Questions I ask myself as I pack for a 6-month journey. What packing tips do you have?
First choose the bag. Small day-trip backpack, or huge rolling check-on? If I plan on scaling mountains, I’ll bring my sticky, sweat-stained mochila with its dozens of swinging straps.
Next choose what to bring. Do I want to blend into the shadows of forests and mosques? Do I want, for the first time, to dance in a spotlight with tall, sparkling shoes? Will I need the contents of my medicine closet, or can I trust in the remedies of the countries I visit? This could be my chance to read a tome like Middlemarch or War and Peace. This could be my chance to write a tome, unnamed as of yet. This could be my chance to read the James Patterson and Sue Grafton books that wash up upon the shore of my trip. Technology. Shoes. Jackets. Games. These are things that prop me up in my day-to-day life, but I suspect they’ll weigh me down on the road.
The question is: Can I pack a little space to grow?
La Giraffa 
Whenever I’m packing I’m just a backpack, I use those bags you can suck the air out of. It makes everything compact and fit perfectly in a backpack upright, like files. Or, can lay flat and stack them. And get travel-size shampoo, soap, etc. That way, all you have is the one bag.
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I don’t get those things! How do you get the air out?
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Well, the bigger bags have a port so you can use a vacuum to take the air out. But, for packing a backpack, you’ll need the smaller ones. All I do is fill the bag, keeping clothes as flat as possible, seal all but about an inch or two at the zip-lock, then use hands and knees to push the air out from the bottom to top. Once the air is out, just seal the bag and it’ll stay compact until the seal is opened. It really does increase the room in your pack exponentially. And, if you’ll be on or in any water, they keep stuff dry.
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Cool! I’ll check them out.
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I think you’ll be just fine with bringing “a little space to grow.” What could be more important on a journey? 🙂
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