All Packed! (visual compendium of portable life equipment)

Hi friends!

I have definitely not gotten my head around the fact that in less than a week I will be in Africa.

In preparation for this (how can you actually prepare, right?) over the past week or so I have been “packing.”

 

Basically this means putting things in piles, moving the piles around my room, and then standing there staring at them wondering – first of all, what I should actually take with me, and second of all, how in the world I am going to fit it all in my pack.

 

Through cutting and adding and cutting again (sometimes literally in the case of the towels), I have landed on (more or less) the selection of things that I’m taking around the world with me.  

 

I have documented them here for your edification and enjoyment:

Clothes: I’m taking 4 short sleeve shirts, 1 tank top, and one long sleeve shirt. 2 pairs of shorts, one knee length skirt, one floor length skirt, capris joggers, convertible cargo pants, elephant pants, jeans (I was super conflicted on whether or not to bring jeans. I finally decided to bring them), a bathing suit, a dress, and a pair of leggings for layering purposes. Also sorry, the dress isn’t in this picture and the lighter sweatshirt is pictured twice. Just pretend the sweatshirt is a dress in that first photo.

Tennis shoes, chacos, a raincoat, a heavier sweatshirt and a lighter zip up sweatshirt.

Hat, 2 belts (one is for the dress), 2 handkerchiefs, and my pocket knife. I did the embroidery on both the hat and the handkerchiefs. At first I wasn’t sure what to embroider on the handkerchiefs to mark them as mine, but then I figured I would be crying a lot so I just went ahead and embroidered some tears on them. XD

3 bras (1 sports bra, one normal, and one Knix bra that functions as both), 7 pairs of socks, 5 pair ExOfficio underwear (thank you cyber Monday sale), 2 thinx, and a couple cotton ones as well. 

I also fit my hat, belts, and handkerchiefs in this cube. 

Sheet, pillow cases, 2 towels, mosquito net, and accompanying stuff sack. Instead of taking a sleeping bag liner I’m just taking a bed sheet. To use it like a liner I will fold it and close it with safety pins but this way I can use it for other things as well (blanket, room partition, cape). I cut it to the length of my sleeping bag, hemmed it, and then made two pillowcases to fit my thermarest pillow (pictured further down).

Towels. Okay, yes two towels is a bit of a luxury thing, but hear me out. I got the microfiber one first (grey) because it was on a list I read and I used it for training camp the two times I showered (lol) and it was fine. But I was talking to an alum and they said their microfiber got really gross after a month or two and they ended up with a turkish towel (the purple one) that they really loved. SO now I have them both and I also really love having two towels so I can wrap my hair up in one of them.

I also cut a section off the microfiber towel and made some washcloths.

I am also open to ditching one of the two towels if need be (probably the microfiber).

Okay so starting in the top left corner: thermarest sleeping pad, 2 packing cubes with my clothes in them, thermarest pillow, sock-drawer packing cube, stuff sack with sheets and towels, sleeping bag, little day pack that came with my large pack, & tent (MSR freelite 2).

Books! Two moleskin lined journals, one beautiful un-lined journal given to me by some dear friends, Line a Day, travel Bible, kindle, paperback (many of my squad mates are also bringing one paperback and we are going to trade around throughout the year), little folder-binder-file thing for visas, extra passport photos, notecards, instruction booklets for things, etc. 

Again, starting at the top: Jewelry tin, glasses, wallet, little mirror (fits in my wallet), watch, passport, yellowcard, spork and knife, pocket knife. (Yes, same knife as pictured above, sorry, this is what happens when it takes you a week to pack and your mental categories make no sense. This is a better picture of it though, because I love it & it’s a cutie)

Electronics: Laptop, (ancient) ipod, digital camera, targus power adapter, power strip, solar charger, black diamond headlamp, case to carry all the wires, jbl clip speaker. 

Portable studiooooo <3 

Those two stacks of paper in the top left corner are going to be Breakfast Journals volume 11 and 12, but at the time of writing this I have not finished making them. (If you don’t know what the breakfast journals are, you can check out the instagram page ) little bit of duct-tape rolled onto itself to take up less space, wax for bookmaking but also for fixing zippers, thread, scissors, sharpies and pens (I’m actually taking a few more sharpies than that), Uhu glue sticks, book tape, washi tape, tiny pliers, pencil case (with 6 sewing needles threaded into the lining) ball point pens and mechanical pencils, earplugs (just because they fit into my pencil case not because I use them for art lol). 

Also fun thing, I bought this pencil case before highschool. Just thought you might appreciate that fact. 

Chapstick and essential oils. On guard is a natural hand sanitizer and immune booster, terra-shield bug spray, the third one is for treating clothes but I actually decided to leave it behind. A purification sweet almond roller, eucalyptus, peppermint, little bottles of lavender and sweet orange, fighting five (also an immune booster), tea tree, lemon, digestZen, blessed oil, and an empty spray bottle that I also decided not to take.   

Toiletries: Lena cup, retainer (yes, it has a face), pepto-bismol (might ditch this since I have the digestiZen, but we will see what ends up working best), Malaria pills, sunscreen, Dr Bronner’s everything soap, shampoo bar (the tin with lumpy space princess has another shampoo bar, conditioner bar, and a body bar in it), nail clippers, razor with refill cartridge, toothbrush, travel brush, my prescription hand cream, floss, deodorant, more sunscreen, and the little case has a few pads in even though I have the thinx. I did actually end up deciding to ditch the case and just put the pads in a ziplock bag. 

 

Now for all the random extra things:

 I didn’t want to bring a whole roll of toilet paper so I just stuffed some into a little bag. Wet wipes, ziplocks, rope, carabiners, cards (I ended up going with a more traditional deck because I don’t want to scare any children), batteries, repair kit for my sleeping pad, usb, more ear plugs. 

Travel mug. I can use it for hot or cold liquids and it seals so even if it has stuff in it I can put it in my bag. I made the wrap and handle for it and added a whale sticker. (gives it a little character *wink*)   

Also I fit my entire air-porter in here so cheers. 

 

And Finally Here We Are

The finished product. Gregory 65 Liter weighing in at 32 pounds. My North Face weighs about 15 and some change. 

I’m also not afraid to toss and pick up things as I figure out what I need and what I don’t need. 

 

Well there you have it folks. 

My family and I are heading out tomorrow to start making our way to Georgia for pre-Launch and then it’s onto a plane headed to Cote d’ Ivoire with my squad on Monday the 7th! 

Please keep my squad and myself in your prayers as we finish up with everything we need to do before we leave and as we prepare for the wild ride that this year has in store. 

Much Love, 

Hattie