How I pack
by rc
I wouldn’t consider myself experienced in international travel. I simply never wished I had packed more.
Bags
My backpack is a day pack from an REI garage sale that I picked up 5 years ago for $5. I think its capacity is 18L. In addition I have a stuff sack (thanks Fred!) that serves as my expansion pack (latches on with 2 carabiners, thanks Colleen!) e.g. for dirty laundry.
Clothes
Muji zip up bag – all my clothes are rolled up and stuffed in here. In all I brought:
3 pairs of underwear
3 pairs of socks
2 t-shirts
3 long sleeve shirts
1 athletic pant
1 all purpose pant
1 raincoat
1 light down jacket
1 pair of flip flops
1 pair of running shoes
1 pair of trekking shoes
My sleep gear of an inflatable pillow, silk liner and eye mask all fit in here too.
Electronics
Phone – Samsung galaxy nexus
Camera – canon point and shoot (thanks, Winnie!)
OTG cable and SD card readers – so my camera and phone can interact
iPhone – music from my youth
Sunglasses
Chargers
Batteries
International power adapter
Headlamp
First aid – basic pain and scrape treatment
Water filter – trying not to buy too many plastic bottles during this trip
Toiletries – dental and soap/shampoo
Other
Multitool
Can opener
Insect repellent
Ointments
Vitamins
Ear plugs
Rope (hang clothes, thanks Stanford postdocs!)
Spare toothbrush
Additional stuff
Tissue paper roll
Kindle
Notebook
Since almost everything I have has its redundancies, I could afford to lose more stuff. But as is, volume wise I carry about a third of what most other travelers seem to haul, and walking around with everything is comfortable enough. Not a terrible setup for exploring Southeast Asia.
rcproject 
LOL redundancy for TP.
where have you been sleeping ?
Haha yeah I’m not using banana leaves in place of tp! I’ve been at hotels and some airbnb places. For example I’m at a decent place now in central Vietnam that is $8 a night. Haven’t done hostels yet, surprisingly, as I used to do them in the Americas and Europe.. Maybe a sign I’m aging haha
As I was reading this post, I was waiting for “ear plugs” to show up. Wait for it.. Wait for it…
Side note, how can you remember how much everything cost?
Haha surprisingly I remember almost every item’s cost. Maybe I just don’t buy very much. Most expensive thing was the iPhone which was $199 back in the day. Oldest items are my t-shirts, which I bought back in 2003 at a Target in St. Louis. Biggest discount was probably my Merrell trekking shoes which I bought for $14 at an REI garage sale but they were like $120 originally. Forgot to acknowledge Jeff for the Kindle. Most repaired item is my Patagonia pants that I got back in 2010 at Lake Tahoe for $70, no sale.. I repaired 3 different spots on it already in these past 3 months! Most recent purchase was the athletic pant from Nepal for $5.
Zhen de tai qua zhang le
Do you have a sleep sack? I was thinking about getting one for hostels, but wanted to ask if anyone had used them before…
Get the silk one! Brand: cocoon, silk like $55 from REI, comfortable and ok spraying bug spray on it as it’s not synthetix
Don’t worry Liz, sounds like you’ll have an awesome trip!! Haha Colleen is keeping me in the loop 🙂
Amazing! This also gives you the opportunity to learn how to wash/dry your clothes, and live without the unnecessities 🙂 You inspire me so much that my bedroom is just a mattress and a night stand now! Ok, closet will take a while to empty but I’m working on it!!
Haha! Can’t wait to see your setup when I’m back!