The final packing list

This will be a boring post but I have a feeling it might come in handy in the future. These were the final contents of our bags upon arriving home. Our stuff evolved as we traveled but for the most part stabilized in the final months of our trip. We could have lived with just this for another year, replacing things as we went. There are probably places we could have packed even lighter.

Luggage

This is what we carried with us between places and onto planes. Each bag had an airtag on it in case we misplaced it, like the time Nick accidentally left his backpack on a train in Korea. All our bags held up surprisingly well and we had no issues with them. We had hoped that Millie would carry her own luggage but usually Nick took her carry-on (stacked on his roller) and I took her backpack (stacked on my roller).

Clothes

  • Sophie
    • Tops
      • 4 t-shirts
      • 2 button-up short sleeve shirts
      • 1 tank-top
      • 1 light pullover
      • 1 nano-puff jacket
      • 1 rain jacket
    • Bottoms
      • 2 pairs of loose cotton pants
      • 2 pairs of shorts
    • Underwear & other
      • 10 pairs of underwear
      • 2 bras
      • 5 pairs of socks (mix of athletic and warm)
      • 1 bikini
      • 1 warm hat
      • 1 sun hat
      • 2 silk scarves (used for warmth, style, and head-covering)
      • 2 pairs of sunglasses
    • Shoes
      • 1 pair boots (Blundstones)
      • 1 pair sneakers (slip-on Kiziks)
      • 1 pair sandals (Tevas)
  • Nick
    • Tops
      • 6 t-shirts
      • 1 short-sleeve button downs
      • 1 zip-up hoodie
      • 1 nano-puff jacket
      • 1 rain jacket
    • Bottoms
      • 2 pairs of pants
      • 2 pairs of shorts
    • Underwear & other
      • 8 pairs of socks (mix of athletic and warm)
      • 10 pairs of underwear
      • 1 pair of basketball shorts (for sleeping)
      • 1 pair swimming trunks
      • 1 baseball hat
      • 1 sun hat (Tilley)
      • 1 warm hat
      • Glasses & sunglasses
    • Shoes
      • 1 pair boots (Blundstones)
      • 1 pair sneakers (On running shoes)
      • 1 pair sandals (Chacos)
  • Millie
    • Tops
      • 3 t-shirts
      • 5 dresses
      • 1 long-sleeve shirt
      • 1 fleece zip-up
      • 1 puffy warm jacket
      • 1 rain jacket
      • Bottoms
        • 4 pairs of leggings
        • 4 pairs of shorts
      • Underwear & other
        • 12 pairs of underwear
        • 6 pairs of socks
        • 1 sun hat
        • 1 warm hat
        • 2 bathing suits
      • Shoes
        • 1 pair sneakers
        • 1 pair crocs
        • 1 pair gilttery flats
        • 1 pair costume high heels (of course)

Our clothes were mostly dialed in by the end, though we were very sick of them. I was able to get by with less socks and shirts than Nick because I’m a less sweaty person. I can rewear socks without them getting stinky (brag), but he can’t. We had no issues finding places to do laundry, and never ran out of clean underwear. He had more synthetic clothing which dried way faster than my cotton shirts. We used Thule packing cubes to keep everything organized. These have two sides which helped to separate dirty clothes from clean clothes.

I didn’t have any “nice” outfits, which luckily didn’t matter because we didn’t go anywhere particularly nice. But there were a couple of moments when I wished I had a fancier pair of shoes for going out to dinner or just for feeling less frumpy. On beach days we wished we had rash-guards for sun protection, but we didn’t need them enough to rationalize carrying them around.

Things we dropped along the way: all workout gear, pajamas, a second sweater each, anything white due to stains.

Toiletries & first-aid

  • Teeth
    • 1 grownup Sonicare electric toothbrush + 2 brush heads
    • 1 kids Sonicare electric toothbrush
    • Floss
    • Toothpaste
  • Hair
    • Hairbrush
    • A million little clips and rubber bands
    • 4 headbands
    • Shampoo
    • Conditioner
    • Nick’s hair pomade
  • Face & body
    • Deodorant
    • Tweezers
    • Eyebrow pencil
    • Mascara
    • Shaving cream
    • Razor
    • Electric beard trimmer
    • Chapstick
    • Sunscreen (so much sunscreen)
    • Piccardin insect repellant
    • Bar of soap
    • Cortizone-10 cream (for eczema and bites)
    • Hand santizer
  • First aid & medicine
    • Acetaminophen (for kids & adults)
    • Benadryl
    • Zyrtec
    • Advil
    • Z-pack of antibiotics
    • Dramamine
    • Electrolyte drink powder
    • Pepto bismol chewables
    • Eye drops
    • Thermometer
    • Lots of band-aids
    • Neosporin
    • Alcohol wipes
    • Anti-fungal cream
    • N-95 masks
    • Humira shots & ice packs
    • Prednisone steroid pills in case of arthritis flare
    • Anti-malarial medicine
  • Misc
    • Nail clippers
    • Extra contacts
    • Contact lens case
    • Contact solution

We used these GoToobs for liquids and they were great and never leaked. Nick had an amazing little sewing kit with folding scissors for the first half of the trip but then an overzealous airport security guard confiscated it. I take an injectable medicine for arthritis that needs to be kept cold, so I traveled with a little ice pack case. This was probably the most difficult thing about our packing.

Electronics, entertainment, & toys

  • Electronics
    • 2 iPhones
    • 2 pairs Airpods
    • 1 Mini iPad
    • 1 kids headphones
    • 1 Macbook air
    • 1 portable charging cube
    • 1 Google TV streamer (to stream movies on TVs)
    • Charging cables for all of the above
    • 2 universal plug adapters
  • Entertainment
    • Card games: deck of cards, set, memory game, Spot it, Uno
    • Art supplies: Markers & pens, watercolor paint set, paper, tape, glue stick, stickers
    • Drawing tablet
    • “School” workbooks
  • Toys
    • 1 very realistic baby doll (Judy)
    • Changes of clothes for Judy
    • 1 stuffed Zootopia rabbit (also named Judy)
    • Bag of Playmobil people and accessories
    • Approximately 25 little pieces of ephemera (a crown, a wand, a tiny llama, found coins, etc) that I can’t recall now but were too special to throw away

We gave up on carrying books for Millie very early on, and instead utilized the Libby app on her iPad, which let us check out ebooks for her for free. The quality of books we read her probably dropped a bit, but we still did plenty of reading. I sent my kindle home with my parents and instead just carried around one paper book at a time, which I read very slowly until my next one.

Miscellaneous

  • Small Nalgene waterbottle
  • Extra bags
  • 1 clothesline
  • 1 sink plug
  • Snorkels & goggles for Nick and Millie
  • Pack towels
  • Headlamp
  • 6 packets sink laundry detergent
  • 2 emergency lollipops to prevent airport meltdowns
  • 2 document holders to carry extra passports, cash, etc.
  • Super glue
  • Airtags & extra batteries
  • Lots of airplane sick bags
  • A phone mount for rental cars

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