But WHAT WILL I WEAR?!

For some reason..every time I think about packing/dressing/life, I think of that quote:  “But WHAT will I WEAR??” (anyone? Jim Carey in The Grinch!)  Anyways...this has been one of my biggest challenges.  Not because I had no idea what to pack – there is no shortage of RTW packing lists on the web – but because I am an indecisive procrastinator.  Don't be like me...I packed the day before I left.  So here we have the list.  MY list.  

 

Bags

Osprey Farpoint 55 – main pack (40 L) with detachable daypack (15 L)

Over the shoulder purse

 

Packing Aids:

Eagle Creek packing cubes

Zip lock bags

Large Compression sack

In Large Compression sack:

1 pair jeans

1 pair yoga pants

1 pair leggings

2 pairs cotton shorts

1 pair jean shorts

1 pair khaki travel style shorts (instead of 2nd pair of jeans)

1 shirt dress (pictured with shirts)

In red half cube (2 sided):

1 long sleeve baselayer shirt

1 convertible long sleeve shirt

2 short sleeve shirts

3 tank tops

1 cami

1 12 way convertible dress (not pictured)

In black half cube:

2 swim suits

1 pair swim shorts

7 underwear

2 bras

2 sports bras

3 socks

In small toiletry bag:

tooth brush

tooth paste

Imodium

vitamin B1 tablets

nail clippers

tweezers

hair ties/bobby pins

q-tips

razor and blades

ear plugs

eye liner

floss

vaseline

comb

In gallon zip lock:

shampoo

conditioner

face wash

sunblock

bug repellent

Other stuff:

eye pillow

wet ones

alarm clock

headlamp

silk sheet liner

ibuprofen

hand sanitizer

first aid kit

steri pen

deodorant

1 large travel towel

1 small travel towel

extra batteries

empty zip lock bags

1 combo lock (for lockers)

rain jacket (folds into it's own pocket)

collapsable water bottle

Seagate external hard drive

extra camera battery and memory

Shoes:

Nike lunarglides

Roxy flip flops

Havaianas flip flops

It all fits decently into my bag:

In my carry on:

iPad and keyboard (which doubles as the case)

Olympus Tough camera 

fleece jacket

note pad/pens

chapstick

file folder with needed documents

I'm quite sure I overpacked, but a good portion of the weight is coming from the full size bottles of shampoo and conditioner!  Since I am going to be in Cenreal America for 2 months, I decided this would be the better route - as opposed to buying travel sized constantly.  I will try to update this list as I get rid of things or come to my senses.  :)

~Jac

The beginning...

When I first started to tell people about my decision to take a RTW trip, I was expecting to hear that I was crazy.  Instead, the most common response was "I'm not surprised.  That sounds like something you'd do".  I'm not sure if this was due to my inability to stay in one place for longer than a couple of years, or just my persistently stubborn independence.

In the final faculty meeting of the school year, I announced to my colleagues that I would be travelling around the world.  My principal asked "Where exactly do you start with planning that".  My answer:  Google.  Honestly.  I googled RTW trip tickets.  Who knew it would be that easy?  I'd always wanted to travel the world..but thought that would require some communication with a fancy travel agent and the subsequent selling of a kidney on the black market.  Nope.  Google.  After months of comparing companies and websites and reading reviews, I settled on a company.  Here is MY take on how it worked -

THE PROCESS:
1.  Visit a website.
2.  Plug in the places you want to go.
3.  Push 'submit'.

Here is where it differs - some sites will automatically spit out an estimate.  Others will be difficult, saying that portions of your trip don't vibe with their silly rules (a little less dramatically than that).  Finally, some sites will submit your trip for review ultimately forcing you to speak with a representative <shudder>.

THE RULES:
1.  You can only travel in one direction (no crossing the same ocean twice)
2.  You have a minimum and maximum number of stops you can make
3.  You have a mileage limit
4.  You must return to the same country you left from
5.  You must complete the trip in a certain amount of time (i.e. 1 year)

THE RESULT:
I looked at so many different sites that I could hardly list them if I tried.  Ultimately I decided to go with airtreks.com for 3 reasons:
1.  You can break most of those pesky rules.
2.  They are SUPER helpful.  Not that others weren't - but their site is LOADED with info, and their travel consultants are incredibly patient and helpful (I'm indecisive so my process took a while)
3.  I had a coupon....thanks to my friends Steve and Jana who were taking their own trip!  Although, I wish I had checked Facebook first because they had some pretty awesome deals there, too!!

I talked to my airteks travel guy, Chris, for quite a while.  We ironed out details, hashed out dates, discussed how long I should stay in certain places...he was awesome.  I'm sure I'll be carrying on this little travel-mance throughout my trip.  The cost of my tickets also included my travel insurance (score!) AND my Australian visa - which they took care of for me.

Trip Departure - August 14th, 2013
Trip Destinations (not including overland trips) -
 >San Jose, Costa Rica
 >Lima, Peru
 >Santiago, Chile
 >California, USA
 >Auckland, New Zealand
 >Sydney, Australia
 >leaving from Perth, Australia
 >Bangkok, Thailand
 >Madrid, Spain