Sidenote: Items in my travel pack
February 10, 2024•1,063 words
Here is a list of all the items I’m currently carrying with me. So far I haven’t let go of anything but there are many things I haven’t used yet. I am pretty much packed to the brim so it would be nice to drop a few items so I have a bit less weight to lug around, and a little extra space so I don’t have to intricately unpack and repack every time I move somewhere.
First of all my pack is the Osprey Farpoint 55, which includes a 40L capacity main pack, and detachable 15L capacity daypack. This seems to be the most popular pack I’ve seen so far, many backpackers have it, they must have read the same review forums I did! It has worked well for me so far.
Packing-related items:
- OUTRAK Talca foldable daypack (12L capacity)
- Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil waterproof dry bag (5L capacity)
- Osprey ultralight waterproof raincover (size M)
- Gonex compression packing cube set
- EnviroSafe cedar balls (20 ea, to help maintain freshness in bag, not sure they’re really doing a whole lot)
- Carabiners, rubber loop, and lengths of para cord for attaching various gear to the outside of my pack (this has come in handy for attaching my slip-ons)
- TSA-friendly Master Lock resettable combination locks (2 ea, one for main pack and one for daypack)
- Cable lock
Clothes:
- On Cloudflyer 4 shoes (thanks Yvonne and Melodie!)
- Archies slip-ons
- Ripcurl board shorts (black, can wear as shorts or bathing suit)
- Quiksilver Ocean Elastic Waist 18" Amphibian shorts (midnight navy color)
- Arc’teryx down jacket (blue)
- Patagonia Torrentshell 3L rain jacket (black)
- Patagonia pants (black)
- Nike Stride Dri-FIT 7” brief-lined running shorts (black)
- Nike Dri-FIT basketball shorts (black)
- Tahwalhi bathing suit (black)
- Under Armour Tech 2.0 short sleeve t-shirts (2 ea, one light gray and one dark gray)
- Nike long sleeve t-shirt (light gray)
- Long-sleeve Kathmandu sun protection shirt (beige)
- Under Armour crew neck sweatshirt (black)
- Merino wool thermal top and bottom
- ExOfficio boxer briefs (5 pairs)
- Smartwool Everyday crew socks (5 pairs), Smartwool hiking socks (1 pair), Bombas crew socks (1 pair, thanks Yvonne!)
- Blue Riptide rashie (i.e. swimming shirt)
- Blue cap
- Kathmandu ripstop belt
- Merino lightweight buff (dark gray)
- Blue bandana (thanks Mom!)
Tech:
- iPhone 8
- 14” MacBook Pro with Thule protective sleeve
- Logitech Pebble wireless mouse (I love this mouse)
- GL.iNet GL-MT3000 (Beryl AX) travel router
- JBL Clip4 Bluetooth speaker
- BESTEK 250W travel adapter and power converter
- AirPods, EarPods (with lightning adapter)
- SanDisk Extreme portable SSD (1 TB)
- Power pack (this has come in very handy, thank you Grandma!)
- Nikon D7500 camera with 35mm f/1.8 lens, Nocs Provisions woven tapestry strap
- Olympus Tough camera
- Joby GorillaPod 1K Kit tripod
- Thule SubTerra PowerShuttle electronics travel case (with assorted cables)
Toiletries:
- Sea to Summit hanging toiletry bag with mirror (size S)
- Sea to Summit pocket laundry soap (50 leaves)
- Sea to Summit Wilderness Wash pocket soap (50 leaves)
- Bronner's All One peppermint soap bar
- Travel-size tubes of shampoo and conditioner
- Matador FlatPak soap bar case (with additional mesh bag insert)
- Toilet paper roll
- Hand sanitizer
- Sea to Summit quick-dry Tek Towel (XL size)
- Wash cloth
- Deodorant
- Toothbrush with cover
- Travel-size tube of toothpaste
- Flosser picks
- Q-tips
- Travel-size nail clippers
- Shaving razor and replacement heads
- Remington electric shaver
- Suction cup hooks (2 ea, for hanging toiletry bag or other items)
Medicine/first aid:
- Katadyn Micropur MP1 water purification tablets
- Pepto-Bismol caplets (24 ea)
- Ci-Flox 500 travelers’ diarrhea antibiotic (ciprofloxacin)
- Dramamine tablets (12 ea)
- Antibacterial hand wipes
- Ibuprofen
- Clarityne antihistamine
- Cough drops
- Neosporin (came in handy for blisters and cuts on my hands while working on the farm in northern Thailand)
- First-aid kit bandages and bandaids
- Fiskars foldable scissors (blunt tipped, TSA compliant)
- Assorted sewing needles, black thread, and thimble
- Sun Bum mineral sunscreen face stick
- Small sunscreen tube
- Travel pack of tissues
Documents:
- 250 US dollars
- Bankwest debit card
- Wells Fargo debit card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card
- Protective plastic sleeve cases for documents
- New Jersey driver license
- International Driving Permit
- Inter-American Driving Permit
- Proof of travel insurance
- Proof of vaccination documents
- U.S. passport, and printed photocopy
- Australian passport, and printed photocopy
- Extra passport photos (already used one for Laos visa on arrival)
- Copies of B.S. and M.S. diplomas
- Curriculum vitae
Office supplies:
- Canvas zippered pencil pouch (thanks Mom!)
- Flash drive
- 6-inch ruler
- Ballpoint pen
- Sharpie permanent marker (black)
- Papermate Flair medium felt tip pen (black)
- Pentel P205 mechanical pencil and 0.5mm lead refills (my favorite mechanical pencil which I’ve used throughout my engineering career thus far)
- Sprayable hand sanitizer (15 ml) and cloth in plastic ziploc case (good for cleaning laptop screen)
- Staedtler stick eraser
- Elmer's school glue stick
- Spirax A5 note book (200 pages)
Miscellaneous:
- Black Diamond Astro 300 headlamp
- Scrubba wash bag (“portable travel washing machine”)
- Microfiber cloth
- Mont silk sleeping bag inner sheet (traveller size)
- NEMO Equipment Fillo backpacking pillow (abyss color)
- Marvel superheroes wallet
- Hefty Jumbo 2.5 gallon storage slider bags (2 ea)
- Plastic garbage bag (1 ea)
- Compass
- Osprey water reservoir (2L capacity)
- Earplugs, fitted and silicone moldable
- Sunglasses with Croakies strap
- Portable clothesline
- Plastic clothespins (6 ea)
- humangear GoBites Ti-Uno titanium spork
- LifeStraw personal water filter straw (thanks Dad!)
- Mother’s Beloved: Stories from Laos by Outhine Bounyavong (I just found this book in a shop in Vientiane and I am absolutely thrilled, I thought I would never find it, I can’t wait to find a nice garden somewhere and start reading!)
[Note: It is 1 March 2024 and I just did a weigh-in at Don Mueang International Airport. My 40L capacity main pack came in at 31 lbs (14.1 kg), and my 15L capacity daypack came in at 14 lbs (6.4 kg).]