One 20lb Backpack, Ten Weeks of Travel

I'm only bringing 20 lbs of stuff. 1) It's all the airlines I'm flying allow for a carry on and 2) I'll be moving around enough that I don't want to haul anything more. Here's my official packing list, recommendations, tips, and tricks.

The Packing List:

Clothing:
2 Pants
1 Shorts
2 Dresses
1 Skirt
9 Shirts
1 Coat
4 Sweaters
4 Socks
9 Underwear
2 Bras
1 Sports bra
1 Yoga pants
1 Thermal athletic top
1 Running shorts
2 Scarfs
1 swim suit

Gloves
Beanie
Birkenstocks
Tennis shoes
Ankle boots
Shower flip flops

Toiletries:
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Makeup

Chapstick
Contact case
Contact solution
Extra contacts

Glasses

Deodorant
Face lotion
Body lotion
Hairspray
Mousse

All in one soap
Conditioner
Comb
Hair curlers

Electronics:
Tablet
Tablet charger
Keyboard

Headphones
iPhone
iPhone charger
Travel outlet converter/adapter

Miscellaneous:
Passport 

Wallet

Sunglasses
Jewelry
Quick drying towel
Ear plugs
Eye mask
Journal
Sleep sack
Travel pillow
Travel clothes line
Padlock 

Travel backpack

Purse

So at this point, the questions was how to get all of ^ that into one backpack that weighs no more than 20 lbs. This is a list of absolutely everything I am bringing, including what I'll be wearing. This means my big coat, a pair of shoes, a pair of pants, etc can be set aside. Also, my electronics, journal, wallet, and passport all fit a small purse which I can carry separate from my backpack.  

First things first, clothing. Just because I can only bring 20 lbs it doesn't mean I have to wear the exact same thing every single day. Lots of backpackers recommend only bringing neutral tee shirts. I wasn't very much into that idea either. In the end, clothing is light and condenses well. I choose my clothing very carefully. While I brought a wide variety, I made sure that every clothing item matched just about every other clothing item. While my shirts are by no means plain, they do match both pairs of pants, my shorts, and my skirt. Any sweater can be worn with any outfit. No pair of shoes is specific to a certain outfit. I really spent a lot of time here, trying everything on and making sure each item was as versatile as I thought it was. The only reason we end up with huge suitcases is that we tend to pack items that can only be worn once or in one way. I don't have a ton of stuff, but I do have a ton of outfits!

I've been playing with lots of packing methods over my travels the last year. I am a recent convert to rolling clothing. I could honestly go on forever. Instead of doing that, though, I'll just tell you the number one reason why I like it. It's not because it saves space, it's because it keeps things organized. Rather than my clothes being layered on top of each other, they're all side by side on one layer. Even when I pack light, I tend to make a giant mess, pulling everything out looking for that one thing. With rolling, there's none of that! It's so easy to pull out what you need and place back whatever you just took off. 

Rolling is how I turned this:

Into this:

My days of sitting on suitcases in order to zip them are long gone using this method. Suitcases and backpacks don't have much give around the edges. This allows you to really get your little clothing rolls to compress. Then, because it's all on one little layer, zipping things up isn't a problem at all!

Next I simply condensed all my toiletries and miscellaneous items into bags organized by their content. 

And all of that fit easily into the front pocket of my backpack.

Shoes are the absolute worst. They really don't fit anywhere. I'll wear my ankle boots to the airport as they're the bulkiest. My tennis shoes are ziplocked and in the main compartment with my clothes (thanks again rolling method!), and my two pairs of sandals were slid down the back in the laptop compartment. I have the soles flat against my back and you can't feel them at all, which is great.

And that is how I fit my whole life into a backpack! I have a lot of products and gadgets that I think will make this trip run very smoothly. However, I'm going to leave a review of these products for a later post (once they've actually be tried). However, I do what to say that this backpack is the greatest backpack on earth. I've used it for a few trips and it's incredible. The main compartment opens on three sides like a suitcase. This makes it incredibly easy to pack and to access your things, unlike a normal backpack where you are just stuffing and unstuffing from the top. It also feels incredibly roomy, even though it's still small enough to comply with even the most particular airline carry on requirements. It's super comfy to wear too! At first I was a little worried about being the lame kid with the eBags backpack made just for tourists. But guys, it's made just for touring and it shows. Every detail is perfect. I love this backpack.