Figuring out what to bring on this trip probably took up the majority of Christina’s and my planning time, so this is going to be a very long and detailed post. However, if you are interesting in packing for long term travel, it will be worth it, I promise.

This post will also be updated periodically throughout the trip to reflect further thoughts on any of the things I packed.

Clothes

There is an extended explanation of the theory behind the choices made here in the Packing For a World Trip, Clothing post. This post just reviews specific gear that I packed.

Shirts

I brought 4 tee shirts, shown here:

They are, from top to bottom:

Patagonia Capilene 2
Patagonia Capilene 2 (same shirt different color)
Smartwool NTS Micro 150
Patagonia Capilene 1

I really like the Patagonia Capilene shirts because they are super light, quick drying, are infused with antimicrobial chemicals that make them not smell bad, and they also look nice and fit my body type well. Patagonia has a video that goes over how these shirts are built here. The “2” weight is a normal weight, feels substantial, while “1” is very light, almost like silk. That Capilene 1 weight that I have is just a plain white shirt, because you always need at least 1 plain white shirt. Everything Smartwool makes is awesome, and you’ll see them pop up again throughout this discussion. Merino wool, while pricey, is like magic. Quick dry, keeps you warm when you need, cool when you need, suppresses odor, the whole package.

I brought 3 long sleeve shirts, shown here:

They are, from top to bottom:

Patagonia Capilene 3
Smartwool NTS 250
Patagonia Capilene 3 (same shirt, different color)

You can probably see a trend developing here – same brands as the tee shirts. The smartwool one is a little heavier than the others, but it’s nice to have one warmer shirt. They all dry quickly, suppress odor, and fit well.

Finally, I brought 2 button-down shirts in case I needed to dress up a tad bit more, shown below:

They are, from top to bottom:

INSERT LIST HERE

I packed all my shirts into a medium-sized packing cube, shown below:

Pants

I brought 3 pairs of pants, shown below:

They are, from top to bottom:

Prana Brion
Prana Brion (same pants, different color)
Arcteryx Renegade

So it’s immensely difficult to find any sort of durable quick-dry pants that are not super wide and look really awkward, or are dress pants. I tried on at least 30 different pairs of pants overall in my search for the right ones. No joke, I ordered more than $1000 worth of different pants from Backcountry.com, tried them all on, and returned all of them except for one. And this was only after exhausting every pair of pants I could try on at REI, EMS, and any other outdoor-type store I could find. As soon as the Prana pants came in, the search was over. These pants are fantastic. They are not skinny jeans, nor are they massive and baggy. They are just slim enough to look good and modern. They are made out of a crazy super stretchy fabric, but they don’t look like it. And they dry really quick, which is much harder to find in pants than shirts. The Arc pants are ok, but honestly I only have them because I needed a grey/black pair of pants, the Pranas didn’t come in that color, they were the best of the 30+ other pants I tried, and I know Arc makes really nice stuff. They still are pretty baggy though, I had them tailored to be a slightly more reasonable fit.

I packed these pants just folding them normally, as such:

Socks & Boxers

I brought 5 pairs of boxer briefs, shown below:

These are all ExOfficio Give-N-Gos, which were far and away the best reviewed travel briefs and was an easy decision. They are super comfortable, dry quick, and suppress odor. That’s all you need. Highly recommend these. I packed them by rolling them up as such:

They compress well, and I added them to a zip pocket in my bag.

I brought 5 pairs of socks, shown below:

These are Smartwool PHD Mens Running Socks. These were also a no-brainer decision, smartwool socks are far and away the best reviewed socks for travel. Nothing else was even close. It just depends on the thickness and length of socks you prefer, really. I balled these up like socks always are and packed them into a zip pocket for quick access.

Outerwear

I brought two jackets, shown below:

The jackets took a lot of research to figure out and were quite pricey. It turns out Arc'teryx just makes the best jackets you can get, flat out. Everything they make is quite nice, actually. It’s pricey, but you are not paying for the brand name, you are paying for pure raw quality. There’s a lengthy discussion of why these types of jackets were the ones I picked in this post if you’re interested. Arc turned out to be the best for the shell by quite a bit, and for the down jacket there are a few strong options (Patagonia and marmot were the other front-runners), arc edged them out with it’s variable width padding, making the jacker more comfortable and breathable when it’s not freezing cold.

This combo is 100% waterproof and keeps me perfectly warm even in 0 degree weather. The shell doubles as a raincoat. I packed both coats into a vacuum bag from REI, since especially the down jacket is very puffy, this saved a lot of space.

Miscellaneous

Smartwool NTS Midweight Bottoms
Athletic Shorts (Generic, any athletic shorts. I’ve had these forever)

The smartwool bottoms are for when it’s really cold, and can also double as pajamas. They are very warm and comfortable, and all the pants I’m bringing are super light so when it gets chilly they are very necessary.

The athletic shorts are my only pair of shorts. I don’t typically wear shorts even in the summer (a weird habit I picked up in Costa Rica, but could discuss at length), but these will work if it’s super hot, or as a bathing suit, or as pajamas when it’s warm, or if I’m working out, etc.

This photo also shows a couple other items that are detailed below (microfiber towel, chamois, travel sheets, camelbak brush).

Photography Gear

Sony A7 Camera Body (not pictured)
Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens
Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens (not pictured)
Benro Travel Angel Tripod
Lens Pen
Extra Li Ion Camera Batteries & Charger
Sony HVLF43M Flash
4 AA Rechargeable Batteries & Charger (for the flash)
Manfrotto Mini Tripod
128gb SD Memory Card (also have a 64gb backup, just in case)
Camera Rain Sleeve
GoPro Hero
GoPro Headstrap
Microfiber Cloth
UV Filter
Soft Camera Case
Waterproof Shockproof External Hard Drive (not pictured)
32g USB Drive

A lot to discuss here. First of all, this is some very expensive gear, no question about it. These are things I have been saving up for and purchasing over many months, as photography has gradually became an important hobby to me. Most of this stuff I got second-hand and/or off Ebay for hundreds of dollars less than the prices you see linked here. I wouldn’t exactly say I recommend this approach, as it causes more issues with warranties and repairs, and the last thing you want is to pay hundreds more dollars to get one of these guys repaired (and I was very close to having to do so, barely scraped by with a questionable japanese ‘warranty’). However know that if you are trying to invest in nice camera gear and don’t have the funds to drop all at once, that is an option. As for the specific pieces and details on them, there will be a separate post where I write all this up, since it’s quite a bit.

I packed these into a medium size packing cube, but honestly wish they were a bit more organized.

Toiletries

Microfiber Towel
Chamois
Philips Norelco SensoTouch Razor & Charger
Soap
Shampoo in a Travel Bottle
Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Floss (these don’t really need to be linked)
Hair stuff (to keep my hair out of my face)
Eagle Creek Toiletry Bag

Not much to say here, just the standard range of toiletries. They all packed into an eagle creek toiletries bag as such.

Misc

Portable Clothing Line
RFID Blocking Money Belt
Vapur Folding Water Bottle
Cocoon Travel Sheet (in misc clothing photo)
First Aid Kit
International Plug Adapters
Camelbak Day Pack (not pictured)
Camelback Cleaning Kit
Extra Camelbak Valves
Extra Camelbak Cleaning Tabs
2 Pens (not pictured)
Earbuds (not pictured)
Anker Portable Charger (not pictured)
Macbook Air (not pictured)
TSA Approved Zipper Locks (not pictured)
Flip Flops (generic, not pictured)

A lot to discuss here as well. I’ll just go through a couple specific items with any of my notes on them. This is the most disorganized section photo-wise, sorry!

For the money belt, I don’t plan on using it all the time, only in crowded and/or dangerous areas. You want to get one that has RFID protection, as it’s possible to scan your cards and such without someone even touching you without this type of protection.

The travel sheet is essentially a light cloth sleeping bag, for when you need some extra warmth or find yourself on a bed that doesn’t seem quite sanitary. It can also double as a blanket, and is fairly compact.

The day pack we put a lot of time into picking out. We wanted a pack that was very light and could roll up into our bags or lie totally flat and take up very little space. We also wanted a camelbak that we could fill with water and easily be able to drink from whenever we were out, rather than having to carry a water bottle. The Arete model we picked up filled all of these needs. We have been using these packs for months around the city. It fits my full laptop. It fits a camera, tripod, and jacket with room to spare. Really it’s an excellent pack. The only complaint we have is that for both of our packs, the handle on the top frayed and broke off. We sent them back and got fresh ones, hoping that it was just a defect in that batch rather than poor construction.

We got a bunch of supplies for keeping the Camelbak up to scratch. We plan on using it consistently and want to make sure it’s working and clean. The cleaning tablets and kit will help to make sure of this. In the past I’ve almost lost the bite valve as well, as it’s not secured on strongly, just on the end of the tube. Losing this makes the entire thing useless, so it made sense to me to bring a couple extra bite valves as they are light and pretty cheap, in case we do end up losing ours.

Our main packs have locking zippers, so we also picked up a set of zipper locks for each bag. When getting zipper locks make sure they are “TSA Approved”, which means that they have a specific way for the TSA to get into them if they really need to when checking your bag. These certainly don’t prevent theft of your stuff, but they make it a lot more difficult, and can stop casual thieves who just want to peek into the bag and grab valuables. It basically means you’re all in – you are taking the entire bag, or having to knife it, neither of which are attractive options. Here’s to hoping that our stuff doesn’t get stolen!

These are really what I consider to just be the essentials. There are a lot more things I’d love to have, there are also some shared items that Christina is carrying (like our medications), which you’ll be able to see in her post.

Also, just as a note, links to Amazon from this post are affiliate links. This just means that if you pick up one of the products directly from this link, Amazon gives us some money for referring you, you don’t pay any extra though. Any money we make from this goes towards directly supporting our trip, so thank you so much if you do pick up anything here!

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