Saturday, June 20, 2009

90 pounds and 114 inches of Home

Ok, so I'm actually only allowed 80 lbs (total!) and a combo of 107 inches (L+W+H) worth of luggage but I'm over the limit...I know you're shocked. I have paired down my goods twice now and just can't seem to leave much more out. What does one take to the desert for a two year trip? Thought you might like to know....

5 ankle-length skirts (must be able to sit cross-legged on the floor while wearing it)
14 t-shirts (must have my shoulders covered at all times)
176 pairs of cotton underwear (they always make you feel clean even if you're not)
2 bottles of Aleve
1 REI Bug Hut II
1 bathing suit
4 pairs of shoes (tennis shoes, Chaco sandals and 2 pairs of Teva flip-flops)
4 bottles of sunscreen
1 mascara
2 cameras
10 packs of batteries (AA, AAA, D)
3 scarves (to cover my head when necessary and to cover my face when the dust/sand kicks up) 1 wind-breaker jacket
1 thin polar fleece (they say it actually gets cool at some point)
1 razor
45 razor cartidges
1 pillow
1 sheet
A random bag of meds (immodium, vitamins, neosporin, cortaid, alcohol wipes, bandaids, etc)
1 sewing kit (I don't even sew here...but I'm taking one)
2 pairs of socks
4 pairs of pants (1 pair of jeans, 3 pairs of capris)
4 pairs of shorts
110 packs of instant drink mixes (the mini-ones you can drop into a bottle of water)
2 Nalgene bottles
56 Clif bars (I tried to take 56 more - but they got weeded out)
A random bag of other food stuffs (hot chocolate mix, instant Jell-O, instant oatmeal)
1 summer sleeping bag
12 passport photos
12 DVDs (Weddings Crashers, Sex and the City, Bridget Jones 1 & 2, Thank you for Smoking, Steel Magnolias, Twilight, Sex and the City Season 1, The Beach, Love Actually, and a DVD made by my best friends with lots of pictures of home)
3 journals
1 Kindle with 20 books loaded and ready
1 shortwave radio
2 flashlights
1 deck of cards (when all else fails...I can play solitare)
1 small photo album of friends and family
Lots of stationary to write home
2 pairs of sunglasses
2 BIG packs of wet wipes/baby-wipes
2 bottles of hand-sanitizer
1 pair of hair-cutting scissors
1 roll of duct tape
Bag of goodies for the kids (bubbles, crayons, slinkys, stickers)
1 Rough Guide to West Africa
1 map of the world
1 solar charger (charges my camera, ipod and cell phone)
1 laptop
1 Ipod with 300 of my favorite tunes
1 headlamp
1 French/English dictionary
1 address book
2 bottles of bug repellent
7 sports bras
2 camp towels
6 pairs of earrings, 1 bracelet and 1 necklace (sigh...)
1 box of large ziploc bags (to keep the dust and sand out of my food)
1 Leatherman tool (which I'm still learning how to use without slicing my hand off)

Packing this stuff has been a challenge to say the least. I've packed and re-packed twice already and as soon as I find out when I'm leaving in August I'll be packing for the third and hopefully final time before I'm outta here. In the meantime, I'll just practice the art of crafty packing and hope I can weed out some more "necessities" before departure.

1 comment:

  1. 176 pairs of cotton underwear??? Holy Moly! Is there no way to do laundry?

    ReplyDelete