Although I have, at this point, still over a year before I leave on my trip I've been researching and planning to try to help prevent any bumps in the road further along. I've gone on a few car trips here in the U.S. this year and I've treated them as if I was taking a flight. I limit myself to one backpack, putting all my liquids in a clear baggie. I figure that if I condition myself to travel light now, I'll have all the kinks worked out of my "system" before I actually leave for Egypt.
One of the things I am experimenting with now is the "bundle" method of packing. Supposedly, the technique of bundling your clothes around a core item results in a well packed backpack and clothes with less wrinkles than you get with other methods. I've packed two pairs of pants and four shirts using this method and have left them in my pack. My "core item" is a packing cube with my underwear and socks. I'll take everything back out in a few days and see how the wrinkles look. Of course a few wrinkles never hurt, especially when you're traveling, but I'd like to at least not look like I've slept in my clothes.
Packing List:
Packs:
- Rick Steves' Convertible Carry-On
**Some people might think he's a bit on the geeky side but I haven't found a carry-on style bag yet that I've liked more. I also have the Patagonia MLC, but it seems smaller than I'd like.**
- Civita Day Pack (Folded up in the bottom of main pack)
Clothes:
- 2 Pairs of pants
- 4 Pairs each, socks & underwear
- 3 Shirts
- A few t-shirts
**This doesn't include the shirt, pants, shoes, etc. I'll be wearing so the above count would actually increase by one each.** It'll be a ten day trip, I plan to do some hotel bathroom sink clothes washing.
Other Stuff:
- Flashlight (and batteries)
- Moleskine Journal
- Pens
- Bible
- Money Belt (I'll be wearing this).
- Headphones
- Ipod (with power block)
- Netbook
- Camera (Powershot SX110IS) & Case
- Spare batteries for camera
- Backup Camera (Powershot A1000IS)
- Memory safe w/ spare memory cards
- Cell Phone w/charger (Cell phone came with a European adapter I'll use with all my electronics.)
- Toiletries Kit
- Liquids Bag
- Guidebooks
- Novel
Seems a bit heavy on the electronics side of thing but everything has a purpose. There are a couple of items that are definitely luxury items and I could live without them but they'll be nice to have. Both cameras use the same type batteries and memory cards. Also, all the electronics are rated for the voltage in Egypt so I'll just need a simple adapter for the plugs.
Below is my "bundle" experiment.
I've added these Monkey Fist zipper pulls by Red Oxx to my bag. Shipping from Red Oxx is kind of ridiculous for such a small item. I got six of these things at $.75 each and they charged me $10.41 for shipping. They could have stuck them in an envelope and sent them USPS but their only option was standard UPS shipping.
