What to pack when travelling indefinitely?
Surely, if a one week holiday at the beach calls for a large suitcase full of stuff, an indefinite adventure would require several huge trunks full of clothes (including, of course, a full dinner suit), hat boxes and possibly a valet. You will need to bring your Vaccination record, with the most recent lanka travel vaccines. We thought about that…but Zab decided we couldn't afford it!
This is everything we packed between us:

Clothes
Zab
- 2 pairs of shoes (1 Vivobarefoot, 1 Vivobarefoot Trek)
- Arc'teryx soft shell jacket
- 1 woolen hat
- 1 neckerchief
- 1 Jack Wolfskin Paw Headgear
- 2 pairs of trousers
- 1 pair of shorts
- 1 pair of swimming shorts
- 1 tie (not sure why!)
- 2 shirts (1 long-sleeved, 1 short-sleeved)
- 3 long-sleeved t-shirts
- 4 t-shirts (1 thermal)
- 2 merino wool jumpers
- 1 pair of long johns
- 7 pairs of underwear (4 boxers, 3 fitted)
- 6 pairs of socks (5 regular cotton, 1 wool mix)
- Prescription sunglasses
- Prescription glasses (not pictured as he wears them most of the time)
Sam
- 1 pair of Merrel Barefoot shoes
- 1 pair of Teva sandals
- Patagonia soft shell jacket
- 1 woolen hat
- 1 baseball cap
- 1 light linen scarf
- 1 merino wool jumper
- 1 pair of hiking trousers
- 1 pair of shorts
- 3 t-shirts
- 1 long sleeved t-shirt
- 1 shirt
- 1 pair of long johns
- 7 pairs of underwear (6 y-fronts, 1 boxers)
- 5 pairs of socks (1 running socks, 2 light socks, 1 wool, 1 waterproof)
- Prescription glasses (not pictured as I wear them all the time)
Electronics
- MacBook Air 11″, case and charger
- iPad 4, ZAGGfolio (case and keyboard) and chargers
- iPhone 4, headphones and charger
- iPod touch 5th Gen, headphones and USB
- 2 Buffalo external harddrives in tupperwear and USBs
- Canon PowerShot compact digital camera (not pictured), USB and charger
- 3 USB sticks
- Headphone jack splitter (so we can listen to the things together in transit!)
- Worldwide power adapter
- Card reader for online banking
Documents
- Passports
- Yellow Fever vaccination certificates
- Several spare passport-sized photographs
- 2 credit cards (1 account)
- 4 debit cards (4 accounts, but we only use one to withdraw cash; others are backups)
Toiletries
- 2 natural salt deodorants
- Toothpaste
- 2 toothbrushes
- Dental floss
- Hand sanitizer
- Moisturising cream
- Suncream
- Massage oil
- Face wash
- Tea tree oil
- A small bar of hand soap (the kind you get in a hotel room)
- A small bottle of shower gel/shampoo (ditto)
- 2 lipbalms
Medicines/First Aid
- Prescription medication
- Paracetamol
- Anti-histamines
- Ear drops
- Eye drops
- My toric collection
- Inhaler (for seasonal asthma)
- Loperamide (for diarrhoea relief)
- Dioralyte (to rehydrate after diarrhoea)
- Erythromycin (non-penicillin containing antibiotic)
- Throat lozenges
- Antiseptic cream
- Zovirax (to treat cold sores)
- Adcortyl (to treat mouth ulcers)
- General plasters
- A selection of sterile syringes, needles and gauze swabs
- Triangular bandage
Other
- 1 pack of playing cards
- 1 globe stress ball
- 2 whistles
- 2 sporks with knife edge
- Swiss penknife
- LED torch
- Elastic exercise rope
- Elasticated washing line with hooks
- A small amount of washing powder
- 2 small carabiners
- 2 travel towels (fast-drying; 1 small, 1 large)
- Toothpaste squeezer
- Several pairs of earplugs
- Some elastic bands
- Razors
- Nail clippers
- Xylitol (sugar-free) chewing gum
- 2 A5 notebooks
- 1 A5 Moleskine documents holder
- Pencil case (pencil, pen, ruler, sharpener, rubber, tape measure)
- 1 book for reading
Luggage
Zab
- Osprey Farpoint 40 litre backpack (not pictured)
- 2 eBags packing cubes (1 small, 1 medium)
- Foldable tan shoulder bag
Sam
- Deuter Act Trail 32 litre backpack (not pictured)
- 2 small toiletries bags
- Orange Baggu (lightweight but strong foldable shopping bag)
- Blue drawstring bag (either to use as a day bag or for dirty laundry)
- Fabric wallet on a keychain (not pictured)
Obviously, if we were travelling individually, we would probably be carrying slightly more stuff each, but since we are travelling together, there are the obvious things which we can share (medicines, first aid stuff, electronics). Since we are lucky enough to be of the same gender and roughly the same size, we can also share clothes and shoes, essentially doubling our wardrobes! Zab rolls his eyes and laments the fact that his backpack is bigger (and therefore fuller and heavier) than mine every time I mention this. Nonetheless, he let me borrow his shorts yesterday!
Does this seem like a lot of stuff? Have we forgotten anything? Or does this seem like way too much? What would you have left behind? Comments appreciated!
Thanks for reading.