Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Packing for a Week-Long Trip

A lot of people dread packing but I actually enjoy packing. That's why I could spend one week packing, unpacking, and repacking over and over again...haha! If you ask me how much or how little to pack for a trip, there's no one answer and I'll say it depends on when you're traveling, where you're traveling to, how long you're traveling, and what you plan to do during your trip. My preference is to travel light (only carry-on) and save space for souvenirs. Here's how I packed for my week-long trip to Guilin. As it's now summer and my itinerary included quite a lot of outdoor activities, I brought mostly t-shirts and shorts. Everything basic, no fashion show, no nothing. =P



1. 40L Camel Active Backpack
Initially, I was gonna use my blue Race backpack but I was worried that the dimension is a lil' too big for carry-on and I didn't wanna risk having to pay to check-in my backpack. Thanks to SIL for borrowing me this backpack...the size is just nice for a week-long trip. =) 

2. Lowe Alpine Daypack
This mini backpack is used to carry all my travel necessities and important documents. Things that I fit into this bag includes a clear folder with my itinerary, iPad, earphone, camera, 2 water bottles, passport, purse and 2 umbrellas. When I'm carrying both backpacks, the big one will be on my back and I'll carry this in front. I know it's ugly but it's practical. =P 

3. Ipad
I definitely made good use of my iPad throughout this trip. I've planned out my entire trip before hand so I saved all the information in PDF and navigated around with my ipad. However, I used it mainly to watch movies in flights, trains, and buses since we had quite a lot of traveling time. I saved about 15 old episodes of Running Man and watched them all during this trip...haha!! =P Absolutely love iPad's battery life.

4. Dell Laptop
The only reason I brought this heavy and bulky laptop was to check work emails, just in case there are any urgent matters at work that I need to take care of. Fortunately, my managers were very considerate and respected my off-days so I was able to enjoy my vacation fully. =)

5. Adapter & USB Flash Drive
An adapter is a necessity whenever I travel overseas coz I have so many gadgets. =P I brought a flash drive 'just in case' I needed to save pictures from others.  

6. Camera
My Sony camera that has been traveling all over the world with me over the past 4 years is slowly dying so I borrowed my SIL's Canon camera for this trip. This camera was particularly useful for taking selcas since Sheng didn't follow us this trip to be my photographer. =P 

7. Itinerary & maps
Even though I've saved all these information in my iPad, I still prefer print outs coz it's kinda dangerous to be holding my iPad and while walking in crowded areas. I'll share my nerdy 'masterpiece' itinerary for this trip in my next post. 

8. Flip-flops
I usually wear only one sneakers and bring a pair of flip-flops whenever I travel.  and I prefer traveling light. Flip-flops are perfect coz it's light, flat, and it's a decent back-up when my sneakers get wet or spoil. P.S. What do you do if the top and bottom of your shoes split when you're traveling and you don't have a glue with you?  I've got a shoe-mending secret...chewing gum...haha! Just chew it for awhile, and let it dry, then stick it wherever you wanna 'glue'. I'm not kidding, it may sound gross but it really works in emergency situation!

9. Tops
I'm all about traveling light and comfortable. I don't really like traveling in summer coz it's hot but because of my work schedule, I've got no choice. But one thing good about traveling in summer is that I can travel light and bring just t-shirts. So how much did I pack for a week-long trip? One t-shirt per day plus a wind-breaker. I prefer lightweight/ compression t-shirts without collar coz it's easier to pack and less space consuming (see pic below). During this trip, I saw girls in heels and skirt hiking a mountain and looking miserable, then what's the point of dressing up? I guess I'm just too practical to be fashionable. =P

10. Bottoms
As I mentioned above, summer is the time to travel light so I didn't even bring any jeans this time around. I brought 6 shorts and only one track pants. 

This was how I arranged all my clothes to make it easier to take out the one that I wanted to wear without messing up the others. =)

11. Travel Washcloth
Brought this instead of a big towel 'just in case' the hostel doesn't provide towel. 

12. 2L Hydration Bladder
I'm used to drinking a lot of water so I thought of bringing this thingy but I had trouble using the tube so I decided not to bring it and brought 2 inflatable bottles instead (pic below). These 2 bottles fit well in my daypack. 


13. Umbrella
I checked the weather forecast few days before departure date and saw that it's gonna rain for the entire week I'm there. To avoid being drenched, we brought 2 umbrellas and 3 raincoats. Fortunately the weather forecast wasn't accurate and it only rained a lil' in the evenings so we didn't use our raincoats at all.

14. Tripod 
I decided to leave this behind coz it was too heavy and space consuming. 

15. Dry Bag
Brought this waterproof bag to protect my gadgets from getting wet when I get on a bamboo raft.

16. Toiletries                                                  

I've been traveling everywhere with this toiletries bag since 2008 and it's still functioning perfectly. Everything in this bag is below 100ml so I could keep it in my carry-on. Things I put in this bag: shampoo, body foam, facial foam, baby oil, contact lens solution, contact lens, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair band, shower cap, zip-lock bags and make-up stuffs.

So this is how my bags look like after packing everything in...both carry-ons. I weighed my big backpack in LCCT and guess how heavy was it?? Exactly 7kg...perfect...hahaha!! 

2 comments:

Diana Diane Teo said...

I am so amazed how you packed your clothes nicely into your bag. Plus, it's so colourful.

Henry Su said...

Very impressive!