PACKING

After weeks, if not months, of research and visiting countless stores to try on backpacks, day packs, the perfect shoes, and all kinds of practical clothing for different weather conditions we came up with this qualification list.  Below is what we settled on. Things that we considered to make the packing decisions very simple:

1. How heavy is it?
2. It is Bulky?
3. Can I use it more than once? Are the dirt and stains going to show?
4. If I wash it… how long will take to dry?
5. Will it will keep me dry?
6. Will it will give me sores?
7. Toiletries… very important! Can I get this or that in small sizes?
8. It is comfortable?
9. Are all my clothes color coordinated so I don’t look like a clown in a foreign country and calling attention to myself??
10. Does my clothing look ‘expensive’? (if traveling in developing countries you DO NOT want to look like you have money)
11. It is going to keep me warm but not overheated?(Layers)

The following is what WE use to travel because all the questions above were answered in a positive way for us and the way we travel.  For instance, we like to explore and walk and hike, so our shoes are a major consideration, we have had many pair of shoes over the past few years and by far the one in the list below is our favorite, because we don’t get blisters and can use them for hours…or miles with no issues.  Due to our back problems we use inside the hiking boots and sometimes in our ‘city tunnies”gel insoles (my favorite is in the list as well). The backpack and day-pack are a crucial part of packing.   We tried maybe a 100 different ones in many outdoor stores and after comparing comfort, the way it sits on the body, the size, the colors (please don’t get flashy colors, don’t call attention to yourself), considering the features of each pack and the space inside, we took notes and got them online, it’s cheaper and on amazon you save the taxes so it’s a win-win. Clothing is something so hard to get online.  In my experience, almost every time I buy something online I must return it.  Be careful with sizes, most of the time clothing is made in china or Vietnam and the sizes are mostly according to the chinses or Vietnamese bodies, they are very slim, so a large size sometimes is very small for a ‘small size’ on an American.  For example, I’m size 5-6, if I buy stuff in a store in US I know for a fact that those sizes will fit, but on line I must get 8-10 or I must return it, so be careful with that. Having said that, I’ll have to comment on a key component that I take anywhere I go, the most important are my camisoles. I like them with a ‘bra’ included because that way I don’t have to carry as many bras with me, these camisoles are hard to find in stores, so I always go online, and I get XL even if I’m 5-6, they are not big at all. Also we have a few travelling pants that are just fantastic, comfortable and light weight and they don’t wrinkle and that they are easily convertible on bermudas and  they dry fast. The ones we use are bellow.  A light weight sweater, this may seem unimportant, but trust me its super important. let me tell you why, years ago I went to Italy,  got up really early because we wanted to be in the Vatican before the crows fill it up, it was summer and Rome is hot and humid in may-June, so there I was with a camisole(no sleeves) and bermudas (covering my knees) and I was stopped in the door by the Swiss guard and told that I have to have sleeves and cover all the way to almost my ankles, and by the way this is true in almost every church in Europe and Mexico and south America.  You may be stopped at the door or asked to leave, or you get a lot of evil eyes while visiting one. So, save yourself the trouble and embarrassment.  since then, I travel with capris and I carry alight weight cardigan that I can put back in my day pack and won’t be too bulky or a pain to carry around. My outfit while flying is important to me, my legs well while in the air and if I travel with something too fitted I’ll be miserable all the flight. so now I use loose Capri yoga pants a comfortable sports bra and a loose T-shirt. I honestly learn the hard way. The same trip to Italy years ago, we flew from home to NY, then to London and finally Milan, 16 hour strip in Jeans… they were not even fitted, they were kind of loose but let me tell you…… It took a least 10 years before I used Jeans again, I was miserable and out of my mind. Please be comfortable while you are travelling it’s important that all your travelling experience is pleasant. flying is part of the fun; my daughter says that she loves airports and that is her favorite part of travelling (go figure!). Also, I broke a meniscus a few years ago and I have to go everywhere with a knee brace, if I don’t I use it, I’ll pay a high price at night. Below is by far the best I had found so far. Mosquito nets, since we like to travel a lot to what seams are mosquito infested areas, we always carry w/ mosquito nets that fit on our hats. Jackets are also important, but they can get bulky, so we carry raincoats and a button up or zip up sweater that we layered,and they really occupy less space.  of course, if we go to Alaska in the winter we will need to be prepare for that in a more extreme way. For now, we are not planning such a trip.  Pajamas are also important, please don’t forget about them (I did that once and was not funny, I had to spend a bunch of money the following day looking for something and lost hours in the process),soft, loose are my favorite. Bellow some samples, please note that my pajama selection is pretty much very simple and not sexy at all, and that is a safety reason, unless you are travelling to a 5-star hotel/resort where you know you are safe always, please don’t push your luck, we live on a crazy planet.Underwear: we always carry 6 pairs of sock and 6 set of panties Bryan 6 pairs of boxers, the reason is that is really easy to get your clothing washed in the middle of the trip, it’s usually very inexpensive and it saves you to have to carry too much stuff all the time, so don’t be afraid to do laundry in the middle of your tip… of course depending how long your trip is, but for a normal 2 – 3 week trip, carrying little can take you a long way if you get your laundry done every few days.  One important side bar about our clothing is that we never wear anything flashy on bright colors because we do not want to call attention to ourselves, this is a safety measure to take in consideration, also we keep a very monochromatic color selection to be able to mix and match and because we use most of our stuff (pants mostly) more than once so is important that doesn’t look dirty, our colors are limited to black, khaki, dark blue and grey and most of our clothing doesn’t wrinkle.

Toiletries are tricky, there a thousand
of options but we try to get small sizes of the products we use the most
because we must carry those in our back and we try to skip checking in our
luggage the most that we can.  So, below
is what WE carry and our preferences. The rest of the products listed below are
less important but just as practical (then again these are our choices and opinions).

Finally and just as important is over the counter medicines to consider while travelling, we always carry with Tylenol,Advil, Pepto, mosquito repellent, allergy gel, sunscreen (this is very important, Bryan has skin cancer and we are not kidding about the use of this product, bellow is the best we had found for the face, it’s not sticky, or greasy and doesn’t leave you looking white if used appropriately)