Female Packing List - Thailand/Australia

Okay, okay, I know. I'm a terrible blogger, and this post should have been done before I left the country - but do you know how busy it makes you when you leave the country?!

So I'm currently waiting for a bus to Bangkok from Chiang Mai (it's a long bus) after spending a week at a beautiful elephant sanctuary (more on that later). My bag is considerably lighter than when we first started, and that's a good thing. I read loads of packing lists on blogs and websites before we left and although they were helpful, they never tell you what they chucked out a week or two down the line. So there, my tardiness will be helpful.

Shoes
1x Converse, pump style - for when you need light, closed in shoes
1x Walking boots
1x Sandals - these broke about three days in so I've now got a basic black flip flop pair

Clothing
10x underwear, all types, comfy and pretty. You can probably cut down on this to be honest, as these are relatively easy to wash in the shower, but I just packed as many as I could roll up into a walking boot. 
2x bras - because, let's be honest, who actually uses more than that?
3x Pairs of socks, plus 4x odd socks, because life is too short to match your socks
4x Old T-shirts - I never wore these for their intended purpose. They were supposed to be for the elephant park, something to get dirty that didn't matter. I ended up wearing some nice stuff and cut up two of these t-shirts into new vest tops. I donated two old t-shirts to the elephant park.
8x Normal tops, varying styles. This was a bit excessive. You don't need this many tops, even though I had them for different occasions, especially when you're headed somewhere cheap like Thailand. I've donated two vest tops that were ruined by Songkran/elephant poo, but the rest has stayed. I will probably chuck a couple more and replace them with lighter, breezier items from the markets.
3x Shorts, 2 denim, 1 fabric-y type. I donated one pair of denim shorts because they were too tight in this heat and uncomfortable. The other pair are my favourite and try as I might, I can't get the dusty elephant poo colour out of them. My fabric ones are being worn for comfort on long buses - a definite recommendation.
1x 3 quarter length light trousers. I never wore these and knew I wasn't going to. These were donated to ENP. You can get lovely breezy trousers out here in a multitude of patterns for about 100 Baht (£2). I've bought two and they take up less room and are far comfier than the ones I brought with me.
2x Summer dresses. Worn both and, for the time being, keeping both. Good for if you want to look a little pretty for the evenings.
1x Pyjama set. Only a shorts and vest top set, but these are good if you are in hostels or sleeping somewhere that other people have access to. You will be ridiculously hot in any clothing you wear to bed, so bear this in mind; we thought about bringing our comfy fluffy PJ bottoms but these would definitely have been chucked within the first couple of hours.
1x Light cardigan. Haven't worn this yet, as too pretty for the ele-park. This will probably be worn on the beach in the evenings.

Swimwear
2x Bikinis. Any more than this is unnecessary - wear one whilst the other dries (which will take all of 10 minutes in the sun).
1x Sarong - 100% take one of these, particularly for Thailand. I've used it to cover up at temples, as a headscarf to protect from the sun, a light cover up for the evenings, and worn by the pool. 
1x Kimono. I'm hoping I wear this by the beach, I spent ages looking for these, bought about 3 and only brought 1.

Miscellaneous
In a big ol' list: sleeping bag, travel towel (it's too small! Get an extra large one!), travel journal (entries  will be typed  up later), suncream, toiletries, Scrubba, washing line, first aid kit, Lifestraw, tissues, soap leaves, travel adaptors, antibacterial gel, and probably some other stuff I've forgotten. We haven't bothered with the soap leaves, just bought some shower gel and stuff when we got here, and the Scrubba doesn't clean clothes as well as hoped. The Lifestraw has been a Lifesaver (heheh) we've used it tons. Do you know when you read those things that are like 'Top Ten Items for Backpackers', and you think, Nah, I don't need half of that? - you do. You very much do, and so will the people around you; plasters, hand gel/wipes, water, vaseline - all the niggly little bits you'd otherwise overlook.

Some actual travel blogging coming soon, woohoo! Happy packing x

Travelling Wish List

The past few days I have quite literally made myself go all cross eyed, searching the web for some quirky gadgets and essentials for our trip. Below is a list (that I'm certain will keep growing - so keep checking back!) of want/need items.

Scrubba - Portable Washing Machine

This cool little dude is the reason I started this list. I saw it on Firebox.com - if you've never been there, check it out. It's like a site for people with too much money and a sense of humour, but every now and then there's a product of genuine good use. Basically, this is like a washboard in a bag and folds up super tiny after use. Chuck some water in there (and preferably some sort of cleaning agent) and you won't have to turn your pants inside out! 

Desirable accessories:

Soap Leaves - exactly what it says on it's very small tin, and won't leak into your luggage.

Travel clothes line - comes with little pegs so you don't have to tie it/hold it for hours.

LifeStraw Go/Water To Go

Is this water sanitary? It looks questionable to me! So you may have seen the original LifeStraw? It makes Bear Grylls look a little bit silly; stick it in an algae and bug infested pond, lake, puddle or just dodgy restaurant tap water and voilà! It's like Brita filtered water without the waiting. Although this won the Saatchi and Saatchi award in 2008 for 'World Changing Idea' it needs to be used then and there at the water source - not always convenient. Then came the LifeStraw Go and every other filtering water bottle on the market, i.e. the Water To Go. 

So what's the difference between the two? Price, essentially. LifeStraw comes in around £40 per bottle, WTG at around £25. They both claim to have patented filtering technology, so I can only assume they have different ways of getting rid of bugs - on one hand LifeStraw was first, on the other, WTG claims it came from technology used by NASA. Have you heard the story about NASA investing millions creating a pen that can be used in ANY environment, including zero gravity? The Russians used a pencil. Just because it's NASA doesn't mean it's the best. As you can probably tell, I'm steering my preference toward the LifeStraw, and the deciding factor was this: WTG cleans 200 litres per filter - additional filters can be bought of course. LifeStraw can filter 1000 litres before it gives in. By the time you factor in this cost, are you really saving money? And what about when WTG reaches the end of it's 200 litres? Am I going to start getting little bits come through? What if I don't change the filter properly? But most importantly - I have to carry extra filters. We don't have that kind of space. Also, the LifeStraw is more aesthetically pleasing, and that's more important to me than I'd like to admit! Which is also a problem that continues to the next product...

Timberlands - Classic Yellow Boots

I wanted something that come up a little bit higher than your average walking boot, and this is what popped up. We're going to be on trains and walking around city centres so as far as I was concerned, these would be perfect; sturdy, well made, normal looking (goes with jeans!), comfortable, waterproof, and, oh yeah, normal looking! So I don't look like a really old tourist who favours comfort above all else! But they'd still get the job done perfectly fine, right? Right? Apparently wrong! Nick summed them up as chavvy builder footwear and I'd look like a bloke. I asked a close friend who does plenty of hiking and walking thinking she might say 'Well they're not the best, but they'll do the job.' - she didn't even entertain the idea. Put blankly, don't be stupid, get a decent pair or you'll sorely regret it. So, here's my sensible choice....

Hi-Gear Snowdon Women's Walking Boots.

They're built for walking, waterproof, and they don't look that bad. I'm going to try them on today probably so I'll let you know the outcome - they're also a quarter of the price of Timberlands, which means I could get these, two LifeStraw Go's and a Scrubba for the same price! Maybe I'll just have to get over looks, at least until we've dropped our bags off at camp and I get to wear these babies...

TOMS

I've never worn a pair of these before, I probably wouldn't usually wear them because it's not a ballerina pump, but different countries call for different measures! A lot of people rave about how comfortable these are, and they can pack down nice and flat into my rucksack; they're light and they won't make my feet horribly hot. They'll be a welcome change from the boots, that's for sure. I'm going to ask the girls on one of our other concessions if they get many back as faulty to see if they'll last. It doesn't have to be this design either, they do some lovely lace ones, but I am partial to a little travel design - it's appropriate! And they'll go with anything. Total justification.

Biolite - Portable Stove

At no point on our travels will this be of any use to us. Probably. But it's so cool! Again, another item found on Firebox (the site for people with too much money). You fill the little thing up with twigs and off it goes! It'll even use the energy to charge devices through a USB port. The downside? You can hardly fit pots and pans on there, even if you wanted to carry all that around. It's probably just big enough to heat cans, like a hipster tramp, which will keep Nick happy as he can just eat beans forever. Not really essential around Europe, but maybe good for the outback. Maybe worth the £150 investment, I've not decided yet.

Wait a minute, just realised, we can filter some water using our LifeStraw and heat up Pot Noodles on this thing. Hmm....

GoPro

Pretty sure these little things are the smallest, most rugged, waterproof, high definition cameras in the world. Used by professionals for high resolution, fast paced sports footage, whether that be scuba diving, snowboarding, or motorcycle racing, and also by the average person to create pretty cool time lapse videos and fish-eye stills. You want a picture of you at the Grand Canyon, but want the whole Grand Canyon in it? This'll do it. Again, not an essential (Nick has one, and I own about five cameras) but Nick gets really protective of his one, and he likes to delete practically everything, so it would be nice, I guess.

Travel Towel

I had no idea these things existed! If I did, I probably would have bought one a long time ago; they come in any size, ranging from face towel to bath towel and fold up really, really, tiny! They'll feel funny at first, as they're microfibre, but we'll get over it. Really cheap too - you can get most for under £10, and they come with some sort of coating to stop it getting mildewy and mouldy, and a bag so your stuff doesn't get wet. Genius.

She-Wee

Because I think they're so weird! But in all seriousness though - what if we're trekking through somewhere in Oz? I do't want to have to be squatting in some dense bush of some sort and have venomous bugs crawling on my bum. This way, I can pee like a man and keep an eye out for anything trying to eat me. Cue Argus Filch and his creepy 'Got to 'ave ya wits about ya!'

Some Essentials:

-Waterless Wash Kit - for those days when you can't get to a shower.

- First Aid Kit - because we're bound to get a few bumps and scrapes, and I'm first aid trained, don't you know!

-Mosquito Repellant - because the little fuckers love me!

- Compact Sleeping Bag - for hostel nights, where you don't have a clue what's manifesting in that bed sheet! But definitely not one of those ridiculous sleeping-suit things that make you look like the marshmallow man. I'd just roll away in that, and I can't imagine getting comfortable without some knowledge of sleeping space. Or one of those sleeping bags that come with a silly tent for your head. Why?

This time next year, I'll be able to give you the low-down on how well it all worked for us, and how much I wish we'd bought a BioLite and Pot Noodles.