The time has come to head East, and with it the summer heat will end. Very luckily, my family has come out to meet me in Corfu and was able to bring me some items from home to revamp my packing from ‘European summer’ to ‘Central Asian winter’. So, as a break from the travel posts, here’s a packing update and discussion - what’s being swapped in, items I’ve used all the time and value, and ones that I’ve already ditched. This is probably quite a boring post for most, so feel free to skip. I weirdly enjoy reading dull, routine narratives so this is me indulging myself.
General items I’ve loved or hated
I have a lot of ‘useful’ items in my bag, but let’s assess how useful they’ve really been…
Very useful:
- Two microfibre towels. Having one that’s reserved for showering only was such a good decision, as my beach/yoga mat/picnic blanket one does get very gross.
- Headphones and earphones. Goes without saying, of course it was worthwhile to bring my big silencing headphones even if I only really use them on buses and occasionally in the evenings in hostels.
- Sleeping bag. I really debated bringing this but the juries in and I’m glad I did. I’ve only used it a handful of times (camping on the beach, an overnight ferry, staying with friends in England before I left) but it’s been essential in those moments. I also use it as a pillow on overnight buses.
- Uniqlo little shoulder bag. Literally use it everyday. Also get a lot of compliments on it so that’s always nice. It looks small but I’ve been able to fit a beach towel, my bikini, swimming bottle, kindle, purse, phone, earphones, lipbalm etc. all in it for a compact beach day.
- Folding shopping bag. Has come in handy for both shopping and beach days which require more than I can fit in my small bag but less than in my rucksack.
- Travel wash. No debate here, was always going to be washing underwear in hostel sinks and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.
- Reusable sandwich bag. So useful for packed lunches, or storing food items like homemade cookies! Have used it a lot.
- Then there are the items that were never in question (multiple bank cards, padlocks, ear plugs and eye mask etc.).
Not really used but will keep for now:
- Mini tripod. Have used it maybe twice? Turns out I’m always doing stuff with people and they’re happy to take photos of me!
- Travel line. Used it once and lost it. Replaced it with a piece of string and not used it since. But that’s because it’s been summer so I’ve been able to leave stuff outside to dry. Although, thinking about it, I often hang up my underwear around my dorm bed and will likely continue doing that. It takes up 0 space so will keep anyway.
- Waterproof phone cover. I don’t trust that it’s actually waterproof. Useful for boat trips though.
Sent home/gave away:
- Cap. Cut my hair and suddenly the back of my neck was exposed to the sun, meaning a larger rimmed hat was required, but wasn’t the cap’s fault! Gave my cap to a girl in Brac, Croatia.
- Wooly hat. Used it once in Prague but it was a bit silly to pack it. I’ve sent one parcel home so far (from Slovenia) and it was in that. It has now returned to the bag however!
- Denim jacket. Took up too much space and was heavy, realised I wasn’t going to be wearing it for months and it wasn’t that practical when it actually gets cold. Sent home.
- Jeans. Same as denim jacket, but knew my family could bring them back out ready for colder months.
- Hiking shorts/trousers. Realised I could hike in my normal shorts and I didn’t enjoy wearing these casually, gave them to a charity shop in Lljubljana.
New useful items
During the last few months travelling I’ve mulled over potentially useful items to add for the next bit of the journey and three of these made the cut.
- A filtration water bottle. It was super expensive so I took my time to decide if it was actually necessary but ultimately decided that it was. It filters any water (apart from seawater) to make it drinkable. This means when the tap water isn’t drinkable (like in South East Asia and I’m guessing central Asia too) I’ll still be able to drink it and won’t have to buy a ton of bottled water. The main reason for purchasing it is to reduce my plastic consumption in these countries, and it will likely be more convenient and will come in handy when hiking etc. too!
- Healthy gut bacteria tablets to take daily. After the decimating effect of the stomach bug I had in Albania, my microbiome seems to need some help to recover (read: my stomach hasn’t been quite right since). Hopefully these will also help me avoid a similar situation again, or at least reduce the impact of it.
- Immodium tablets. If the above doesn’t fight off a stomach issue in the future (I’m not too hopeful to be honest) I thought it wise to have some emergency immodium!
Capsule wardrobe update
My few items of clothing changed quite a lot from my original packing to now. After getting rid of my jeans and jacket I had space to introduce a few more summery pieces (a short skirt from a thrift shop in Lljubljana, a long skirt from a charity shop in Mostar, a dress from a boutique in Lljubljana, some more crop tops). I also got bored of items so when I saw friends in Montenegro in August I had them bring me different items and sent old ones home with them. I did the same when I saw more friends in Crete in September. (Thanks again lovely people that brought me out items!) Overall, I wished I packed ‘nicer’ clothes rather than strictly practical ones. But I also enjoyed shopping for nicer items here, and wasn’t too attached to the ones I had meaning I was okay with donating them to charity shops/hostel swap rails.
But now we’re doing a big overhaul. So here’s the new wardrobe:
Bit of a nightmare with the boots, but as always it worked out fine. Before leaving home my walking boots died and I didn’t have time to buy and break in a new pair. I decided to order a pair of casual walking boots and have my family bring them out, and hope they fit. They did fit! But they immediately broke, with one of the shoelace holders breaking off… Turns out this was easily fixed, and luckily Greece is a country where repairing things is the norm, so it was easy to track down a shoe repair shop and they made quick work of it. I also got a full refund on the boots, so all in all it worked out very well!