Travelling Light....who? Me??

I am off on my travels again.
I wasn't going to go anywhere but I accidentally booked a trip to Europe.
You see, G and A are going to K2 base camp. If you don't know...K2 is the second highest peak in the world and it's in Pakistan. It's a high altitude long trek so I'm not going.
I'll stay at home, I thought.
I may find myself a nice little yoga retreat, maybe In Byron Bay....

But the best laid plans go astray - in a nice way.

I am off to visit number 1 son.
He is in Copenhagen.
I love him and Copenhagen is a nice place, and there is plenty more to see in Denmark I'm sure....
but I thought I should maximise my time over there.
Mmmm, "I'm learning Spanish"....so why don't I go to Spain?

And before you can say "frequent flyer" I was booked in and planning my little heart out.

As you may know, if you book low-cost flights in Europe, checked luggage is an optional extra.

"Hey, I can do without all that big bag stuff" she thinks.

"It will be good for me."
"I won't have to drag a big bag around. No waiting at baggage carousel. I can skippety skip straight of that plane!"

But what bag to take?
I really wanted a backpack as I'm going to be doing a lot of walking, from train stations to accommodations.
My bushwalking pack is 55 litres and not really the right size for carry-on. (How strict are they about size?)
My day pack is 25 litres and day-packy. Long and narrow and can't be locked.

Great excuse to buy something new!

This is what I got -

Osprey Porter 30 litres.

It seems to have everything I need - apart from a drink bottle holder.

Then I did a lot of reading about how to travel light.
I am a just-in-case packer....so I have to get my head around not packing for every contingency.
I guess it comes from years of bushwalking and remote travelling where you might not be able to buy what you forgot/lost/broke.
But this time - yep, Denmark and Spain are very civilised and have SHOPS.
I'm not taking walking boots. I'm just going to be doing tourist walking.
I'm not camping or going somewhere with extreme weather. So no sleeping bag and mat. No thermals, beanies, gloves etc.

I can basically wear the same 2 or 3 tshirts and couple of pairs of pants. Because......
I'll be able to wash them!
Revolutionary, eh?

Let's see how I go.

What I am taking.

2 pairs of cropped pants

1 pair of old 3/4 leggings

2 tshirts

1 voluminous tank top

2 scrunchable dresses, short sleeve

1 scrunchable dress, long sleeve

swimsuit

hat

scarf

buff

teva sandals

4 pairs undies

3 bras

soap/shampoo bar

natural deodorant in tin

toothbrush

homemade tooth powder in small nalgene bottle

moisturiser spf 15

meds

Wearing.

Jeans

tshirt

long sleeved shirt

polar fleece jacket

Sketchers slip ons

socks, maybe

I don't want to pack the bag too tightly now as at some stage, in Spain probably, I'll want to stow the fleece and not wear it or carry it!
So I have a hand-operated vacuum bag, one you roll up. I have used them before for a fleece jacket and it really helps space-wise.
I also may want to stow the jeans and the sketchers.

All the packing advice I see says take neutral clothes that go with each other and accessorise with a colourful scarf or whatever.
But I have found that works for me are lighweight colourful tops. I'm a big fan of the slightly flared Corfu ones. They don;t show the dirt or things that you may drip down the front of you.
If I take plain pants then they go with those.

I do like to wear a nightie! But think I will use a tshirt or dress instead.

I also have a handbag which fits a surprising amount of stuff. It's not huge and ungainly - I have some of those as well.
It's a Needle vs Thread Jetsetter and it's the best.

Things that will go in my Jetsetter.

Purse

Passport

Kindle

Phone

Drink bottle

earphones 

lip blam

snacks

To go in somewhere

adaptors and charging cable

earrings and necklace

shopping bag

Undecided

Raincoat/poncho (it could be wet in Denmark)

Keep cup

What have I forgotten?

What to pack for South America

what we wore

I thought a review of the things we took to South America might be a good idea.
I did a fair bit of research before we went and used our past experiences as well.
It's always tricky to pack for a long trip but I think we did OK.
Everyone's experience is a bit different, but this is what worked (mostly) for us.

We were away for 3 months, mostly autumn. From the end of February to the end of May.

We travelled from north to south and then north again. From hot to cold to warm.

We stayed in cities, we camped and we walked a lot. We did the usual sightseeing.

We didn’t stay in smart hotels or resorts or eat in swanky restaurants or go to nightclubs or the opera!

We travelled by plane and bus (the best buses when we could)

We wanted to be comfortable but not look too much like tourists (that is hard!)

My main criteria were to travel as lightly as possible although we still seemed to be dragging too much stuff around.

Bearing in mind that we tried not to fill our bags too full as it becomes a real pain to pack up everytime and we wanted to allow space for gifts and souvenirs.
Actually not having much space was a good incentive not to buy lots of stuff.

I tries to include a mix of nicer travel clothes and old stuff or designated bushwalking gear.  
As I said we didn't anticipate going to any posh places where we would need formal gear.                         

Most importantly – Being comfortable was a major consideration.

Shoes – four pairs does seemed a bit excessive and we could possibly do without sneakers or sandals.

Thongs (flipflops) take up no space and are useful for popping off to the bathroom where there are shared facilities. Also I was glad of extra black Keens shoes that I took.

PACKING FOR HER

Rain jacket

Rain pants

Warm jacket – fleece

Down jacket

1 jeans

2 long pants – 1 bushwalking, 1 other

1 shorts

1 threequarter pants

Nice pants and top

Short sleeved dress

6 tops – mix of short and long sleeve, 1 for bushwalking

Thermal top – merino/polypropylene

Thermal bottoms – merino/polypropylene

PJs or nightie

Trackies

8+ undies

6 socks

4 bras

Walking boots

Walking sandals

Other shoes

Thongs/crocs

Swimming cossie

Sunhat

Beanie

Buff

Gloves

Scarf/shawl

I actually cheated and took two sets of thermals which I wore on the 5 day trek we did in Patagonia. Other times I wore the long sleeved tops under my short sleeved tops for warmth.

PACKING FOR HIM

Rain jacket

Rain pants

Warm jacket – fleece

Down jacket

1 jeans

2 long pants – 1 for bushwalking, 1 nice pair

2 shorts – 1 bushwalking, 1 nice

2 long sleeve shirts

4 tshirts/short sleeved shirts

1 nice shirt

Thermal top – merino or polypropylene

Thermal long johns – merino or polypropylene

PJs

Trackies

8 + undies

2 singlets

6 socks

Belt?

Walking boots

Sandals

Thongs

Sneakers

Swimming cossie

Sunhat

Beanie

Gloves

I don't think G wore his down jacket more than once but it is kind of an insurance policy. I also don't think he wore his trackies.

what the locals wore

OTHER STUFF

Rucksack/travel pack

Day pack

Handbag

Money belt

Sleeping bag

Sleeping mat

Inner sheet

Travel pillow

Microfiber towel

Travel clothes line

Laundry soap*

Scrubba washbag 

Water purification tabs or steripen

Drink bottle 1 litre

Padlocks

Plastic ziplock bags various sizes

Pen knife

Sharp knife

Sporks

Plastic chopping board

Sunnies

Walking sticks

Camera and memory cards

Spare camera battery

Phone

Ipod  and earplugs

Kindle

Chargers

Adapter

Power bank

Notebook and pens, pencils

Pack of cards

Zilch a dice game

Spare glasses

Earplugs and eye mask

Headtorch

Because we were doing a trek, by ourselves we took our own sleeping bags and mats although we could have hired them from the town we started from, but I am fussy!
We used the steripen a lot to purify tap water in iffy places, mainly Bolivia and Peru. Bottled water was always available everywhere but it saves on plastic bottles to make your own water.
We also bought plastic mugs and plastic plates over there and they were used on the trek but also came in useful for lunches.
We used all our ziplock bags quite quickly even though we washed and reused them.

MEDICAL

Diamox

Malaria pills

Medication and script/letter from doctor

Panadol

Nurofen

Antihistamines

Immodium

Gastrolyte

Antacid chews

Betadine

Tea tree oil/ointment

Aloe vera gel

Insect bite treatment

Bandaids

Tape

Bandages

Non-stick dressings

Tweezers

Travel sickness pills

Sleeping pills

Antibiotics

There were lots of things we didn't use eg Diamox for altitude sickness.
Most medicines are freely available over the counter from pharmacies - you can get antibiotics and I managed to replace my thyroid meds which got left behind along the way. However we always take a basic medicine kit.

PERSONAL STUFF

Wet wipes*

Handsanitiser*

Tissues*

Soap*

Shampoo and conditioner*

Shaver

Lip balm

Deodorant

Nail scissors/clipper and nail file

Nail brush

Moisturiser/face cream

Cotton buds

Comb/hairbrush

Insect repellent

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Floss/floss sticks

Toilet paper*

We took lots of insect repellent because of the Zika virus as we thought there might be a shortage of it. There wasn't. There was a shortage of insects.

MISCELLENY

Snacks (energy bars)

Nuts

Tins tuna

Lollies to suck on the plane

*Could buy these items there

 

OTHER THINGS
Pop a pair of undies in your carry on bag in case your luggage goes astray.

Also toothbrush and small travel toothpaste.

Getting laundry done is be pretty cheap and especially in the tourist areas quite quick.

Take a photo of your luggage. In case it gets lost.(something we should have done but didn't)

Write your name inside and out of all your bags.