Globetrotting Family art

Notice how they aren't burdened down by luggage? Exactly.

It posed a problem from the outset. 365 days of travel had the potential of millions of clothing changes and that could’ve meant trunks full of clothing and bags full of shoes.

I didn’t want that for a number of reasons.

1. How many times have you packed a bag for a vacation, lugged it to the airport, lugged it to your hotel room only to realize at the end of the trip that you didn’t wear half of the things you brought? It happens all the time. And the idea of it happening repeatedly for an entire year, drove me crazy.

2. I’m traveling with kids. Little ones- whose arms and legs always seem to tire when there’s a bag to be carried but then have plenty of energy for games of tag and swimming in hotel pools. I knew that whatever we carried would at least at some point end up being carried by either Ish and I and we’ve only got so much sherpa in us.

3. I’m a wee bit anal when it comes to keeping track of things and the likelihood that carrying more stuff meant more stuff for me to keep track of, was crazy-making.

And so I decreed early that we would each have only one bag each with us on this trip. One bag for a year.

When I mentioned my plan to consummate traveler Chuck Breger who also owns www.jet-setter.ca in Montreal, he applauded my intentions. And seconded my announcement that we shouldn’t need more than 2 weeks worth of clothes to travel. Then he went one further and recommended (and then sent us!) our luggage ( 2 25″ Eagle Creek Switchbacks that have a backpack/rollalong option and a  zip-off day pack and two 22″ Eagle Creek Rambles for the kids). He also sent us the packing cubes (more on that on a later post!)  we’re using that are without a doubt my favourite item on this trip.

Switchback_Max_25_a3

It rolls and then presto...backpack

We’ve been working from the list of items below for the last two weeks and so far there are only a few things we think we’re missing. We still have plenty of room in our bags and we’ll pick those up before heading into South America.

Below are most of our packed items. What do you think? Did we miss anything?

THE LIST

Ethan and Cameron

Underwear  – 14

Socks – 2-3

Jeans -1

Shorts -3

Pants – 1

Running shoes

Sandals/flip flops -1 of each

t-shirts 5

long sleeve shirt  -1

dress shirt -1

thin sweater/hoodie -2

light jacket -1

swim trunks -1

 

Ish

Underwear – 14

Jeans-2

Casual pant-2

Collard polo shirt -2

Long sleeve T-shirt -1

Thin sweater/hoodie – 1

Long shorts – 2

Jacket- 2

Swim- 1

Closed shoe -1

Running Shoe- 1

Sandal-1

Heather

Underwear  – 14

Bras -2

Sturdy sandal – 1

Dressy sandal – 1

Casual dress – 2

Casual pants- 2

Jeans-1

Tops (t-shirts, tanks, dinner-worthy) 6

Pashmina -1

hoodie -1

Socks-2

Swim-1

Jacket – 3 (rain, casual, vest)

light sweater – 1

 

Toiletries and Miscellaneous:

Toothpaste, brushes, floss,

Brush, comb, emergency travel size conditioner,gel, hairclips

Earrings (2 pair)

Deodorant, shavers, body cream, shaving cream

Adult Essentials and Iron Kids vitamins

Passport and Prescription copies

Swiss army knife, mini-flashlight

Tilley hats

Nail clipper

Makeup: mascara, concealer, lipstick, Chapstick

Antibacterial gel

 

Tech

Motorola Xoom Tablet/ power supply

Laptop / power supply

Iphone/power supply/ portable speaker

Usb drive

Camera

Sunglasses

headphones -4

Extra photos for Visas

First aid: After Bite/Benadryl/polysporin/ sleeping aid/ Children and Adult Advil/ Prescription meds

Vicks vaporub

Bandaid tweezers

Allergy meds

Malaria pills

Whistle

Sunscreen

Notebooks (3), pens

 

 

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