The Grand Packing Ordeal

And so the Infamous Five Week Break began.  With all the packing.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of what I looked like as a packhorse, but I can at least paint a picture through words. That work? Okay, I hope it does.  And now, the details...

First of all, I will start with what I packed in my one backpack and overflow duffel.  The object of this game was to pack as light as possible, because from all that I had heard, all travelers ending up bringing too many things.  Things that weighed them down and regretted, things that were heavy and were just simply chucked into the wilderness.  I, of course, fit into that scheme and experienced both of those scenarios I listed above! I packed approx. my changeable coat, five shirts, a long sleeve, two pairs of pants, a  bathing suit, a micro-towel, a bed sheet  & pillow case, shampoo, choice toiletries, camera, phone, & mp3 player and their chargers, all my reservations and maps, a book, a travel journal, various currencies, a water bottle, sneakers, and my Tevas.  And all of that fit in my backpack, mostly.  I'd say it ranged between 40-50lbs my entire trip. (Enough details for ya?)

Anything I had in my pack/duffel after that, I acquired at some point in my trip. I lost things too.  I ended up chucking my pair of jeans because they had some awkward holes and were just not worth it to fix--so that means I wore one pair of pants my entire trip. Funny, eh?  Well, crazily enough, I did not spill anything on them...which is entirely unlike me, hahaha. Unless you count being soaked in Germany four times... Souvenirs took over my duffel, various knickknacks and foodstuffs, magazines for friends at home.  And rocks...yes, I did collect a few small ones.

All in all, I think I did pretty well packing. But even so, I would pack lighter next time.  After hauling around a backpack on your back and a duffel across your front for a few hours, a little less weight is always desirable.  It would probably help if I hadn't travelled during winter/spring/summer for countries, so it would have made clothing a small proportion of my stuff rather than a HUGE proportion.  Summer would be the best season obviously.  But then you have to deal with higher prices and larger crowds. Winter is bulkier, almost--but you'll be wearing most of your stuff rather than carrying it--and there are cheaper prices and smaller crowds...but less things open. And more construction.  It really is personal opinion once you lay those out.

And that should be it on this subject.  I can only write about my backpack for so long.  But I really do wish I had a photo of me with my stuff...I sure looked funny.