Before we left, we posted our RTW packing lists thinking we’d got it all right. We hadn’t. One year in, we still haven’t, but we’ve improved, and if you’re planning a trip hopefully you can learn from our mistakes!
Greg
Soon after we left, I discovered that I had brought far too much. Every single piece of advice about packing said to bring less than you think, which I gleefully ignored and discovered they were all right.
I just didn’t need such a quantity of clothes – what I should have done is taken the bare minimum and bought extras along the way – funnily enough every country sells clothes and toiletries!
More than anything I wish my bag was a bit smaller – it’s true that whatever size you have, you’ll fill it up. That said, overall the Berghaus has been a great bag and has stood up to plenty of abuse on buses and planes.
Main Bag
All fits into a Berghaus Verden 65
7x T-Shirts (4 new)
2x Shirts (both new)
2x Shorts (both new)
1x Swimming Shorts (new)
1x Sleeping shorts
1x Hoodie
1x Montane thermal jacket
8x Boxers
8x Socks (mixture of trainer and long socks)
1x Onitsuka Tigers trainers (now heavily worn)
1x Flipper flip flops (new – 5th pair)
1x Travel towel
1x Beard trimmer
1x Sleeping liner
1x Case of medical supplies
1x Inflatable neck pillow (new)
1x Spare pair of glasses
1x Case full of tools, tape, pens, scissors etc
1x Old camera case full of plug adapters
1x Kindle (moved into this bag from daybag)
1x Playing cards (new)
1x Drybag
1x Washing powder
1x Thermal gloves (saved for Montana Christmas)
1x Washbag with the usual stuff, shampoo, hair gel etc
Quite a lot of my clothes have been replaced. My original jeans wore out so I found some bargain ones in Japan, both shorts (plus another new pair) wore out and I found some better swim shorts. Both my original shirts have been replaced, and flip flops wear out at an incredible pace.
My huge coat I wore around Europe and Russia was ditched when we reached warmer climes, as planned, as well as my thermal longjohns and jumper.
Otherwise it’s all more or less the same, but I have learnt to pack a LOT more efficiantly, and have become less sentimental about saving worn out clothes.
Small Bag
All fits into a Berghaus Remote 20 lt
Macbook Pro in Tucano ChargeUp Second Skin case
Bag with Macbook, camera and USB charger/cables
EasyAcc 12000mAh Power Bank
Canon PowerShot SX600
iPhone 4
Wallet
Leather pouch with money, cards and documents
Pouch with passports
Skullcandy Ink’d 2.0 In-Ear Headphones
Fake RayBan’s in case
Lonely Planet Latin American Spanish Phrasebook
Notepad
Chewing gum
Pens
Hand sanitiser
Rubbing alcohol spray (really useful)
My Macbook is luckily still going strong, even surviving me dropping it on the floor from the bed. The zip on the original case broke so I bought the bright blue Tucano one in Taiwan – it cost £20 but it fits the laptop much better, allows me to charge it in the case and protects from scratches from the zips.
Our original Nikon P520 camera died and wasn’t worth fixing so I left it with Nikon in Taiwan, and bought the Canon SX600 instead. It’s a lot smaller and suits us better as we arn’t great photographers anyway.
I originally planned to get rid of the EasyAcc battery pack after the Trans-Siberian trains but in fact it’s been one of the most useful things I own. My phone battery is getting on a bit, and I use it every day for maps, music, and films on long buses, so I can quickly charge it up. It also can charge Katy’s tablet, our GoPro and my Kindle.
My iPhone is now so slow and outdated it’s driving me mad, but I’ve held off buying another one in case it gets lost or stolen. It’s on it’s second screen after I dropped it and smashed it in Taiwan ($60 to replace in Montana).
Headphones have been a bit of a nightmare – my original Skullcandy pair broke within a month, so I bought some fake Beats in China which sounded horrific, so I bought some real Philips in ear ones in the Philippines which lasted until December when I left them in our rental car in Las Vegas. So Katy bought me another pair of Skullcandy ones for Christmas – I really hope these can last me till I get home!
Katy
Like Greg, soon after departing for our round the world trip I realised I had far too much, and have gotten rid of so much stuff as well as acquiring a few extras on the way too. Luckily the majority of my thermal gear went back with my mum when she came to visit us in March, which saved throwing it out.
Main Bag
Still the same Berghaus Women’s Verden 45
12x T-Shirts/Vest tops (8 new – yes I have too many)
1x Shirt (new)
2x Shorts *one new
1x Playsuit *new
1x Jean’s *new
1x Leggings
1x Aladdin trousers *new
1x sad bikini *new (I want another)
1x Dress
1x kafkan *new
1x Sleeping shorts
1x Hoodie
1x Montane thermal jacket
3x Bras (2 new)
7x Pants
6x Socks (mixture of pump and long socks)
1x Hiking shoes (new – bought just after we left the UK!)
1x Flipper flip flops (new – 6th pair)
1x trainer pumps (new)
1x sandals (new)
1x Travel towel
1x Sleeping liner
1x wooly hat (new)
1x pashmina (new)
1x Old phone plus adaptor
1x Make up bag
1x Small bag of jewelry
1x Thermal gloves (saved for Montana Christmas)
1x Washbag with the usual stuff, shampoo, conditioner, etc
Pretty much all my clothes have been replaced but I would like an entire new wardrobe please! I guess I will have to wait until home though.. Most of my clothes actually got so worn they had holes in them, it was crazy and I was starting to look like a hobo, so I had to find new ones, luckily most items of clothing come cheap in Asia so I had fun feeding my shopping needs.
My comfy parka and Timberland boots I wore around Europe and Russia were thrown out as soon as we hit Asia as they were both holey and old, but I’m determined to find others when I’m back.
I’ve never been too sentimental about clothes so when I threw them out it wasn’t too much of an ordeal.
Small Bag
I bought a new Vans bag which is smaller and condenses down into nothing.
Google Nexus 7 Tablet 2013
WD My Passport Ultra 1TB USB 3.0
GoPro HERO3+ Silver Edition
Wallet
Skullcandy Uprock 2.0 On-Ear Headphones
Pens
Keychains
Small allergy & travel sickness pills bag
Hand sanitiser
Inflatable neck pillow (new)
In flight socks
Goggles (new)
Hairbrush
Eyemask
Torch
Fan
Handbag
My Nexus 7 gives me a few problems but overall it’s worked really well and has been essential for me to keep in touch with friends and family.
I carry the hard drive with all our backups on it, just in case Greg’s bag is stolen, at least then we haven’t lost everything.
My GoPro has been great fun to have, there are times when we don’t use it so much but it’s so good for underwater filming and photos.
The SkullCandy headphones are in the beanie my friend made for Greg, I’ve sewn a shoelace around the base so I can do it up, its done great so far and has protected them, and as they’re big I haven’t lost them unlike Greg.
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