My daughter is traveling with her university group this summer to a whole bunch of countries. She'll be gone for 10 weeks. Places like Japan, Australia, etc. As a world traveler, do you have any helpful hints as far as what to pack, etc? Any travel hints? Any suggestions for luggage?
- Acapella Mom
Long term travel can be tough to plan for but it's an exciting opportunity! While I've never done 10 weeks away I do have a few tips for packing light for longer trips.
Pack everything then remove 3 things
Personally I have the terrible habit of managing to fill whatever bag I'm bringing with me to the brim. This leaves little, if any, room to bring home stuff for my friends and family. To help mitigate this what I do is pack up all my things for my tripSplit your large luggage into two medium bags
My first few trips I'd back one large bag or piece of luggage and then carry a smaller bag with my tech gear. For getting around multiple locations, I found it was much easier to just carry a smaller suitcase and a larger backpack. While it may not be possible on a 10 week trip it's usually better to start with a smaller bag and only move to a bigger one if you think it's absolutely necessary. I've found that the bigger the bag the more likely I am to fill it. Getting around a city with a large piece of luggage is a huge pain even if there's a charter bus or similar dragging it from place to place for you, specifically in smaller hotel rooms or hostels!Pack something "nice" to wear
Something my mother always told me was to make sure you "have something nice to wear." To me that means packing a nice top or sometimes slacks and a top or even sometimes a dress. Having that one nicer outfit in my bag has made all the difference on every trip I've ever been on - especially since you never know where you'll end up going! I still try to make sure that it's something plain enough that I can wash and wear a second time if needed.Leave the graphic tees behind
This is something that I've really embraced over the last five years. While packing I avoid packing clothing that has any kind of graphics or text on it. Not because I'm afraid of "looking like an American" while abroad (you'll find that graphic t-shirts are actually quite in fashion around the world) but because when you're washing and wearing clothes over the course of a trip it makes it much easier to have things in your travel wardrobe that don't stick out. Then when you go back and look at your photos it's not so obvious that you've worn the same green t-shirt 10 times. It's critical for long term travel to pack clothing that is utilitarian - no single serve outfits!Figure out when you can do laundry ahead of time
With a trip that's multiple weeks long you can't pack enough to avoid laundry entirely, unless you try to drag multiple bags with you around the world which to me sounds miserable. What I do is I check my schedule for my trip and figure out how many days I have before there's going to be free time to do laundry and then pack for that number of days.Leave your blow dryer and straightener behind
So many of my friends have packed a blow dryer or straightener or clippers for their travels only to have the electronics inside fry the first time they try to use it abroad, even when using a converter! We live in an age where things like that are prevalent around the world. Do yourself a huge favor and pop into the nearby pharmacy or department store and pick up a local version of whatever electronic tools you need for your haircare routine.Pack the travel essentials
What are the travel essentials? Great question! I've written about my top 5 things to never travel without here and have even created an Amazon list of all the items that I usually bring with me which can be found here on Amazon. Basically you want to be sure that 1) your power needs are met for your cellphone and camera and that 2) you have a good backpack that feels comfortable while you're walking around. I also highly recommend having a reusable, foldable shopping bag since many places either don't offer a bag for your purchases or charge you for it.-----
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