Pack-It Compression Sacss They are effectively big ziplock bags. These are nice because they’re flat like the backpack, and unlike the cylindrical compression sack. I’ll be doing some experimenting to see what fits best in what.

Finally, OR stuff sacks to keep the electronic paraphernalia together.

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Clothing

It’s so hard to resist going overboard on clothing! After many back and forth with myself, I’ve ended up with this:

Rain Jacket: Marmot Hyper-Lite Gore-Tex. This is the close to not making the cut. I’m not sure I need any kind of rain gear. And it’s not particularly packable.

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Long Pants: There are two good reasons to bring long pants. The first is warmth. Aircraft cabins are kept too cold for comfort wearing shorts and a t-shirt. And maybe in the northern hills of Thailand and Laos, I’ll need something to keep the heat in. The second good reason is temple visits. All the guidebooks say you have to cover your legs and arms. The choice to bring two is questionable. One is a travel/military pant from 5.11, the TacLite Pro I bought a while back when I got it into my head that this style would be the most comfortable pants for hot-weather travel. Turns out it’s pretty comfortable, has obscene numbers of pockets and looks OK. The second pair are a stretchy, Yoga-y pair from Patagonia.

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Long Shirts: Normally I only wear these in our northern winters. But the reasons above for long pants pushed me to include a shirt. It’ll also be useful as sun protection, since I can’t bring my usual favorite sun hoody.

Undies: 1 long pair, 4 boxer briefs. Could’ve gone with 3 I suppose. My hoard of hiking, workout (e.g. the wonderful Patagonia silk weight boxers) also certainly would have sufficed. But all the cool travelers love ex-officio, so I felt the imaginary peer-pressure and packed a couple. For field testing.

Buffs: An upgraded version of a ‘sweat rag’, my brother gets credit for reminding me of their existence. And really, how could I have forgotten all those thrilling “Drop your Buffs!” moments from Jeff Probst? Useful as a sweat rag, yes, but also as a bandana, a neck warmer, a wrist band etc… I’m bringing two.

Sox: 1 pair. One! Sandals all the way. What sandals?

Footwear

Sandals! I’m a big fan of minimal footwear. They’re just better for the body. So my footwear of choice are minimal sandals by Xero. My previous favorite, the discontinued Teva Zilch, are on their last legs with the foot bed detaching from the sole. So I’m doing something foolish: packing entirely new sandals upon which I’ll rely for the next 3 months at least. How reckless.

As much as I’d love to wear sandals all the time, my feet might need some closed-toe protection from time to time. So I’m bringing the lightest pair I have, the wonderful New Balance Minimus

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Hat: To get me through that transition from pasty-faced northerner to golden vagabond without half my skin blistering and peeling. Got this one from Columbia.

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Sleeping Bag Liner: Cocoon mummy liner. In case I stay somewhere seedy…

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Electronics

This is the section where my geek roots show! Gonna let it all hang out here. The size discrepancy between the length of this section on electronic toys and the one about personal care is … telling.

Phone: It’s hard to fathom traveling without my iPhone. So useful in so many ways. And with T-Mobile’s free international data (even if it’s super-slow), it’s incredibly useful. Plus, they’ve unlocked it since I bought it outright so I can put in a local SIM. No Brainer. So my iPhone 6 comes with me.

Laptop: I considered going with a tablet instead, but I really like having a real computer with me. That might distinguish me as one of the olds, but I still feel I can breathe better working on one. In addition, I can improve my work skills if I have the time and inclination. A little coding here, a little research there. And of course, writing this blog. Gotta do that. So my 13″ Retina MacBook Pro comes with me. It’s probably wiser to go with a cheaper, crappier computer, but I was able to convince myself that I might want to learn some iOS development. I was really easy to convince, like a dad who’s kid wants lots of Legos for Christmas.

Earphones: For an international flight, noise canceling headphones are essential. But the bulky over the ear type would be crazy to pack and I’ve long since given up on (and recently given away) my lovely Audio Technica QuietPoint ATH-ANC7‘s. So the best of the bunch of in-ear options seems to be the Bose Quiet Comfort 20i, and they come with. Also a pair of backup earphones, just in case.

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But that’s the end of the no brainers. I don’t need anything else. So anything else needs to bring some unique convenience, paying its passage.

Camera: Many now advocate going camera phone only. I’m not ready yet. The value of a zoom and a better macro and better quality — even if only marginally better — still makes a camera valuable to me. Now, the old spendthrift me would have thrown down for a new camera, naturally. A nice new Olympus OM-D micro four thirds, with a few lenses. Gotta have a new camera, right?

The unemployed me is less convinced. Yes, my Sony super zoom is ancient — 2011! Yes it might be on its last legs. And yes, it has one incontrovertible flaw: it’s not new and fun. But it’s also $0. So for now I’ll keep it. We’ll see if my discipline is maintained… I’m fairly certain I could my Olympus in major cities, at least in Thailand.

So I’m sticking with my Sony DSC-HDX100V. A super zoom is just so flexible. And yes, the upper ranges of zoom are almost useless, but I’d rather have the option to chose whether to take a poor picture of something awesome over not having any option at all.

Note A few of my initial reservation I had about packing the camera were its huge power cord and adapter and its case. I solved the second one with a trip to Glazer’s camera to buy essentially a neoprene bodysuit for the camera. This lets it get packed with the rest of the luggage, but without its cumbersome bag. The second problem was solved by using much smaller battery chargers, rather than the adapter and cords for in-camera charging. This is much smaller, but still far from my ideal of everything simply using USB to charge…

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Tablet: In choosing whether to bring a tablet, I realized I would be nuts to bring both a 7″ kindle and a 7″ tablet. It’s probably nuts to bring either. So the question was really, do I want to bring a Kindle, which is more disposable, less versatile, lighter and works well in the sun. Or a multi-function tablet, which has many of the same functions as both the computer and the phone. In that light (heh!), it seemed better to opt for the slightly-less-ridiculous kindle. Tablet stays at home.

Kindle: So great for beach reading, has almost no personal information on it if it gets lost or stolen. It’s light. But it’s the closest to the line. It’s very non-essential. So I’m very likely to bring my Kindle Voyage

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Cables and Wires and Adapters and Cards: As if bringing all this electronics wasn’t enough, they come with an extra burden of support objects. These are negligible in day to day life, but they’re heavy and bulky and need to be considered.

Wait, There’s More!: As if this charging paraphernalia weren’t enough, there’s another consideration to contend with: protection. The MacBook and iPhones are very expensive pieces of equipment, so spending a few bucks to upgrade their safety makes sense to me.

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Personal Care

Toiletries

  • Bag Eagle Creek Travel Gear Luggage Pack-It Mesh Sac, Aqua/Lime, Small

  • Washcloth: some random travel washcloth I picked up over the years. Incredibly light

  • Travel towel: Shandali towel, recommended by Amazon. Seems to work for me

  • Water bottle: the Vapur Element Bottle – Fire. This is especially nice since it packs down to almost nothing when empty.

  • Travel toothbrush, toothpaste, floss

  • Nail clippers, emory board

  • Drugs! Some benadryl for allergies, albuterol for asthma, malaria meds and antibiotics for “TD”

  • Paracord bracelet for hanging clothes

  • No soap or shampoo! Relying on it being available…

  • Sunglasses. Not sure whether to bring some cheapies, or the really expensive pair that I dislike…

  • Flashlight. You know, because the night is dark and full of terrors

  • One lacross ball. Really. The idea here is to use it as a stopper for sinks, for washing. Also might be good for myofascial release. Plus I’ll be representing native North American sport. Well, with the ball and the entitled consumerism also.

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Sleep & Jetlag Aids

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Documents and Money

  • Eagle Creek Travel Gear Silk Undercover Money Belt (Black)
  • Passport; just one of them. I have a fantasy about sending a panicked email to a friend back here to go into my storage locker and fish my UK one out of the lockbox when I get into some horrible situation.
  • Green Card; I’d like to come home
  • Cash money! Both Bhat and dollar
  • 6 Passport photos for visas
  • One Rohdia elastic closure notebook — still good to have paper
  • One Hi-Tec C pen. I’m a bit of a pen geek…
  • One vinyl document protector. I used one from Omniseal I bought years ago for maps when hiking. Like this.
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Group Photo

My wordly possessions

Resources

Here are a bunch of resources I used to get this done: