To Pack or Not to Pack

Posted by Lynn on October 29, 2014 in Advice + Tips | 4 comments

Now that I’ve booked my ticket to Australia comes the daunting task of what to pack for a year. It would be a whole lot easier if I wasn’t trying to fit it all into one carry-on sized backpack! Since I will be trying to follow the summer, I can eliminate the bulky heavy stuff, however hiking is one of my main forms of exercise and entertainment, so some hiking clothes and boots are involved. Which brings me to my greatest challenge, that most women can relate to: which shoes to take?

I’ve limited myself to three pair, otherwise there’d be no room in my pack for clothes, or anything else. Hiking boots are for me, a given, and flip flops are crucial, whether for the beach, kicking around, or in those questionable hostel showers. That leaves one pair to do the rest. Does anyone even make a shoe that functions as a tennis shoe, casual shoe, and dress shoe all in one?! If so, I haven’t found it. I need something I can walk in, a lot, all over cities and countryside, when flip flops or hiking boots won’t do. But I also want them to look cute with my one little black dress. Still searching, if you have any suggestions!!

In order to pack for this kind of journey, I laid everything I think I need out on the bed.

As you can see, it covered the whole queen sized mattress! How in the world can I fit all of this in one backpack?! Amazingly, it almost fit. All but the little pack of art supplies, a tiny travel watercolor set and blank postcards, which I’ll need, as I plan to give small paintings as gifts to people I stay with. Which means something else has to go. There’s a famous saying to take half of what you think you need and twice as much money. So it’s back to the drawing board, figuring what to leave behind. Reality is, you need way less than you think, and less is definitely more!