What's In My Pack?

This is my gear for a 188 day trip into South America, South East Asia, and Western Europe.  

Functional Equipment:

Gregory Baltoro 70 liter backpack

Simple and light/packable daypack

Mosquito Net w Permethrin  

Water bottle

2 Trash bags, 15 plastic bags, 30 zip-ties

Headlamp

Jump rope and resistance band (fitness)

Cocoon Travel Sheet (100% silk)

Neck Pillow

Sleep mask

Ear plugs

Passport safety belt

Rain bivy for pack

2 locks, combo, 1 small cable lock

 

Clothing:

1 pair nice jeans

1 safari pants/zip shorts

2 pair sleeping/fitness shorts

2 pair board-shorts

1 tanktop

2 short sleeve moisture wicking shirts

1 dress shirt (black)

2 long sleeve shirts (1 moisture wick, 1 safari)

8 pair underwear

8 pair socks 

1 North Face "Hyvent" Goretex Rain shell

1 Marmot DriClime Windshirt

1 pair Brooks running shoes

1 pair dress shoes 

1 pair sandals

1 set polarized sunglasses   

Toiletries:

Toothbrush

Floss

Razor and 4 extra blades

Travel size: toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, face lotion, deodorant, shaving cream, 100spf sunscreen, hair spray, Dr. Bronners Magic Soap 

Ear swabs

Tweezers 

Travel towel (micro fibre)  

Gentle Skin Cleansing towelettes (25 pre-moistened)

Medication:

180 Doxycycline 100mg- Malaria 

9 Azithromycin 500mg- Antibiotic  

16 Acetazolamide 125mg- Altitude sickness 

24 Loperamide Hydrochloride 2mg- Imodium

48 Diphenhydramine HCL 25mg- Sleep aid 

50 Ibuprofen 200mg-Advil

10 Band-Aids

Moleskin

15 Hand sanitizing wipes

Hand sanitizer gel

Antifungal- Lotrimin

1% Hydrocortisone

Visine eye drops

Afrin nose spray

24 tums

Afterbite itch eraser 

6 Throat Lozenges 

Travel size 30% Deet Mosquito Repellant 

Travel size 100% Deet Mosquito Repellant 

20 Emergen-C vitamin packs

  

Electronics:  

Samsung Tab 10.1 and accessories

100GB external hard drive

Phone

Nikon Aw100 waterproof digital camera 

External speaker for rocking out!

Headphones- earbuds 

1 power-surge converter outlet 

Finances

1 Debit card

2 Credit cards

California Drivers License 

International Drivers License 

Student I.D.

Passport w visas

Travel Insurance information 

11 passport photos for visas upon-arrival 

 

We made it to Colombia!

Hello!! I hope you are all doing good! I made it safe and sound to Colombia 3 days ago and am having the time of my life! We are staying in a hostel near lots of museums and universities, and have met tons of interesting people. Our first night was a bit rough, we arrived and our hostel did not have our reservation and we had to walk around in the rain with our bags, but since then everything has been great! The food is pretty good, lots of soups, chicken, rice, platanos, beef, corn. We spent our first few days walking around the city, checking out the parks and going to outdoor markets and museums. We have met tons of very interesting people, a treasure hunter named Dale, tons of people our age and some awesome Colombian people.

Today was one of the best days I have had in a long time. The more you put yourself out there, the more exciting things that happen. My friend Carolyn and I went out with a group of people a few nights ago, and ended up being approached to be in a Colombian soap opera. I spent my morning today on set filming, the soap opera will air in a few months. I had a speaking role as clothing store attendant and a model (in Spanish!) it was awesome! We met tons of famous Colombian actors and designers, everyone was so nice. It was my first acting experience, hours of make up and changing clothes and practicing scenes but I had a great time. The show has not gone on air yet, but it will be called Los Pobres Ricos I will let you know when I find out more information as to the air date. After the shoot we went up this beautiful mountain by cable car where we could see the entire city and met a great Colombian family. We originally had plans to go to a fancy dinner tonight in the Zona Gourmet since we made money acting, but this family was so nice they invited us to dinner and into their home and we had such a great time with them that we figured hey, we can always go to a nice dinner, but when do we have the opportunity to spend time with Colombians. All and all everyone has been so friendly!!

Tomorrow we plan to go to a smaller city called Villa de Leiva, its more of a pueblo town where we can hang out and go horseback riding, hiking, see waterfalls and go white water rafting. It will be a nice break from the city life, but I think we may have to come back to Bogota again before we leave Colombia since we have met so many people that I would like to get to know better. Everyone seems so sincere, and the country is beautiful. I will send out some pictures when I can, I may have left my camera cord at home but Jason is coming in 2 weeks and hopefully he can bring it if I do not find it in my bag. I will write more soon, but for now I hope you are all doing great!

Mucho amor!!