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The story of two Canadians who gave up their relatively comfortable lives to travel around the world… |
The Gear
One of the most common questions I've received is "How are you going to pack for an entire year?". Here’s how we did it. I’ll let you know how if worked out after the year is over.
Backpacks
Every travel site goes on ad-nauseum that backpacks are the most important purchase for the trip. Buy too small and you won't be able to carry everything, buy too large and you'll tire yourself out, buy one that doesn't fit you properly and you'll hate yourself every time you have put it on. So of course instead of being sensible and heeding everyone's advice, we went to Canadian Tire found a backpack we liked within the first five minutes (70L Expedition) and bought it. Hopefully we won't be kicking ourselves three months into our trip.
| Laura's Backpack | Ryan's Backpack | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clothing | |||
| T-Shirts | 5 | 6 | |
| Long sleeve shirts | 2 | 3 | |
| Zip-up Hoodie | 1 | 0 | |
| Fleece Waterproof jacket | 1 | 1 | |
| Cotton Pants | 4 | 3 | Laura: I know already that I've brought way too many pants. I'll probably send a pair or two home. |
| PJ Pants | 1 | 0 | Laura: They're just a pair of thin hospital pants, but I've already worn them during the day when it was very hot and humid in South India |
| Socks | 7 | 8 | |
| Underwear | 8 | 9 | |
| Bras | 2 | 0 | |
| Swimsuit | 1 | 1 | |
| Toiletries | |||
| Tweezers | 2 | 0 | |
| Nail clippers | 1 | 0 | |
| Toe nail clippers | 1 | 0 | |
| Travel shampoo/conditioner | 4 | 0 | We had a bunch of hotel shampoos, so we just grabbed a few |
| Bar of soap | 1 | 0 | This probably isn't needed, but we're attached to our brand of soap (Lever 2000) |
| Toothbrush | 2 | 0 | |
| Toothpaste | 1 | 0 | |
| Dental Floss | 2 | 0 | |
| Retainer | 1 | Yay for braces! | |
| Feminine Supplies | A bunch | I'd read that tampons aren't readily available in Asia. I'll probably create a separate page for woman travellers after I've spent some time in Asia. | |
| Make-up | I've brought a few items just in case (coverup, foundation, powder, eye shadow, and mascara) | ||
| Razor | 1 | 0 | |
| Razor blades | 4 (A clip) | 0 | |
| Hand Sanitizer | 1 | 0 | |
| Comb | 1 | 0 | |
| Deodorant | 1 | 1 | Supposedly we can buy deodorant anywhere. I hope that's true! |
| Q-tips | A handful | ||
| Hair clippers | 0 | 1 | Ryan shaves his head and beard with clippers, so we brought the clippers and just the attachments he needs |
| Miscellaneous | |||
| Repair kit | 0 | 1 | Black thread spool, sewing needle, 4 buttons, and a nylon repair kit |
| Shower Sandals | 1 | 0 | Super thin and found them at the dollar store |
| Travel Alarm Clock | 1 | 0 | |
| Eyeshade | 1 | 0 | |
| Earplugs | 2 | 0 | |
| Mini Flashlight | 1 | 1 | |
| Bug Spray | 0 | 1 | |
| Sunscreen | 0 | 1 | |
| Gerber Multitool | 0 | 1 | |
| Sink Plug | 0 | 1 | |