It’s All About the Packing List

The full packing list was in the book. You can find my product recommendations here.

Check out Travefy’s Ultimate Travel Planning Packing Checklist

Adina and I had very different needs. I was hauling the technology and she was bringing the camera.

Identity and Money for Each

Passport
Dollars or Euros (Adina had some Euros which saved our lives in Cuba)
Debit and credit cards – I placed a front and back copy of all debit and credit cards in secure cloud storage for easy access. Carry a copy of card numbers and phone numbers to call to report them lost or stolen.
Driver’s license
2 extra passport photos – for a replacement passport, if necessary.
Photocopies of passport – also stored on the cloud
Vaccination card – some countries require for entry
Money belt – my travel vest made this unnecessary for me.
Wallet with coin section – there will be lots of coins in your future
Decoy wallet – just in case you are held at knifepoint you have something to offer. Keep a little money and a credit card you never used that you can easily cancel.
Travel Vest – This was a lifesaver, especially when crossing borders.

Luggage

After four years, my REI backpack is still going strong with no real signs of wear and tear, so it’s always worth investing in a quality bag. The Caribee Daypack came apart and we had to have a man in Guatemala at the market stitch it back together. It had a wheel meltdown right as we landed in Europe. Although Caribee did agree to mail us some new wheels, it’s on us to get them put on.

See Product Recommendations at twobrokechicas.com

Backpack Luggage Covers (REI).
small combination lock each – to lock our backpacks
Light cable lock – for locking our bags to together or to things
Adidas backpacks with three compartments and laptop padding – we found them at a discount/outlet store
Daypacks– something that can handle wear and tear, is water resistant, and has great pockets. Our backpacks came with removal daypacks.
Compression bags– 1 large and 1 medium each – saves lots of space. Even the skeptical Adina loved them.
snap hook carabiners (4 each – various sizes) these were invaluable to clip things on backpacks, like water bottles, and to clip zippers shut to deter pickpockets. Very difficult to describe because it has a million different names, but found everywhere. Here’s a photo.

Shared Equipment

See Product Recommendations at twobrokechicas.com

Mesh Bag – for the beach
Mosquito Net (treated) –
Water Purifier
Head Lamps – one each – invaluable when you are in areas with no street lights or power outages
Small umbrella
Sink stopper – critical for contact lenses wearers when they’ve been stolen from the hostel bathroom
Rubber Bands – a million uses
Travel Towel – quick dry towels
Beach Wallet – waterproof and goes around your neck
Duct Tape- fixes everything
Earplugs – essential (for Adina, I sleep through anything)
Tiny sewing kit – a few needles and some thread
Safety Pins
A few Ziploc bags – always come in handy
Toilet paper – it’s useful to always have a little on hand
Multi-tool or pocket knife
Nylon cord (10 meters) – strap things together, dry clothes in your hostal room, tether beer in streams, a million uses

Adina’s Clothes

1 hiking shoes
1 sports sandals (waterproof) – useful for watersports, river crossings, rocky beach walks
1 Flip Flops for showers (Adina generally hates them for anything else)
1 Light Fleece
1 Rain Poncho
1 Cargo travel trousers – lightweight quick drying, zipped pockets
1 Jeans
2 Shorts- one denim and one lightweight
2 Shirts – Dri-FIT – lightweight, quick drying, cool
3 T-shirts (1 long sleeve, 2 short)
3 Sports bras
5 Underwear
3 Socks
1 Swimming Suit
1 Sunglasses + travel case
1 Baseball Cap

Robin’s Clothes

1 Hiking Shoes
1 Sports sandals (waterproof)
2 Flip Flops – one for the shower and one for the streets – I could live in flip flops.
1 Ballet flats – semi-dressy occasions
1 Light Fleece
1 Windbreaker
1 Rain Poncho
1 Jeans
1 Travel Skirt
1 Summer Dress
1 Sarong
1 Travel Shorts – quick dry
1 Denim shorts
2 Dri-FIT shirts
3 Short t-shirts
2 Long sleeve shirts
5 Underwear
2 Sports Bra
1 Bra
3 Socks
1 Beach Cover-up
1 Swimsuit
1 Sun visor – my hair won’t fit in a baseball cap
1 Sunglasses + travel case
1 Yoga Mat (See Product Recommendations at twobrokechicas.com.)

Toiletries

Use small sizes. It is all replaceable on the road

Toiletry bag that hangs (for hooks outside shared showers)
Sunscreen – we chose a 50 SPF that was water resistant (there’s a lot of sweating and beach on this journey).
Bodywash
Shampoo and conditioner
Toothbrush – each + small cover for end
Small tube toothpaste
Deodorant (small roll-on)
Lip balm
Nail clippers
Tweezers
Razor + 2 spare blades
Insect repellant – (sorry but it’s got to have DEET)
Hand sanitizer (small 50ml bottle)
Facial Moisturizer
Body Lotion

Medical

Ibuprofen
Band-Aids
First Aid Cream
Aloe Vera
Chamomile Tea
Tichenors
Technu Poison Oak Cream

Technology Arsenal

Robin
Ultralite Laptop – See Global Mobile Work Project Archives (May 2013 – March 2014) about my selection and the aftermath
Tablet Case
Smartphone
Backup battery – Check international compliance
Laptop and phone chargers
Small wireless mouse and mousepad
Travel power adaptor
2 USB flash drives
Bluetooth Headphones – never used them
Kindle Fire HD – meant for Adina but she refused to touch it

Adina – camera equipment

Alena’s camera +case+ 8GB SD card
Underwater Camera
Lacie 500Gb backup hard drive
Reusable battery charger and six batteries of various sizes
Camera USB cables
Cleaning brush

Technology Plan

The mantra was to keep it simple. Not lug a bunch of technology and signup for a bunch of costly plans. In my exploration, I signed up for Google Voice when it was just a new thing in tech news. While I rarely used it on the road it had critical value after the move to Prague.

Hostal Wifi Access – Made Wi-Fi a priority in hostel selection. Learned very quickly that you have to check the reviews of the Wi-Fi and not just the checkbox that they have it. Also, it must specifically say WiFi. Some hostels offer internet access on computers provided in common spaces. Unless they specify Wi-Fi that might be all there is.
T-Mobile Global – for the same money I was paying every month I switched to T-Mobile Global for access to free data and calls a .20 a minute in 140+ countries.
Dropbox – I still maintain my documents on Dropbox and got a paid account before I left to assure adequate storage capacity.
Evernote – this is where I store my life. I keep notes about everything and it syncs with my computer and my phone, or can be accessed on the internet. Notes, pictures, maps. It was all stored in this brilliant app.
UberConference – you can read all about it in The Global Mobile Worker archive.