Packing. I have to admit that this word has brought me quite a bit of anxiety the last couple of months. Not only have I just finished packing up a whole house, now I have to figure out the most efficient way to pack for this trip. Those that know me personally know that I’m a rather petite person. I’m making every effort to pack light so I’m not weighed down by unnecessary crap. Especially since I know I’ll likely pick up unnecessary crap along the way. I purchased an Osprey Farpoint 55 travel pack and packing cubes from eBags. The Farpoint 55 includes a 40L main pack and a removable 15L day pack. I also purchased a toiletry bag from REI. I already have a small toiletry bag that I’ll use for my makeup bag.
Clothes
I read virtually every blog post regarding packing for long term travel I could find and have narrowed down my clothing list. Luckily, I’m not going to be venturing into drastically different climates, so a summer wardrobe with a couple of options for chilly nights is what I settled on. The list is separated into two sections. One section includes the items that I’ll wear on travel days, the other includes what will be in carried in the large portion of my travel pack.
Travel Days Outfit
- Lightweight travel/rain jacket
- Short sleeved tee
- Leggings
- Reef Rover Low sneakers
In Travel Pack
- 2 sundresses
- 1 maxi dress
- 1 lightweight long sleeved dress
- 1 lightweight sweater
- 2 lightweight 3/4 sleeve blouses
- 2 tank tops
- 2 casual tees
- 2 cardigans
- 1 pair ponte leggings
- 1 pair full length leggings
- 1 pair denim shorts
- 1 pair skinny jeans
- 2 sleep shirts
- 1 pair of sleep shorts
- 1 pair lightweight lounge pants
- 1 pair shower flip flops
- 1 pair black sandals
- 1 pair tan sandals
Believe it or not, all of the above items except the shoes fit into the slim packing cubes I purchased. Once the cubes are fully loaded, they take up about 1/3 of the main portion of my travel pack. Since the shoes are sandals, they don’t take up much space and are squeezed in where most convenient. My undergarments and socks are packed in a mesh compartment in the travel pack.
Toiletries
Clothes – check. That’s not really where I’m having trouble. Toiletries. Enter major anxiety. As this is my first long term trip and, with the exception of one, I’m visiting countries that I’ve never been to before, I’m slightly worried about what can be purchased abroad and how much I need to bring with me. I don’t really care about toothpaste or soap or deodorant, clearly that can be purchased just about anywhere. I’m worried about my hair. Which is probably the most quintessential black girl thing to say. So, as you know, the name of the blog is Curls Abroad. I love my curls and they are accustomed to a regimen that is a bit sensitive to change. Although it would be great if I could, I can’t just walk into a drug store and buy a random shampoo and conditioner and call it a day. My hair would be quite angry with me to say the least. It needs a bit more love and that love comes in the form of conditioner followed by a leave in, curl cream, and Castor oil. Bare minimum. Honestly, it can be a struggle to find some of the products I use while I’m in the US, I can only imagine how hard it would be in a foreign country. So I’m going to have to get a bit creative if I don’t want hair products to take up half my packing space.
The easy part of picking my toiletries are the true essentials. I’ll take one of each and should be able to easily pick up replacements if I run out. The largest bottle I’m planning on bringing is African Black Soap. This is a great multi-purpose product. It can be used as shampoo, hand wash, and face wash. I’ve even heard of some people using it as toothpaste, but I’m not that adventurous 🙂
True Essentials
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrush
- Mouthwash (1 full sized bottle)
- Floss
- Deodorant
- Cotton Swabs
- African Black Soap (Liquid, 1 full sized bottle)
- Diva Cup & Wash (1 full sized bottle)
- Razor
- Minor first aid items (bandaids, antiseptic wipes, etc.)
There are some additional beauty products that I’ll be bringing. Most of these should be available in other countries, but I don’t anticipate running out of any of these. With the exception of the shea butter, these won’t take up a lot of space, so I will just bring all that I currently have on hand with me. Since little shea butter goes a long way, I plan on taking a 8 or 16 oz. container with me. That’s a big difference than the 5 liter container it currently sits in under my sink 🙂 If I run out and can’t find any locally, I’ll ask my darling mother to bring some when she meets me in Europe, or buy some myself in the UK. With such a large African population there, I’m sure there will be plenty available to purchase.
Beauty Products
- Shea Butter (8 or 16 oz. jar)
- Face Wash (covered in essentials – African Black Soap)
- Face Moisturizer (with SPF protection)
- Makeup bag
- Makeup remover
- Tinted Moisturizer
- Bronzer
- Neutral Eyeshadow
- Eyeliner
- Eyebrow powder
- Tweezers
- Assorted makeup brushes
- Sunblock
- Bug spray
Now we get down to the nitty gritty. Hair. As I stated before, African Black Soap can be used for shampoo, so I’m covered on that front. The conditioners and oil will be a bit trickier. The castor oil I buy comes in a glass bottle, I’ll have to transfer that into a couple of travel sized bottles. Castor oil is thick, so a little goes a long way. I shouldn’t run out of it during the trip. The ecostyler gel I use can be transferred into a travel sized jar. I don’t use a lot of this, just for smoothing edges and extra hold for twist outs.
- Shampoo (covered in essentials – African Black Soap)
- Conditioner (1 full sized bottle)
- Leave in conditioner (travel sized bottles)
- Aphogee 2 step reconstructor ( 2 full sized bottles)
- Jamaican Black Castor Oil (travel sized bottles)
- Curl Cream (8 0z. jar)
- Ecostyler gel (travel sized jar)
To further stretch the use of the products I’ll be bringing, I’m limiting myself to washing my hair once every 10 days. In order to achieve this, I’ll wear my hair in twists for a few days, then wear a twist out, and finally, bun my hair until wash day. I’m opting for this method because it will keep my hair detangled which will allow me to use less conditioner when detangling and stretch the time between washes. Wash and go’s are easier, but they also require me to wash my hair every 3 days. I’ll go into more detail about my regimen in a future post after my trip begins.
Daypack Items
As you can probably tell, the 40L portion of my backpack is absolutely getting checked. I wasn’t even going to attempt to make this a carry-on adventure. I’ll be carrying on my daypack during my plane rides. In it, I’ll have my electronics, travel sized toiletries in case my checked baggage is lost, and a blanket for the inevitably freezing airplane. I’ll also have some important items actually on my body to lessen the risk of loss or theft.
Electronics
- Chromebook
- Chromebook charger
- Main phone charger
- Camera
- Camera charger
Emergency overnight items
- Shirt & leggings
- Undergarments
- Travel toothbrush
- Travel size floss and toothpaste
- Bandaids & antiseptic wipes
Other Items
- Purses
Purse or on person
- Passport
- License
- Money
- Mirror
- Gum
When you put it all together…….This is what you have. Surprisingly, there’s still some room left in the top of the main pack. I’m sure it will be full by the end of my trip 🙂
That’s all folks! I think I’m covered on all fronts, but I won’t really know until I get out there and see. I am absolutely anticipating that I’ll be adding a packing update post prior to leaving. What do you think? Is there something I’m missing? Leave it in the comments!
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