Probably one of the biggest questions I get asked about my trip other than ‘How the heck can you afford to do that??’ is ‘What the heck are you bringing with you??’

The answer is not a whole lot but actually quite a bit more than you’d expect.

I promise it’ll make sense by the end of this post.

I hope to answer all your burning packing questions and leave you thinking I’m a bit out of my mind. Which I’ll fully own up to.

So without much further ado I present to you my amazing packing list for long term travel - 3 years to be exact.

The backpack

I waxed poetic a bit about my handy dandy backpack early on in the creation of this blog. It’s a Gregory Jade 38 (meaning it has a holding capacity of about 38 L) and is a just a bit bigger than your standard school backpack except with more support and cooler looking.

I’m not the largest of people, and I knew from the get go that I didn’t want to be lugging around 50 lbs of luggage on my back day in and day out. Not appealing sounding. So going with a smaller pack insured that I’d be forced to keep the amount of items I brought with me to a minimum.

Clothing

SHIRTS

3 tank tops (2 with built-in bra)

3 t-shirts (all quick drying material)

1 long-sleeved shirt (medium weight)

PANTS/DRESS

1 black dress

1 pair of yoga pants (can be used for hiking and sleeping)

1 pair of regular pants (fairly quick drying and can be cinched at the bottom to turn into capris)

1 pair of running shorts

OUTERWEAR

1 Exofficio Women’s Chica Cool Hoody

1 black 3/4 length cardigan

1 quick dry Merino wool pullover top from Stoic

1 Marmot Women’s Precip Jacket that folds into its own pocket

All of the above clothes fit into an Eagle Creek packing cube! The t-shirt, sweatshirt, and pants outside the cube are what I plan on wearing on the plane so naturally they won’t be in my bag.

*Packing secret! Roll your clothes instead of folding them and you can fit so much more!*

Underthings

All of the following fit into a smaller red Eagle Creek packing cube (which you can see in the second to last picture). Seriously packing cubes are the bomb.

5 pairs of underwear (2 ExOfficio Quick Dry)

1 sports bra

2 regular bras

2 pairs of regular socks

1 pair of hiking liners

2 pairs of Smartwool Women’s Hiking Socks

2 bikinis

Toiletries

Deodorant

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Floss

Stick sunscreen

Razor and extra blades

Face wash

Dawn soap

Face moisturizer

LUSH solid shampoo

LUSH solid conditioner

Ibuprofen

Diamox (for altitude sickness)

Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic)

Tissues

Bobby pins (in tic tac container)

Diva cup/panty liners/tampons

Chapstick

Nail file

Nail clippers

Tweezer

Ear plugs

Duck tape mini roll

Immodium

Pepto Bismol

Rehydration salts

Alcohol wipes

Bandaids

Triple Antibiotic cream

Jewelry (in pill box container)

Hair ties and headbands

Shoes

1 pair of KEEN Women’s Targhee II Waterproof Hiking Boot

1 pair of New Balance Minimus sneakers (weigh hardly anything)

1 pair of Havaianas Flip Flop

Electronics

Carrying case from Amazon Basics

1 750 GB external hard drive

1 camera charger

2 spare camera batteries

2 spare GoPro batteries

iPhone charger

Kindle charger

Spare AAA batteries for headlamp

32 GB SD card for camera

8 GB SD card for camera

16 GB microSD card for GoPro

A few random GoPro accessories

More Electronics

Not all the electronics I’m brining fit in the above container so, in order to make use of the little space I have, I put most of the remaining electronics I have into my shoes!

Macbook Air charger

GoPro camera

GoPro battery charger

Universal adapter

Stuffable day bag

Paracord (I used this stuff at work all the time and it’s amazing. I’ll be using it as a laundry line, extra shoe laces if needed, and for any other tying needs that may arise.) See it all fits nicely!

Extra stuff

Not everything in my backpack has a nice organized place to go so I have a few remaining items that just kind of go wherever I can fit them.

13′ Macbook Air (not pictured here - forgot about it…oops!)

Headlamp

Laundry bag

Bandana

Poncho

Scarf

Lock

Face microfiber towel

Body microfiber towel (not pictured - I suck)

Surge protector with USB ports

Face wipes

Money belt

Red Sox hat

Tissues

Carry-on/Day bag

Pacsafe Metrosafe 200 GII Anti-theft shoulder bag

Canon Powershot SX510 camera (not pictured b/c it’s taking the photo)

Unlocked 4S iPhone

Ear phones and case

Scarf

Hand sanitizer

Passport/Passport photos

Journal/Pen

Chapstick

Small 16 GB USB drive

Deck of cards

Pepto

Mini deodorant

Sunglasses and case

Tissues

Wallet

Kindle Paperwhite

Everything that’s going!

Well that’s everything that’s going in my backpack plus my carry on bag and the clothes I’ll be wearing on the plane.

I’m wearing my hiking boots on the plane because they’re heavier (though still pretty light for a hiking shoe) and I’ll be able to fit my flip flops in my carry on for later.

See it really does all fit!

My backpack plus shoulder bag weighs about 25 lbs. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring this puppy carry on the whole way (edit: I was able to!). That’s why I got this size backpack in the first place! And anything I forget or need I can simply pick up along the way.

When I write it all out it sounds like a ton of stuff…and I guess in reality it kind of is.

But then again it’s really not a lot considering this is almost everything I own.

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Have you ever packed for an extended trip away? How much did you bring? See anything on the list I left off?