welp, i’ve done it. i’ve finalised my packing list. after reading through several blogs from girls who have spent a year in new zealand and other “how to pack for a year abroad” lists, i’ve got a solid list. i’ve also got clothes strewn across my room but the clothes i’m packing were condensed on to my photo-taking table until today, when i did a trial pack.
so… since i’ve done it, i’ll give you guys the skinny. how do you pack for a year abroad? i’m ruthless. i cut out a lot. i decided that i didn’t need two dresses: one will do. but i did decide that i need to bring my own hiking shoes, because they’re expensive down there.
first off, i started by deciding what i was going to wear on the plane. i actually have a day in between leaving home and leaving for new zealand, and i’ll be in la, so i need to have a few things that i can change into for dinner or something. but, that was easy: jeans and a tee, plus a sweater, on the plane from kc to la, then a skirt, and then leggings for the plane from la to wellington. slip on shoes – my toms – complete the outfit. i also have a pair of flip flops in the front of my bag.
then i started packing my cubes. bras and panties went into the smaller ones, while tanks and tees, long sleeved shirts, and my dress went into the bigger ones. i also packed a compression pack with my rainpants, rain jacket, and wintery things.
my backpack – an ariel 65 from rei – has a lower compartment, and while it’s meant for a sleeping bag, i use it to pack my shoes. i know my from experience that i’ll need to show my hiking shoes upon arrival into new zealand, and last year it was a struggle to get them out. this time, i’m prepared! the thing about shoes, especially the bigger shoes like hiking shoes, etc is that they take up a LOT of space. i stuffed my shoes with socks and my little drawstring bags that i like so much.
i have a lot of packing cubes. my goal was to pack everything into the cubes, or other bags/pouches, and then tetris them into my bag. it worked as well as i could hope, but i am already thinking that i could take a few things out. this time around, i organised it by types of clothing, but i’m wondering if i shouldn’t divide them up by outfits. since this was a packing trial, i know i can redo it later this week. my goal is definitely to packed almost completely by saturday.
one of the things i *love* about my packing cubes is that some of them are compression ones, and they’ve worked so well. i wasn’t sure about them when i first bought them, but by now i know i can count on them. my plan was to pack cooler weather clothes in the compression packs and stick them in the back of my backpack, since logically i won’t need them right away. i did that with the pack holding the rainpants and winter clothes, but in the end, the long sleeved shirts just went where the pack fit!
i’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to tetris your backpack together but oh geez. thank god this is just a trial run, because i know i need to redo some stuff! overall, i was really happy with the way i put it all together.
the next order of business is to make sure my carry-on bag is all set to go. this one is a little trickier: in addition to some clothes, i also need to have my camera and chargers/etc, toiletries and make-up, and documents that i’ll have in print form.
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